Terms beginning with B
918 headwords
- BShort for Baron, a title once borne by judges of the Court of Exchequer.
- B reorganizationA tax-free reorganization in which one company acquires another's shares solely in exchange for its own voting stock.
- B.RShort for the Bankruptcy Reporter; also, formerly, for the Court of King's Bench or Queen's Bench, now written K.B. a…
- BAA time draft drawn on and accepted by a bank, which then stands behind payment at maturity. Such drafts are widely tr…
- baby act, pleading theInformally, raising one's own infancy as a defense to a claim on a contract.
- baby bondA bond issued in a small denomination, often under $1,000, so as to be within reach of small investors.
- Baby DoeA stand-in name used for a very young child in litigation, especially in cases about medical treatment.
- Baby FTC ActA state statute that, like the Federal Trade Commission Act, outlaws deceptive and unfair trade practices.
- baby-snatchingThe kidnapping of a child, often without force or fraud, as where someone simply walks off with another's baby stroller.
- BACThe proportion of alcohol in a person's blood, given as a percentage. It is used to decide whether someone is legally…
- bachelorAn unmarried man; also, the usual title of a first university degree. In English law it meant a member of an order of…
- bachelor of lawsThe first degree in law, once the standard qualification awarded by American law schools and still awarded in some ot…
- backTo indorse, or sign the back of an instrument, so as to show approval or accept financial responsibility. Formerly it…
- back carryThe offense of carrying unlawfully killed game on one's back.
- back landsLand lying away from a highway or watercourse rather than beside it.
- back taxesTaxes assessed for an earlier year that remain unpaid.
- back-in rightIn oil-and-gas law, a reversionary interest entitling someone who assigned a lease to a share of the working interest…
- back-title letterA letter from a title insurer telling a lawyer what the state of a property's title was at a given date, so that the…
- back-to-back loanAn arrangement under which two firms lend each other money in different currencies for a set period.
- back-to-work agreementA contract between a union and an employer setting the terms on which employees will return to work after a strike.
- backadationA fee a seller of securities pays so that the buyer will accept delivery later than originally agreed.
- backberendCarrying stolen goods on one's back or about one's person; also, a person caught doing so.
- backdateTo put an earlier date than the true one on something; also, to make something valid retrospectively.
- backhaul allowanceA price discount for customers who collect goods from the seller's warehouse themselves, reflecting the freight costs…
- backingEndorsement, especially a magistrate's endorsement of a warrant.
- backpay awardA decision by a court or tribunal that an employee or former employee is owed wages or benefits that accrued but were…
- backspreadIn arbitrage, a smaller than usual gap between the prices of a currency or commodity.
- backward integrationA firm's acquisition of the facilities that produce the raw materials or parts going into its own products.
- backwardationA fee a seller of securities pays so that the buyer will accept delivery later than originally agreed.
- backwaterWater in a stream held back by a dam or obstruction, so that it cannot flow on and sometimes flows backwards.
- baculusA rod or staff used as a symbol in conveying undeveloped land.
- bad characterA person's leaning towards wrongdoing. In limited circumstances evidence of it may be put in to undermine a witness's…
- bad checkA check that is refused because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
- bad debtA debt that cannot be collected, which may be deductible for tax purposes.
- bad faithDishonesty of belief or purpose.
- bad motiveKnowing that an act is wrong at the time of doing it.
- bad titleA title a reasonable buyer would refuse because of possible competing claims or litigation over the property.
- bad-boy disqualificationAn issuer's loss of certain exemptions from SEC registration because it has broken the securities laws.
- bad-boy provisionIn securities law, a clause in a blue-sky law providing that certain people, because of what they have done in the pa…
- bad-conduct dischargeA punitive discharge a court-martial may impose on a service member, usually for repeated minor offenses.
- bad-debt loss ratioThe ratio of uncollectable debt to a business's total receivables.
- bad-debt reserveA reserve set aside to cover losses on receivables that cannot be collected.
- bad-man theoryThe view that a bad person's understanding of the law is the best test of what the law actually is, because such a pe…
- badge of fraudA circumstance courts treat as a reliable sign that a party to a transaction was trying to obstruct or defraud the ot…
- badge of slaveryStrictly, a legal disability suffered by a slave, such as being unable to vote or own property; more broadly, any act…
- badger gameA scheme to extort money or some other advantage by catching someone in a compromising situation and threatening to e…
- bagaA bag or purse, especially one in which the Chancery kept original writs.
