Suits can make legal English feel like somebody dumped a filing cabinet on your head: deposition, subpoena, settlement, prosecution, privilege, insider trading, trial—and the characters rarely stop to define any of it. The fastest way to follow the show is not to memorize an alphabetical glossary. It is to ask one question: what stage of the case are we in?
This guide uses a Case File Decoder: term → plain English → case stage → what it does → TV-law warning. The legal definitions below are grounded in current U.S. legal sources, while the show lines are used as listening examples. This is language-learning material, not legal advice.
The case-stage map
1. PEOPLE / CASE → Who is suing, defending, prosecuting, advising?
2. GATHER INFORMATION → Investigation, subpoena, deposition, oath, testimony, records.
3. NEGOTIATE → Offer, settlement, deal, settle, off the table.
4. COURT / TRIAL → Burden of proof, witness stand, trial, defense rests, appeal.
5. REGULATORY / BUSINESS → SEC, insider trading, proprietary information, privilege.
Once you can put a term into the right folder, a fast Suits scene becomes much easier: you can predict the purpose of the conversation even if you miss some vocabulary.
Folder 1: PEOPLE / CASE — who is doing what?
that you were an attorney
In U.S. usage, an attorney is a lawyer. The practical listening question is: whose lawyer? Representation determines whose legal interests the attorney is acting for in that matter.
on the prosecution,
The prosecution is the government side pursuing a criminal case. Do not confuse it with the plaintiff in an ordinary civil lawsuit.
You're a named defendant.
A defendant is the person or entity against whom a case is brought. In civil litigation, the opposing party is typically the plaintiff; in criminal litigation, the government prosecutes the defendant.
in a civil suit
A civil suit or lawsuit seeks a civil remedy rather than a criminal conviction. That distinction matters because burdens of proof, remedies and procedure differ.
This lawsuit has caused
In these scenes, lawsuit signals the civil-dispute lane. The word case is broader: a case can be civil or criminal.
Folder 2: GATHER INFORMATION — before and around trial
Deposition / depose
You want to depose me?
To depose someone is to take that person's testimony in a deposition. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30, an oral deposition involves questioning a deponent outside the trial itself; the testimony can be recorded, and the examination is conducted under oath or affirmation.
Subpoena
- Subpoena.
A subpoena is a legal command. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45, a subpoena can command a person to attend and testify, produce specified documents or electronically stored information, or permit inspection, depending on its terms.
Under oath and testimony
You are under oath.
Under oath means the person has sworn or affirmed to tell the truth in the legal proceeding.
Louis's testimony pushed it
Testimony is evidence given by a witness, typically under oath. The word tells you that the scene is now about a witness's account, not simply an informal conversation.
Tanner's cases, transcripts,
A transcript is a written record of spoken proceedings or testimony. Lawyers research transcripts, prior cases and decisions to understand what happened before and how arguments developed.
Folder 3: NEGOTIATE — settlement, offers and deals
Settlement / settle
for a settlement?
In litigation, a settlement is an agreement resolving the dispute. Cornell's Legal Information Institute describes settlement as an agreement that ends a dispute and related litigation.
I'm not against settling.
Settling is the verb: resolving the dispute by agreement instead of continuing through a contested final judgment.
we have settled.
This is the outcome state: an agreement has been reached.
Offer, deal, off the table
an acceptable offer.
An offer is proposed terms. An acceptable offer is one the receiving side considers good enough to accept.
or the deal's off the table
Off the table means the option is no longer available for negotiation.
told her to take the deal.
Take the deal means accept the proposed agreement—but deal is context-dependent. In one scene it may be a civil settlement; in another, it may refer to a criminal-case negotiated resolution. Do not automatically translate every deal as settlement.
take this thing to trial,
This is the alternative to settling: continue the dispute toward trial.
Folder 4: COURT / TRIAL — proof, witnesses and case stages
Burden of proof
the burden of proof would be
Burden of proof means the obligation to prove a claim or charge to the required legal standard. Cornell LII explains that the standards differ by context: in criminal cases the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; in most civil cases the plaintiff generally proves the case by a preponderance of the evidence.
