All Legal Terms by letter W

Warrant :- A warrant in contract terms is to say a party warrants a relevant fact or situation regarding the contract's subject matter to be true. In criminal law matters, the term warrant refers to the order issued by a court authorizing the arrest of a person.

Warranty :- A warranty is a guarantee made with regard to some attribute of a product or service. For example, a warranty deed guarantees the status of a land title.

Warranty of Fitness :- A warranty of fitness is a guarantee implied by the manufacturer, retailer, and distributor of a product, that the product is fit for its intended purpose and foreseeable use.

Warranty of Merchantability :- A warranty of merchantability is a guarantee implied by the manufacturer, retailer, and distributor of a product, that the product is fit for its intended purpose and foreseeable use and that it is also properly packaged and labeled.

Waste :- Abusive use or the destructive use of property, even when done by the property's owner, is called waste.

Weighted Average :- Weighted average is an accounting convention whereby the cost of goods sold and the cost of the ending inventory are determined by using the weighted average cost of all merchandise available over the entire period.

Whistleblower :- A Whistleblower is really a slang term that is now generally accepted and which is used in practice to describe that person who alerts civil authorities of the wrongful acts being committed by his employer against the government. Whistleblowers are entitled to protection from retaliation by provisions of the Federal Whistleblower Protection Act. Another remedy, beyond that provided by the Act, is the filing of what is called a Qui Tam Claim. In Qui Tam, the Whistleblower sues his employer directly on behalf of the government. The Whistleblower may then be entitled to share substantially in any recovery that is made.

Will :- A will is the document by which a person can direct the destiny of his or her assets after death. The will is a testamentary document. Its maker is called the testator. All states require some level of authenticity to survive a challenge. Should a will fail, any property will descend to heirs as set forth in the relevant state's intestacy statute as if the will had never existed.

Winding Up :- Winding Up refers to the final settlement of corporate affairs before the corporation finally goes out of existence. Winding Up is not a bankruptcy procedure, per se.

Wire Transfer :- Wire Transfer is a legal term that refers to the movement of money from account to account, or from person to person, by electronic means. The physical cash itself does not necessarily move at all, just the ownership of the money is transferred.

With Prejudice :- With Prejudice means to conclude a cause of action such that it cannot be brought again. In most jurisdictions, a plaintiff may dismiss his civil case once without prejudice to the case being re-filed. The second dismissal of the case, in most jurisdictions, is understood to be a dismissal with prejudice. In other words, it cannot be filed again.

Witness :- A person with first hand information relevant to the essential facts of a case is a witness, based on the witnesses own personal knowledge. The witness may testify if otherwise qualified. Expert testimony may be introduced in some cases where the opinion of the expert on a scientific matter may be helpful to the jury. An expert witness may give opinion even though he or she has no first hand information of the facts. The lay witness may not give opinion testimony, unless qualified.

Witness Protection Program:- This program offers protection to certain witnesses who may be in particular danger from the defendant if the witness takes the witness stand. The program is unusually active in organized crime prosecutions. New identities have been given to some witnesses.

Work For Hire :- Under the work for hire rule, an employed artist who creates an item that can be copyrighted is not entitled to the copyright ahead of the employer unless the artist and employer have agreed otherwise.

Workers' Compensation :- This is a model act adopted throughout the United States that offers scheduled benefits and compensation to certain injured workers who are injured on the job, regardless of whose fault the injury might have been. This model supplants the common law fellow servant rule, which required the injured person to sue and prove fault against a co-worker. Since the co-worker never had much money, the injured worker had no viable remedy and the legislature responded. Each state has a separate system and rules for workers' compensation cases.

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Workflow Accounting :- Workflow is an accounting legal term that refers to the examination of the way in which the specific work tasks of a company, or a company division, is done, such that an accounting value is deemed and ascribed to each step in the work process, or to each step in the flow of the work. A workflow model is then constructed and rational decisions are achieved. Workflow accounting is a concept that has allowed many large successful companies to be run by managers with strong accounting backgrounds.

Working Capital :- Working Capital is an accounting legal term that refers to the dollar amount, in value, used by a company in carrying on its business activities. This amount excludes the cost, or value, of equipment and buildings.

Write Off :- A write off is the act of charging part or all of the value of an asset off to an expense or loss. The asset is thus written off, for accounting purposes.