disclose

Definition

To reveal information that was previously hidden, concealed, or confidential, often because you're legally required to do so. In legal contexts, it's the art of sharing exactly what you must while strategically withholding everything else. Failure to disclose can range from "minor procedural issue" to "enjoy your felony charge."

Example Usage

The company was required to disclose all known defects in the product during discovery, much to their legal team's dismay.

Source: Common legal terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

preclusion

The legal equivalent of slamming a door in someone's face—it's when you're prevented from doing something, raising an issue, or re-litigating a matter that's already been decided. Courts use preclusion doctrines to prevent parties from getting infinite do-overs on the same legal questions. Once the gavel falls and preclusion kicks in, that argument is dead and buried, no matter how much you'd like to resurrect it.

⚖️ Legal

Intermediate

tortfeasor

One who commits a tort, or civil wrong. It sounds like a medieval festival performer but is actually just someone who negligently or intentionally caused harm to another person or property.

⚖️ Legal

Advanced

ancillary jurisdiction

The power of federal courts to hear claims related to the main case even if those claims wouldn't independently qualify for federal court. It's the 'while we're here anyway' principle of judicial efficiency.

⚖️ Legal

Advanced

Force Majeure

A fancy French legal term for "an act of God got us out of this contract," covering everything from earthquakes to pandemics to that one time a ship got stuck in a canal. The ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card for corporations.

⚖️ Legal

Intermediate

reasonableness

A legal standard so subjective it basically means "whatever a reasonable person would think," which is lawyer-speak for "we'll know it when we see it." Courts use this to evaluate whether someone's actions pass the smell test without having to spell out every possible scenario. It's the "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it" of legal standards.

⚖️ Legal

Intermediate

adverse

When something is working against you rather than for you—basically the legal profession's favorite adjective for 'bad news.' It's the term lawyers slap on everything from hostile witnesses to unfavorable rulings to that party across the courtroom trying to take your money. Think of it as the formal way to say 'the opposition' without sounding too WWE.

⚖️ Legal

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alleviation

The act of making something terrible slightly less terrible, which in legal contexts often means reducing damages, penal...