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Legalese From A to Z: 5 Legal Terms Beginning With 'B'
Welcome to the second installment of our blog series, Legalese From A to Z.
As part of this continuing series, we'll be taking a closer look at legal terminology that may be
unfamiliar to non-lawyers. We started with the letter "A," so today we take on fie legal terms
that begin with the letter "!""
BFOQ. !F#$ is short for "bona fide occupational %ualification" which, in the
workplace-discrimination conte&t, may allow an employer to discriminate when there is a
legitimate reason for the discrimination. For e&ample, a childcare business looking for a
wet nurse would be able to discriminate against men, as being able to breastfeed would
be considered a !F#$ for that particular 'ob.
Bailee. !ailee doesn't necessarily hae anything to do with bailing someone out of 'ail,
but rather refers to an indiidual or organi(ation entrusted with another person's personal
property -- a process known as "bailment." !ailees include warehouses and commercial
carriers such a trucks, trains, and cargo ships.
Best evidence rule. )he best eidence rule is a general rule of eidence that states"
When a writing, document, photograph, or other recording is being entered into eidence
in court, the original must be presented -- unless it is lost or destroyed, or otherwise
unobtainable. )he rule is a holdoer from the days when copies of documents were made
by hand, and more prone to error, though it is still applicable under the Federal *ules of
+idence and under many states' indiidual eidence codes.
Blackacre. ,ae you eer heard a lawyer or academic refer to "!lackacre"- .s this
some obscure historical reference that you missed, or something from pop culture that
flew under your radar- /on't sweat it. "!lackacre" is simply the name commonly gien to
fictional pieces of property in legal e&ams or in other law school material.
Burden of proof. )he burden of proof refers to which party has the responsibility of
persuading the 'udge or the 'ury regarding a fact or issue. For e&ample, in a criminal case,
the burden of proof is on the prosecution to proe that the defendant committed the
crime in %uestion, although for certain defenses to criminal charges, such as insanity, the
burden of proof may be shifted to the defendant.
.f you need help defining a legal word or phrase, check out FindLaw's free Legal /ictionary for
access to more than 0,123 definitions.
4#riginal post can be found here" http"55bit.ly5FLLegalese!6