America’s legal system is confusing. Here are some of the common terms used in the Trump lawsuits

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press It may feel like you have to attend law school to understand the American legal system However that is not the event We broke down various of the largest part common legal terms used in the lawsuits surrounding the Trump administration What s the general process for a lawsuit Lawsuits are sometimes called complaints for good reason They tell a judge about something that allegedly caused you harm and why you think someone else is to blame Lawsuits also include a request for the kind of relief sought like money or an order stopping the harmful actions The person being sued is invariably given a chance to respond They might tell the judge the lawsuit is wrong argue that someone else is to blame or say the conduct wasn t really harmful Often the person being sued will file a motion to dismiss asking the judge to reject the lawsuit entirely What s a plaintiff The people who file a lawsuit are the plaintiffs and the people being sued are the defendants If a lawsuit is brought on behalf of a big group of people it might become a class action lawsuit What s a TRO And what s a PI Resolving a lawsuit can take months so plaintiffs often ask the judge to temporarily stop the defendants from doing whatever allegedly caused the harm while the occurrence is decided Related Articles Biden calls Trump s pressure on Ukraine modern-day appeasement in st post-presidential interview Dente NIOSH closure puts U S workers in danger Trump administration abruptly removes the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board Trump plans to announce that the US will call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf personnel say Mattel considers price hikes in response to tariffs after Trump says kids don t need a lot of dolls A temporary restraining order or TRO is a short-term emergency order designed to stop immediate irreparable harm A preliminary injunction or PI lasts until the lawsuit is resolved A PI typically isn t granted unless the plaintiff shows they are likely to succeed on the merits or win the incident What s the difference between an appeal and a stay If one side thinks the judge made the wrong call they can appeal by asking a higher court to decide if the ruling was correct They can also ask for a stay which puts a judge s order on pause while a dispute or appeal is worked out What does contempt of court mean If someone disobeys a court order or disrespects the judicial process the judge might hold them in contempt of court Contempt of court convictions can carry big penalties including fines or imprisonment The punishments are designed to pressure the troublesome party to comply so they typically end once the disobedience stops What s discovery and why is specific privileged Discovery happens when both sides request information from each other as they search for facts supporting their side of the scenario Discovery can include witness names documents or sworn statements from people If one side thinks something should be kept confidential they might claim privilege Attorney-client communications are generally privileged State secrets privilege is invoked if the establishment thinks sharing the information would put national shield at exposure Why all the jargon Legal terms carry very specific definitions The jargon can feel fussy but it s all meant to help lawyers and judges avoid any ambiguity For instance the term jurisdiction refers to whether a court has the authority to decide a situation It might seem simpler to just use the word venue but there are a great number of different types of legal jurisdiction and the word venue just doesn t cover it all Jurisdiction can be based on a geographic area or on the subject matter of the lawsuit It can even be based on timing or which court gets first dibs on a incident