- bagmanSomeone who collects and hands on money obtained illegally, especially a go-between who collects a bribe for a public…
- bailSecurity such as cash or a bond, particularly what a court requires for releasing a prisoner who must appear again la…
- bail aboveA surety for a civil defendant arrested on a process issued during the lawsuit. If the defendant lost, the surety had…
- bail absoluteA fiduciary bond under which the surety becomes liable if an estate administrator, executor, or guardian fails to acc…
- bail belowSomeone who promised the sheriff that a defendant served with process in a civil action would appear on the day the w…
- bail bondA written promise to pay money or do something if certain circumstances arise or a certain time passes, which is disc…
- bail bondsmanSomeone who provides bail as surety for a criminal defendant's release.
- bail commonA fictitious surety filed by a defendant in a civil action, usually a minor one.
- Bail CourtA subsidiary court of Queen's Bench that checked whether bail sureties were good for the sums they pledged and handle…
- bail dockA small enclosure in a courtroom where a criminal defendant is held during trial.
- bail in errorSecurity given by a defendant who intends to bring a writ of error against a judgment and wants execution stayed mean…
- bail pieceA document recording the bail granted to a defendant in a civil action, filed with the court and usually signed by th…
- bail to the actionA surety for a civil defendant arrested on a process issued during the lawsuit. If the defendant lost, the surety had…
- bail to the sheriffSomeone who promised the sheriff that a defendant served with process in a civil action would appear on the day the w…
- bail-enforcement agentSomeone who for a fee pursues a person charged with or suspected of a crime, especially one hired by a bail-bond comp…
- bail-jumpingThe offense of failing to surrender in accordance with one's bail.
- bail-point scaleA system for deciding whether a criminal defendant may have bail, under which the defendant is scored on their backgr…
- bailable(Of an offense or a person) eligible for bail.
- bailable offenseA charge for which a defendant may be released from custody on giving proper security.
- bailable processA process directing an officer to take bail after arresting a defendant. The law requires the defendant's release onc…
- baileeSomeone who receives another's personal property under a bailment.
- bailee policyA floating policy covering goods in a bailee's hands without describing the particular goods covered.
- bailerSomeone who provides bail as surety for a criminal defendant's release.
- bailiffA court officer who keeps order during proceedings; also, a sheriff's officer who executes writs and serves process.
- bailiff of franchisesA bailiff who executes writs and carries out other duties in privileged districts lying outside the Crown's, and so t…
- bailiff-errantA bailiff the sheriff appoints to deliver writs and other process within a county.
- bailiffs of hundredsBailiffs a sheriff appointed to collect fines, summon juries, attend court, and execute writs and process within the…
- bailiffs of manorsPeople appointed to manage the estates of the nobility, collecting fines and rents, inspecting buildings, and keeping…
- bailiviaA bailiff's office, jurisdiction, or district, especially the territory they cover.
- bailiwickA bailiff's office, jurisdiction, or district, especially the territory they cover.
- bailmentThe handing over of personal property by one person, the bailor, to another, the bailee, who holds it for a particula…
- bailment for hireA bailment for which the bailee is paid, as where a car is left with a parking attendant.
- bailment for mutual benefitA bailment for which the bailee is paid and from which the bailor gets some further benefit, as where a parking atten…
- bailorSomeone who hands personal property to another under a bailment; also, someone who provides bail as surety for a crim…
- bailoutThe rescue of a business, usually a company, from financial trouble. It also means a company's attempt to gain favora…
- bailout stockNon-taxable preferred stock issued to shareholders as a dividend, used to take corporate earnings out at capital-gain…
- bailsmanSomeone who provides bail as surety for a criminal defendant's release.
- bait advertisingAdvertising a cheap product to draw customers into a shop, only to push them towards a dearer one. Most states forbid…
- bait and switchAdvertising a cheap product to draw customers into a shop, only to push them towards a dearer one. Most states forbid…
- balanceTo work out the difference between the debits and credits of an account; also, to bring things into proportion, or to…
- balance of powerIn international law, a rough equality of strength between countries or blocs, which encourages peace because none is…
- balance of probabilityThe greater weight of the evidence: enough to tip a fair and impartial mind to one side, though not enough to remove…
- balance sheetA statement of an organization's financial position at a given moment, showing the value of its assets, its liabiliti…
- balance-sheet insolvencyInsolvency arising because a debtor's liabilities exceed its assets. Under some state laws a company in this position…
- balance-sheet testInsolvency arising because a debtor's liabilities exceed its assets. Under some state laws a company in this position…
- balanced economyAn economy in which imports and exports are equal in money terms.
- balanced fundA mutual fund that keeps a balance between shares and bonds, putting a set proportion into senior securities.
