Page 49 - Expert Witness

judgment as a matter of law. A judgment rendered during a jury, trial, either before or after the ju-
ry’s verdict, against a party on a given issue when there is no legally sufficient basis for a jury to
find for that party on the issue.

jury trial. A trial in which the factual issues are determined by a jury, not the judge.

LAN. Acronym for local area network. A computer network that uses cables or radio signals to link
two or more computers within a geographically limited area (generally one building or group of
buildings).

lay (fact) witness. See Fact (lay) witness.

leading questions. A question that suggests the answer to the person being interrogated, especially a
question that may be answered by a mere "Yes" or "No".

legal orders (order). A written command, direction, or instruction delivered by a court or judge.

legal precedent. (1) The making of law by a court in recognizing and applying new rules while ad-
ministering justice. (2) A decided case that furnishes a basis for determining later cases involving
similar facts or issues.

legal privilege. (1) A special legal right, exemption, or immunity granted to a person or class of per-
sons. (2) An exception to a duty.

liability (legal). (1) The quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable. (2) Legal respon-
sibility to another or to society, enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment.

linux. Extremely popular Unix-like operating system created by Linus Torvalds that originally was
designed to run on Intel-powered PCs. Linux is free, open source software distributed under the
term of the GNU General Public License.

litigant. A party to a lawsuit.

litigation. An actual or potential legal or regulatory proceeding before a trier of fact or a regulatory
body as an expert witness, consultant, neutral, mediator, or arbitrator in connection with the reso-
lution of disputes between parties.

litigation hold. Defined in this practice aid to mean an order to preserve records that may be rele-
vant to a lawsuit, including any lawsuit that is "reasonably anticipated" to be filed. See Zubulake
v. UBS Warburg, 229 F.R.D. 422 (SDNY 2004) and Cache La Poudre Feeds, LLC v. Land
O’Lakes Farmland Feed, LLC, 2007 WL 684001 (D. Colo. 2007).

lost profits. Contracts — A measure of damages that allows a seller to collect the profits that would
have been made on the sale if the buyer had not breached. Patents — A measure of damages set
by estimating the net amount lost by a plaintiff inventor because of the infringing defendant’s ac-
tions.

manual journal entries. An entry performed by hand in an accounting journal of equal debits and
credits, with explanations of the recorded transactions.

market. A place of commercial activity in which goods or services are bought and sold.

© 2020 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants 47