It was exciting to read that Mark Liberman of Language Log did not know the word conclusory. I have to admit that it’s used in American law more than English, but I did know the meaning when I encountered it. Entries by Mark here and here, and by Steve at languagehat here.

I did find it adequately defined in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law and in Black’s Law Dictionary, but not in Gifis.

But it’s a problem in German law that German language dictionaries omit specialized terminology, and apparently to some extent that is true of English dictionaries too. So we must be grateful to Mark for doing all the research on the term and even getting a few lawyers to come out of the woodwork and opine.

At first I thought this was one of those wonderful American terms that are thrown in so fast as objections in examination in chief (direct examination) and cross-examination of witnesses, like ‘asked and answered’ or ‘leading’ or ‘hearsay’, but it would be ‘Objection – calls for a conclusion’.

Note the comments at languagehat, especially on the dubious word ‘facially’, meaning ‘on the face of it’.