- balancing testA judicial approach, used especially in constitutional cases, in which a court weighs competing interests, such as in…
- baleA package of goods wrapped in cloth and marked so that it can be identified on a bill of lading.
- balivaA bailiff's office, jurisdiction, or district, especially the territory they cover.
- ballisticsThe science of how projectiles such as bullets travel; also, the study of a weapon's firing characteristics, used in…
- ballivaA bailiff's office, jurisdiction, or district, especially the territory they cover.
- balloon noteA note requiring small regular payments and then one very large final one. The regular payments usually cover only in…
- balloon paymentA final loan payment, usually much bigger than the regular ones before it, which clears the outstanding principal.
- balloon-payment mortgageA mortgage requiring regular payments for a set time and then a lump sum covering the balance when it matures.
- ballotA small ball or ticket used to record a vote; also, the system of choosing people for office by marking papers or dra…
- ballot boxA locked box into which ballots are put.
- banFormerly, a public proclamation or summons, used for many purposes, from calling a lord's vassals to arms to declarin…
- bancoA seat or bench of justice; also, a piece of land cut off when a river shifts course, especially land thereby separat…
- bancusIn English law, a court or tribunal.
- bancus reginaeAnother term for the Queen's Bench.
- bancus regisAnother term for the King's Bench.
- bancus superiorUpper bench, the name given to the King's Bench during the Protectorate of 1653 to 1659.
- baneA wrongdoer or murderer; someone whose crime calls for the hue and cry to be raised.
- banishTo expel someone from a country, especially their own or one where they have long lived.
- bankAn institution for depositing, lending, exchanging, or issuing money and for transferring funds, especially a member…
- bank accountA deposit or credit account held with a bank, such as a checking, time, savings, or passbook account.
- bank charterA document a government authority issues permitting a bank to do business.
- bank creditCredit a bank makes available to a borrower.
- bank discountInterest a bank deducts from a note in advance.
- bank draftA draft drawn by one financial institution on another.
- bank for cooperativesA bank within a system set up to give farmers' cooperatives a permanent source of credit, supervised by the Farm Cred…
- bank fraudThe offense of carrying out, or attempting to carry out, a scheme to defraud a financial institution, or to obtain mo…
- bank holding companyA company that owns or controls one or more banks. Holding 25 percent is usually enough to count.
- bank nightA lottery in which a prize goes to whoever's name is drawn at random, often from among the patrons of a theater.
- bank rateThe rate at which the Federal Reserve lends to member banks.
- Bank Secrecy Act of 1970A federal law requiring banks to keep records of all dealings with depositors and to report deposits over $10,000 to…
- bank statementA report a bank sends a customer, usually monthly, setting out the checks drawn and cleared, deposits made, charges t…
- bank-account trustA bank account a depositor holds in trust for another, revocable at will, the balance passing to the named person on…
- bank-statement ruleThe rule that a customer who fails to check a bank statement within a reasonable time, usually within a year for a fo…
- bankable paperNotes, checks, bank bills, drafts, and similar instruments that banks take as the equivalent of cash.
- bankerSomeone whose business is banking.
- banker's lienA bank's right to satisfy a customer's matured debt out of the customer's money or property in its hands.
- bankingThe business carried on by or with a bank.
- Banking Act of 1933A federal statute protecting depositors by limiting what securities business commercial banks may do, in particular f…
- banking dayThe hours on a day when a bank is open to the public for substantially all its banking business. If the bookkeeping a…
- banking gameA gambling arrangement in which the house takes bets from all the players, paying out on winning bets and keeping the…
- banknoteA promissory note issued by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand, which may circulate as money.
- bankruptIn debt beyond any means of paying; insolvent.
- BankruptcyA provision allowing a bankruptcy plan to put small unsecured claims in a class of their own, where doing so helps th…
- Bankruptcy ActThe Bankruptcy Act of 1898, which governed bankruptcy cases filed before 1 October 1979.
- bankruptcy caseA case begun by filing a bankruptcy petition, covering everything done in it from filing to discharge or closure.
- bankruptcy clauseA contract clause setting out what happens if a party goes bankrupt.
- Bankruptcy CodeThe Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, as amended, which governs bankruptcy cases filed on or after 1 October 1979.
- Bankruptcy CourtA U.S. district court concerned exclusively with administering bankruptcy cases; also, the bankruptcy judges of a dis…
- bankruptcy estateThe debtor's legal and equitable interests in property as they stand when the bankruptcy case begins.
