courts and procedure

Abatement ab initio is a rule in criminal law which negates a conviction if the defendant died before they could exhaust all appeals. In People v.

In tort law, an abnormally dangerous activity is an activity that is "not common usage" and creates a foreseeable and very significant risk of physical harm, even when reasonable care is exercised by all parties.

• tort law

To abrogate is to formally annul or repeal a law through an act of legislation, constitutional authority, or custom. For example, the Supreme Court of Michigan explained in Ferency v.

• lawsuits-court

Absolute disparity is a calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community; for instance, a jury pool that is composed of only white jurors in a community that is predominantly Black. It is calculated by subtracting the percentage of a group in the jury pool from the percentage of that group in the general population.

• constitutional law

Absolute privilege, in defamation cases, refers to the fact that in certain circumstances, an individual is immune from liability for defamatory statements.

• First Amendment
• defamation
• complete defense
• absolute immunity
• qualified immunity

The abstention doctrine is an authority that precludes federal courts from hearing cases within its jurisdictions, instead, giving state courts authority over the case.

Abstract refers to an abbreviated history of an official record. Some common usages of the term “abstract” in a legal sense include:  

Abstract of judgment refers to a copy or summary of a court’s judgment. Some common uses of the term “abstract of judgment” include:

An abstract of record is a summary of a trial that offers the key details for the appellate court to consider, such as the facts, all proceedings in the case to date, the trial court's decision, and the legal issues to be determined.

Abuse is an action that intentionally causes harm or injures another person. This can refer to physical abuse, psychological abuse, mental abuse, or child abuse (see below). 

Abuse is also to misuse something—e.g., abuse of process.