COGNOVIT JUDGMENT: see confession of judgment.
CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT: see confession of judgment.
DEFAULT JUDGMENT: a judgment entered on behalf of a plaintiff when the defendant defaults, or fails to appear in the proceeding.
ESTOPPEL BY JUDGMENT: estoppel brought about the judgment of a court because a similar question or fact in dispute has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction between the same parties or their privies.
FINAL JUDGMENT: a conclusive determination of the rights of the parties, disposing of the entire controversy before the court, or of some separable portion of the dispute, so that immediately after the judgment, or an appeal therefrom, the enforcement of that judgment can be made. The term also refers to the sentence imposed in a criminal case. See final decision.
JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT: see default; default judgment.
JUDGMENT IN PERSONAM: see PERSONAL JUDGMENT (below)
JUDGMENT IN REM: one pronounced upon the status of a particular subject matter, property or thing, as opposed to one pronounced upon persons.
JUDGEMENT N.O.V: see n.o.v.
JUDGMENT OF CONVICTION: the sentence in a criminal case formally entered in the clerk's records.
JUDGMENT OF DISMISSAL: an order that finally disposes of a matter without a trial of the issues involved on their merits. See dismissal.
JUDGMENT ON THE MERITS: a binding judgment determined by analysis and adjudication of the factual issues presented, rather than by existence of a technical or procedural defect that requires on party to prevail.
EXAMPLE:
Robin files a lawsuit but inadvertently names the wrong parties as defendants. When her case comes to trial, it may be dismissed as against the people she wanted to sue because they were not named. That dismissal would not be a judgment on the merits. Since the court's action in doing so is necessitated by a procedural error committed by Robin.JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS see SUMMARY JUDGMENT (below)
PERSONAL JUDGMENT: a judgment rendered against an individual or an entity such as a corporation for the payment of money damages. To be distinguished from a JUDGMENT IN REM (above). See in personam; personal judgment.
SUMMARY JUDGMENT: a pre-verdict judgment rendered by the court on the basis of the pleadings because no material issue of fact exists and one party or the other is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Either party may move for summary judgment at any time after all pleadings have been filed.