- bankruptcy judgeA judicial officer appointed by a U.S. Court of Appeals to preside over a district's bankruptcy court for a 14-year t…
- bankruptcy planA detailed scheme drawn up by a debtor or its creditors governing how the debtor will be rehabilitated, kept running…
- bankruptcy proceedingAny judicial or procedural step taken within a bankruptcy case, such as a hearing.
- bankruptcy trusteeThe person appointed by the U.S. Trustee and approved by the bankruptcy court to take charge of and administer the de…
- bankruptcy-remote entityA business, usually set up for a single purpose, designed to perform limited functions and to owe money to only one o…
- bannitioExpulsion by public proclamation; banishment.
- bannitusSomeone placed under a ban; an outlaw.
- banns of matrimonyPublic notice of an intended marriage, given so that any objections could be raised before the wedding.
- barIn a courtroom, the railing separating the working area, where the judge, staff, lawyers, and witnesses sit, from the…
- bar associationAn organization of members of the legal profession.
- bar examinationA written test a person must pass before being licensed to practice law. Its content and format vary from state to st…
- bar examinerSomeone the state appoints to test applicants, usually law graduates, by setting and administering the bar examination.
- bare licenseA licence amounting to no more than permission to be on land, which the person granting it may revoke at will.
- bare licenseeSomeone whose presence on premises the occupier tolerates without necessarily welcoming, such as a person taking a sh…
- bare ownershipOwnership of property stripped of the right to use or enjoy it, as where a trustee holds legal title for a beneficiary.
- bare possibilityA mere chance or expectation of acquiring property in future. A conveyance of such a possibility is usually void for…
- bare promiseA promise given in exchange for nothing, unsupported by consideration. Such a promise is not normally enforceable.
- bare trusteeA trustee of a passive trust, whose only duty is to hand the property over to the beneficiary.
- bareboat charterA charter under which the owner supplies the ship and the charterer supplies the crew, insurance, and everything else…
- barebones indictmentAn indictment that does no more than recite the words of the statute said to have been broken, without setting out an…
- bargainAn agreement between parties to exchange promises or performances. A bargain is not necessarily a contract, since the…
- bargain and saleA written agreement for the sale of land under which the buyer gave valuable consideration, recited in the agreement,…
- bargain moneyA deposit a prospective buyer pays, usually into escrow, to show good faith in completing the purchase, and ordinaril…
- bargain purchaseA sale of property for less than it is worth. For tax purposes the gap between the price and the market value must be…
- bargain saleA sale of property for less than it is worth. For tax purposes the gap between the price and the market value must be…
- bargain theory of considerationThe theory that one promise given in exchange for another is enough consideration for a contract. It underlies all bi…
- bargain-and-sale deedA deed transferring property to a buyer for valuable consideration but giving no guarantee from the seller about the…
- bargaining agentA trade union acting as the representative of employees in collective bargaining.
- bargaining unitA group of employees authorized to bargain collectively on behalf of all the workers in a company or a sector.
- barometer stockA share whose price moves with market conditions, taken as an indicator of the strength of the market generally.
- baronFormerly, a man holding land directly from the Crown in return for military service; also, formerly, a husband. It is…
- barones scaccariiThe six judges of the Court of Exchequer. After the court's jurisdiction passed to the High Court of Justice in 1873…
- baronetA hereditary title below the nobility, descending only through the male line. Baronetcies began in 1611, when James I…
- baronial courtA feudal court held by the owner of extensive lands held directly of the king by military tenure.
- Barons of the ExchequerThe six judges of the Court of Exchequer. After the court's jurisdiction passed to the High Court of Justice in 1873…
- baronyThe lands and dignity held by a baron, held of the Crown by barony tenure.
- barraA barrister.
- barratorSomeone who stirs up quarrels and lawsuits, provoking dissension and litigation among others.
- barratryStirring up litigation vexatiously, especially by touting for clients. It is a crime in most jurisdictions. In mariti…
- barrier to entryAn economic factor making it hard for a business to enter a market and compete with those already supplying it.
- barring of entailFreeing an estate from the restrictions of an entail so that it can be disposed of freely. It was once done by a fine…
- barristerIn England or Northern Ireland, a lawyer admitted to plead at the bar and entitled to argue cases in the superior cou…
- barterExchanging one commodity directly for another without using money.
- base courtAn inferior court, one of limited jurisdiction and not of record.
- base estateAn estate held at the lord's will, as opposed to a freehold.
- base feeA fee carrying some qualification, which comes to an end as soon as the qualification does. A grant to someone and th…
- base serviceAgricultural work a villein tenant did in return for the lord's permission to hold the land.
