Terms Used In Alabama Code > Title 34 > Chapter 15B

• action: Condemnation action. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• condemn: To take property under the power of eminent domain. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• CONDEMNATION ACTION: Includes all acts incident to the process of condemning property after commencement of suit until the entry of final judgment. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• condemnor: A person empowered to condemn. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• LITIGATION EXPENSES: The sum of the costs, disbursements, and expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal, and engineering fees, necessary to prepare for anticipated or participation in actual probate or circuit court proceedings. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• person: Includes a natural individual, partnership, corporation, association, other legal or fiduciary entity, and a public entity. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• property: An interest in real or personal property under the law of this state. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• REAL PROPERTY: Land and any improvements upon or connected with land; and includes an easement, servitude, or other interest therein. See Alabama Code 18-1A-3
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.