Motion - A request by a litigant to a judge for a decision on an issue relating to the case.⏎
Record - A written account of the proceedings in a case, including all pleadings, evidence, and exhibits submitted in the course of the case.⏎
Precedent - A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court. Judges will generally "follow precedent" - meaning that they use the principles established in earlier cases to decide new cases that have similar facts and raise similar legal issues. A judge will disregard precedent if a party can show that the earlier case was wrongly decided, or that it differed in some significant way from the current case.⏎
Objection to dischargeability - A trustee's or creditor's objection to the debtor being released from personal liability for certain dischargeable debts. Common reasons include allegations that the debt to be discharged was incurred by false pretenses or that debt arose because of the debtor's fraud while acting as a fiduciary.⏎
Oral argument - An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.⏎