ESL Podcast 780 - Being Sued

to sue - to take someone to court; to go to a legal court and ask the judge to make someone pay money for having done something wrong or illegal

Meghan is suing her neighbor because his dog bit her son.

to be served - to officially receive legal papers or notification that one is required to appear in court

Many court documents have to be served in person. They cannot be sent via fax or email.

in-house counsel - a lawyer who works for a company as an employee and provides legal advice to that company

In the first few years of business, we worked with a law firm. As our company grew, we hired a few lawyers and now we only work with in-house counsel.

firm - business or company, especially a company that provides professional services

Our consulting firm will help you minimize costs and maximize sales.

to represent (someone) - to speak on behalf of someone, especially in a legal courtroom, trying to help that person get what he or she wants or needs

We're paying you $300 an hour to represent us, so we expect you to know all the details of our case.

attorney - a lawyer; someone who is trained and educated in the law and is qualified and authorized to provide legal advice

Trent wants to be an attorney, but he hasn't decided whether he wants to specialize in business law or criminal law.

rundown - a brief summary of something; an overview; the highlights

The first five minutes of the news program provide a rundown of the day's major events.

negligence - failure to use the right amount of care or caution; not taking care of something as much as one should

The house has broken windows and a hole in the roof, and is clearly suffering from the owner's negligence.

class action - a court case involving one person or a small group of people who represent a much larger group of people

Female employees of Wal-Mart charged the company with sex discrimination in a large civil action suit, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

to allege - to make a statement that accuses someone of having done something; to say that someone has done something wrong or illegal

Ms. Sanders alleges that Mr. Gonzales hit her car, but she has no proof.

lawsuit - court case; one instance of one person or company suing another person or company in a legal court

Three years ago, the company was involved in a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

merit - value; goodness; worthiness

Their proposal doesn't seem to have much merit, so we're still looking for other ideas.

frivolous - not serious; without a real or valuable purpose; unimportant

As a teenager, Mariah was frivolous, only interested in makeup and dating, but her younger sister was very serious, always studying.

loophole - a part of a law that is poorly written and leaves an opportunity for one to do something that was not intended by the lawmakers

The tax attorney found a loophole that saved her clients thousands of dollars.

settlement - an official agreement to end a lawsuit or disagreement, usually with one person paying another person, but often without admitting guilt or blame

Even though Shane was innocent, he agreed to the settlement because he didn't want to spend any more time or money on the court case.

to get ahead of (oneself) - to begin planning or doing something earlier than one should, before there is a clear need to do so

You've only been on two dates with Jenna. Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself by shopping for wedding rings?

to lay off - to reduce the amount or frequency of something; to start doing or having less of something

Piotr has gained a lot of weight lately. He needs to lay off the French fries.