The act of dishonestly withholding assets for the purpose of stealing them, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. It is a type of financial fraud and is usually a premeditated crime performed methodically, with the embezzler taking precautions to conceal his or her activities, because it is occurring without the knowledge or consent of the affected person.

A legal document, usually in writing, giving details of a formal legally binding agreement, between two or more different people or groups. To be legally binding it must contain certain elements: it must contain an offer made by one party and accepted in its entirety by the other, it must include some form of consideration whether it be money, goods or services, and it must be properly signed by all parties to it, and dated.

A contract in which all elements of a contract are specifically stated (offer, acceptance and consideration), and the terms are set out, as compared with an implied contract in which the existence of the contract is assumed by the circumstances.

Used to describe a situation where an employer dismisses an employee in breach of employment law, which may give rise to legal proceedings for reinstatement and/or compensation for dismissal.

Any matter of fact that a party to a claim or action offers to provide to prove or disprove an issue in the case. The strongest type of evidence is that which provides direct proof of the truth of an assertion. At the other extreme is evidence that is merely consistent with an assertion but does not rule out other, contradictory assertions, and may be viewed as circumstantial evidence.