Force Majeure

Definition

A fancy French legal term for "an act of God got us out of this contract," covering everything from earthquakes to pandemics to that one time a ship got stuck in a canal. The ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card for corporations.

Example Usage

"We invoked the force majeure clause after a squirrel chewed through our server cables, which our lawyers argued was technically an act of nature."

Related Terms

Intermediate

regulations

The rules that government agencies create to explain what laws actually mean in practice, usually while making everything more complicated. They're the bureaucratic offspring of legislation, multiplying faster than anyone can read them. Companies either comply with them, hire lawyers to find loopholes in them, or lobby to change them.

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quid pro quo harassment

Sexual harassment where job benefits are conditioned on sexual favors, Latin for 'something for something' but creepy. The workplace equivalent of 'sleep with me or you're fired.'

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compensatory

Money or benefits given to make up for something bad that happened, because apparently 'sorry' doesn't pay the bills. The corporate world's way of putting a price tag on suffering, inconvenience, or injury. Often appears in legal settlements where lawyers translate your pain into billable hours and percentage points.

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Intermediate

arraignment

The criminal defendant's first formal court appearance where charges are read, rights are explained, and pleas are entered. It's basically the legal system's version of 'we need to talk,' except it happens in front of a judge and gets recorded. This is when you find out exactly what the government thinks you did wrong and how much trouble you're actually in.

⚖️ Legal

Advanced

bifurcation

Dividing a trial into separate phases, typically separating liability from damages, essentially legal multitasking that's actually single-tasking in sequence. The judicial version of 'let's take this one step at a time.'

⚖️ Legal

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Remedy

What the court gives you to make things right after someone wrongs you, which usually means money because the legal system has not figured out how to order someone to sincerely apologize. The judicial equivalent of putting a band-aid on a broken leg.

⚖️ Legal

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