Foundations

Legal Terms

A small map of legal vocabulary used by later case studies.

highlighted = computed this step

Foundations honesty note

Honesty note: simplified standard model; jurisdiction US; as of 2026-06-24; jurisdictions vary; not legal advice; the chart models a process description, not the law itself.

US model as of 2026−06−24\text{US model as of }2026-06-24

Terms are data fields

A legal explanation can separate actor, source, claim, and fact fields before it tries to reason from them.

fields first\text{fields first}

A tiny fact packet

The toy packet begins with facts, then frames an issue, finds a rule, names a claim, and leaves any remedy as a request label.

facts to issue to rule\text{facts to issue to rule}

The map governs the packet

The simplified vocabulary map has 5 nodes and 4 transitions. The order tells the reader which field is being discussed.

terms nodes=5,edges=4\text{terms nodes}=5,\quad \text{edges}=4

Diagram note

The chart is a reading scaffold. It is not an answer to any legal question.

vocabulary scaffold only\text{vocabulary scaffold only}

Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-06-24; not legal advice; Code encodes the stated-rule interpretation.

Terms as building blocksTerms as building blocksscope: US | Simplified legal vocabulary map | as of 2026-06-24Simplified standard model; jurisdictions vary; not legal advice; this models a process, not the law itself.framefindapplyrequestFactsrole start r0 in0 out1 reach4Issuerole step r1 in1 out1 reach3Rulerole step r2 in1 out1 reach2Claimrole step r3 in1 out1 reach1Remedyrole terminal r4 in1 out0 reach0SCC: scc4:facts; scc3:issue; scc2:rule; scc1:claim; scc0:remedy

Narrow summary

Use the terms map to keep source, fact, claim, and remedy labels separate in later examples.

separate labels before analysis\text{separate labels before analysis}