Ohio Supreme Court Glossary of Legal Terms

“The court held in a per curiam opinion that a peremptory challenge during voir dire was barred by precedent --- The court this morning ruled sua sponte that the motion for summary judgment was barred by res judicata… Say what?

   Obviously not everyone skimming the Ohio Supreme Court’s Court News has a law degree or knows Latin, so last Friday – with Supreme Court Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger’ having had played a key role in its development – CNO launched the court’s first interactive online glossary designed specifically to help the public understand the legal terms that courts and lawyers frequently use.

  “The new tool features pop-up definitions that appear when a reader hovers over underlined legal words in articles on the CNO web site, or via browsing the glossary in its entirety -- currently contains 160 definitions translating legal jargon into simple English. Along with the glossary, an instructive service for the bookish crowd – “Legal Word of the Week.” – added a weekly “featured legal word and definition” to CNO’s Facebook & Twitter pages.

  CNO is also  encouraging readers to suggest legal terms they think should be included in the glossary. Staff will review submissions and update the glossary with useful entries. Submissions may be sent to CNO@sc.ohio.gov