Glossary of Legal Terms

Easement

A right of use over the property of another.

Employee

A person in the service of another under any contract of hire; a person working for salary or wages.

Employee At Will

An employee who does not have an employment contract.

Employment At Will

In the absence of a contract, an employer is generally free to terminate employment without good cause, just as an employee is generally free to quit without good cause. An employer cannot terminate, however, for an illegal reason such as race, sex, religion, national origin or age.

Employment Contract

An agreement between employer and employee in which the terms and conditions of one’s employment are provided.

Equitable Distribution

No-fault divorce statutes in certain states (e.g. New Jersey) that grant courts the power to distribute equitably upon divorce all property legally and beneficially acquired during marriage by husband and wife, or either of them, whether legal title lies in their joint or individual names.

Equitable Estoppel

The doctrine by which a person may be precluded by his act or conduct, or silence when it is his duty to speak, from asserting a right which he otherwise would have had.

E.R.I.S.A.

"Retirement Income Security Act." A federal act governing the funding, vesting and administration of pension plans.

Escrow

A system of document transfer in which a deed, bond, or funds is delivered to a third person to hold until all conditions in a contract are fulfilled.

Estate

The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a person has in real and personal property.

Estoppel

This means that a party is prevented by his own acts from claiming a right to the detriment of the other party who was entitled to rely on such conduct and has acted accordingly. See also Equitable Estoppel.

Evidence

Testimony, writings, material objects, or other things presented to the senses that are offered to prove the existence or nonexistence of a fact.

Executor/Executrix

Please refer to: What is an Executor?

Eyewitness

A person who could testify as to what he or she had seen.

Eyewitness Identification

Type of evidence by which one who has seen the event testifies as to the person or persons involved from his own memory of the event.