Beyond a reasonable doubt is the criminal-conviction standard. A U.S. criminal defendant generally does not have to “prove innocence”; the prosecution bears the burden of proving guilt. That is an important correction when TV dialogue casually talks about proving someone innocent.
Witness stand and trial
The Plaintiff would like to call
This is the start of a formal witness-calling frame.
to the stand.
The stand is the witness stand—the place where the witness gives testimony.
Defense rests.
When the defense rests, it is announcing that it has finished presenting its case/evidence at that stage.
appeals, decisions.
An appeal asks a higher court to review a lower-court decision under applicable rules and standards. It is not simply “another trial because one side disliked the result.”
Folder 5: REGULATORY / BUSINESS — SEC, insider trading and privilege
SEC and insider trading
The SEC decided
SEC stands for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal securities regulator.
with insider trading?
Insider trading is not simply “trading while knowing something private.” Investor.gov says illegal insider trading generally involves buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, on the basis of material nonpublic information; violations can also involve tipping or misappropriation.
with insider information.
For learners, hear material nonpublic information as the key legal concept, not “any secret.” Materiality and the duty/source/use of the information matter.
Attorney-client privilege
under attorney-client privilege.
Attorney-client privilege protects qualifying confidential communications between lawyer and client relating to legal advice or services. The privilege belongs to the client, can be waived, and has exceptions.
One phrase TV can make dangerously simple: “take the Fifth”
You may hear lawyers and witnesses refer to the Fifth Amendment. Taking the Fifth means invoking the privilege against compelled testimonial self-incrimination. It is not a universal right to refuse every question or every type of evidence. And in a U.S. criminal trial, a defendant's decision not to testify may not be treated by the prosecutor or jury as evidence of guilt; civil proceedings can involve different consequences. That nuance matters far more than the dramatic phrase itself.
Fast decoder: hear the word, choose the folder
| Term | Folder | Plain-English trigger |
|---|---|---|
| deposition / depose | Gather information | sworn questioning outside trial |
| subpoena | Gather information | legal command to appear/testify/produce |
| settlement / settle | Negotiate | resolve dispute by agreement |
| burden of proof | Court / trial | who must prove what, and to what standard |
| prosecution | Criminal | government side pursuing criminal case |
| SEC / insider trading | Regulatory | securities regulation/enforcement |
| attorney-client privilege | Evidence / legal advice | protected qualifying confidential legal communications |
Mini quiz: which case folder are you in?
Writer-original scenario: A lawyer questions a witness under oath in a conference room before trial.
Show answer
Gather information. The likely key term is deposition.
Writer-original scenario: Both sides exchange money/payment and release terms to end a civil dispute.
Show answer
Negotiate. They are working toward a settlement.
Writer-original scenario: The government must convince a jury of a criminal defendant's guilt to the required standard.
Show answer
Criminal court. Think prosecution, burden of proof, and beyond a reasonable doubt.
Writer-original scenario: A company employee trades shares using important confidential information obtained through a relationship of trust.
Show answer
Regulatory/securities. Think insider trading, but remember the legal analysis is more specific than “secret information + trade.”
How to learn Suits vocabulary without becoming a TV lawyer
When a legal term appears, pause and label the folder before reaching for a dictionary: people, information-gathering, negotiation, trial, or regulation? Then write one plain-English definition and one “not the same as” contrast—for example: deposition ≠ trial, settlement ≠ automatic admission, privilege ≠ every lawyer-related document.
FunFluen can make that practice faster: hide the subtitle, loop five-to-ten seconds, identify the term and case stage, then reveal the subtitle and save the term with your plain-English meaning. The goal is not to memorize legal drama dialogue. It is to hear one legal word and immediately know what kind of legal action is happening.
Bookmark rule: if a Suits term confuses you, first ask where in the case does this word live? The stage often explains half the meaning.
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