Terms Used In California Codes > Insurance Code > Division 1 > Part 1 > Chapter 3 > Article 1 - Concealment

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Government Code 20
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• County: includes city and county. See California Government Code 19
• Covered parking lot: means an area designated for the parking of vehicles that is enclosed or contains a roof or ceiling. See California Government Code 7596
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Inside a public building: includes all indoor areas of the building, except for covered parking lots and residential space. See California Government Code 7596
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Public building: means a building owned and occupied, or leased and occupied, by the state, a county, a city, a city and county, or a California community college district. See California Government Code 7596
• Public employee: means an employee of a state agency or an employee of a county or city. See California Government Code 7596
• Residential space: means a private living area, but it does not include common areas such as lobbies, lounges, waiting areas, elevators, stairwells, and restrooms that are a structural part of a multicomplex building such as a dormitory. See California Government Code 7596
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
• state agency: means a state agency, as defined pursuant to Section 11000, the Legislature, the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal, and each campus of the California State University and the University of California. See California Government Code 7596
• Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10