A special administrator is someone appointed by a court to fill the role of a normal administrator, usually until a more permanent administrator can be appointed. A special administrator may be appointed when someone needs to manage the...
courts and procedure
special appearance
Special appearance is a tool defendants can use to challenge a court’s jurisdiction over them. If a court does not have personal jurisdiction or there are other errors like for service of process, many states allow defendants to challenge the...
special immigrant
Special immigrants are non-citizens from certain groups, including U.S. government or international organization’s employees and their families, religious workers, and some juveniles, who can apply for permanent workers’ visas under USCIS...
special master
A "special master" is appointed by a court to carry out some sort of action on its behalf. Theoretically, a "special master" is distinguished from a "master". A master's function is essentially investigative, compiling evidence or documents to inform...
special verdict
A verdict in which the jury gives its findings on factual issues in the case, without necessarily stating which party should win. The judge decides what questions the jury should answer, and the judge can draw legal implications from the jury's...
specific denial
Specific denial is the defendant's denial of specific material facts asserted in the plaintiff's complaint; in other words, a denial of parts of an allegation in a complaint. A circumstance in which the defendant does not deny all of the...
specific finding
A specific finding is a decision made by the jurors on a factful position in a jury trial. It is a decision on a fact made by a jury in its verdict at the judge’s request. Often the judge directs questions at the jury to be answered as a part...
specific jurisdiction
Specific jurisdiction is a form of minimum contacts that enables a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a corporate defendant in that state without violating due process because of the extent of the defendants’ activities within that...
Speedy Trial Act (1974)
Codified at 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161 et seq., this act requires, among other things, a criminal defendant to be brought to trial within seventy days of either his or her indictment or first appearance in court. Certain delays are, also, automatically...
spontaneous exclamation
Also called an excited utterance, a spontaneous exclamation is a statement made in the midst of a startling event, with no opportunity for premeditation or deliberation. Spontaneous exclamations are significant in evidence because they are...