Automobile

What automobile means

Put simply, automobile is part of the working vocabulary of a civil case. The short definition above covers the usual meaning. Still, a specific rule, statute or contract can give it a narrower meaning. For that reason, check how it is used in your own documents.

Where automobile comes up

The term is used across many kinds of cases. For example, you may see it in pleadings, motions and court orders. To see it in context, browse the motions and procedures library or the Learn the Law topics.

How to research the term

To research automobile, begin with the rule, statute or contract where the word is used. Each one can give it a slightly different meaning. Then compare that text with how courts in your area have applied it. Also check the local rules of your court, since they can add requirements. If your case is in state court, the state rules control. So start with our state procedures guide to find them. In the end, always confirm that the source you rely on is current.

You can read the current federal court rules online for free.

Related legal terms

• Attorney-in-fact: an agent authorized to act for another person under a power of attorney. An attorney-in-fact does not need to be a lawyer and cannot practice law for the principal unless licensed; the agent owes the principal duties such as acting in good faith and within the scope of the authority granted.
• Audit: an independent examination of financial statements, records or procedures to determine whether they are accurate and follow applicable standards.
• Audit trail: a chronological record that allows a transaction to be traced from its source documents through each step of processing to final reports, showing who did what and when.
• Authority: the legal power to act or decide, such as a court's authority to hear a case or an agent's authority to bind a principal. The word also means a legal source a court relies on, such as a statute, rule or prior decision.

Why precise terms matter

Legal words often look like everyday words, but they can carry a precise meaning. Because of that, a small misreading can change how you understand a deadline, a duty or a right. Our glossary keeps each definition short and links it to the procedures where it matters.