Comparative law notes
this phrase has now also been included as its own Wikipedia entry and is used to describe a a type of constitutive legal act (also known as an act-in-the-law, act at law, legal act, or juristic act) by which legal subjects can change the legal positions of themselves or other persons intentionally'. The Wikipedia entry notes that the concept is important in civil law jurisdictions based on or influenced by the German law of obligations. Since the phrase "legal transaction" connotes an interaction or exchange between persons and Rechtsgeschäfte can be unilateral and because the phrase itself can be laden with other meaning in a variety of different contexts and situations but the concept is a very precise one under Roman, European and German law, we would strongly suggest staying away from this phrase. Although this phrase has found widespread usage on day-to-day business transactions, it is rather misleading as a translation of a concept that has its own distinct and rather abstract meaning. We would instead recommend using a more accurately descriptive neologism, "willful and legally consequential act".