Law Library Legal Dictionary – E

Legal Definitions – E

Easement – A legal right to use another person’s land for a particular purpose.

Elder Abuse – The neglect or abuse of an older person.

Elective Share – The portion of a deceased person’s estate their spouse may collect.

Electronic Evidence – Any electronically stored information (ESI) that may be used as evidence in a lawsuit or trial.

Embezzlement – The illegal taking of the personal property of another by a person who has been entrusted with lawful possession of that item.

Eminent Domain – The seizure of land by the government in exchange for just compensation.

Emotional Distress – Mental distress suffered in response to a sudden and emotionally traumatizing experience. There are two to ways to inflict emotional distress: intentionally and negligently.

Employment Benefits – Non-cash and cash benefits that are distributed from an employer to an employee as part of their compensation.

Employment Discrimination – Discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, or age by an employer.

Employment Law – An area of law that regulates every aspect of employment.

Encumbrance – An interest or right to a piece of real property by someone who is not the landowner.

Entertainment Law – A diverse field of law that integrates contracts and intellectual property law.

Entrapment – A criminal defense that claims that a defendant cannot be found guilty because the police induced him to commit a crime that he would not have otherwise committed.

Environmental Justice – A movement that tries to prevent the discrimination of certain communities in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.

Environmental Law – An area of law that regulates the interaction between humans and the environment.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – A federal administrative agency that enforces the various anti-discrimination laws passed by the federal government.

Equitable Servitude – An agreement or contract between two or more parties that limits a property owner’s use of their property.

Escrow – A security device where a third party is brought into a real estate transaction to make sure that the two main parties involved in the transaction fulfill their individual promises to each other.

Estate Planning – The process of using professional advisors who are familiar with your goals, concerns and assets to organize your estate. Estate planning covers the transfer of property at death in addition to other personal matters, such as health care, organ donation, power of attorney, and funeral arrangements.

Estate Trust – A type of trust specifically created for the benefit of the creator’s surviving spouse.

Eviction – The physical removal of someone from a landowner’s property.

Ex Parte Order – A court order that is issued when one party is not present at a hearing.

Excise Tax – A tax placed on the manufacture or sale of a particular good, or the tax placed on a business license or charter.

Executor of a Will – The person that is appointed to oversee a person’s estate upon their death.

Exigent Circumstances – A situation where people are in imminent danger or a suspect is about to escape or destroy evidence. It provides a legal basis for police to enter a structure without a warrant.

Expert Witness – A highly-skilled or highly-educated witness who has expertise and specialized knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, and whose opinion, based on their expertise, may be relied upon to assist the fact-finder.

Expungement – Expungement (also known as criminal record sealing) is a process by which a person’s criminal records are treated as if they no longer exist.

Extortion – The crime of threatening someone else, their family, or their property in order to illegally take their property.

Extradition – When a state or nation delivers a convicted or suspected criminal to another state or nation for trial.

Eyewitness Identification – When someone who witnessed a crime personally identifies the perpetrator of the crime.