- base tenureHolding property in villeinage rather than by military or free service.
- base-point pricingA way of calculating freight charges by distance from a fixed geographical point rather than from where the goods act…
- baselineIn international law, the line dividing land from sea, from which the extent of a coastal state's jurisdiction is mea…
- basement courtInformally, a low-level court of limited jurisdiction, such as a police court, traffic court, municipal court, or sma…
- basic cropsCrops such as wheat and corn that are usually covered by government price supports.
- basic normIn Hans Kelsen's legal theory, the fundamental rule from which every other law in a society derives its validity.
- basic patentA patent for an invention the industry or scientific community recognizes as pioneering, unexpected, and without prec…
- basic-form policyA policy giving limited cover against loss, generally for damage from fire, windstorm, explosion, riot, aircraft, veh…
- BasilicaA 60-book Greek summary of Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, with commentary. Begun by the Byzantine emperor Basil I,…
- basisA fundamental principle or underlying condition. In tax law it means the value assigned to a taxpayer's investment in…
- basis pointOne hundredth of one percent. Basis points are used in working out investment yields, especially on bonds, and in app…
- Basket ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution allowing Congress to make whatever laws are necessary and proper for carrying its…
- bastardA child neither born nor conceived in lawful marriage and never afterwards legitimated. At common law such a child wa…
- bastard eigneA finding that a person legitimate under church law could not be declared illegitimate after death, when they were no…
- bastard eisneAn illegitimate son whose parents later marry and have a second son who is legitimate.
- bastardyThe condition of a child born outside a lawful marriage.
- bastardy proceedingA court proceeding to decide whether someone is a child's father, especially where the child was born outside marriag…
- batable groundLand whose ownership is uncertain. The term originally referred to certain lands on the border between England and Sc…
- bathtub conspiracyIn antitrust law, a conspiracy said to exist between two subsidiaries, divisions, or other parts of the same firm.
- Batson challengeIn criminal procedure, a defendant's objection that the prosecution has used its peremptory challenges to keep potent…
- battered-child syndromeThe medical and psychological condition of a child with a pattern of injuries that cannot have been accidental and ar…
- battered-woman syndromeThe medical and psychological condition of a woman who has suffered sustained physical, sexual, or emotional abuse fr…
- batteryIn criminal law, applying force to another so as to cause harmful or offensive contact. Most modern statutes make it…
- battle of the formsThe clash between the terms of the standard forms a buyer and seller exchange while negotiating. The Uniform Commerci…
- battureSoil, stone, or other material building up under water, which may or may not break the surface. If it builds against…
- bawdSomeone, usually a woman, who finds customers for a prostitute; a madam.
- bawdy houseA house where people carry on activities that are a nuisance to the neighborhood, or where criminal or immoral activi…
- bayIn international law, an inlet of the sea over which the coastal country may enforce its environmental, immigration,…
- BCDA punitive discharge a court-martial may impose on a service member, usually for repeated minor offenses.
- BCD special court-martialA special court-martial empowered to impose a bad-conduct discharge among its possible punishments.
- be enforceableFormerly, a court's formal written judgment or record of its proceedings.
- be imperfectA covenant in a warranty deed by which the seller promises to sign any document that may later be needed to perfect t…
- beadleFormerly, a court crier with duties much like a constable's; also, a minor parish officer who served the vestry by gi…
- beakBritish slang for a magistrate or justice of the peace.
- bean counterInformally, someone who decides things by the numbers, especially an accountant.
- bearTo support or carry; also, to produce as yield, or to give as testimony.
- bear driveInformally, heavy selling by a large trader meant to drive a share price down quickly. Federal law forbids it.
- bear hugInformally, a takeover offer pitched far above the target company's market value.
- bear marketA securities market in which prices fall steadily over a long period.
- bear raidInformally, heavy selling by a large trader meant to drive a share price down quickly. Federal law forbids it.
- bearerSomeone in possession of a negotiable instrument that is payable to whoever holds it.
- bearer bondA bond payable to whoever holds it, transferable simply by handing it over, with no register of owners kept.
- bearer documentAn instrument payable to whoever holds it rather than to a named person's order, negotiated simply by handing it over.
- bearer instrumentAn instrument payable to whoever holds it rather than to a named person's order, negotiated simply by handing it over.
- bearer paperAn instrument payable to whoever holds it rather than to a named person's order, negotiated simply by handing it over.
- bearer securityAn unregistered security payable to whoever holds it.
- beatA police officer's patrol area. In some southern states, such as Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina, it is also…
- beaupleaderA fine imposed for bad or unfair pleading; also, a writ of prohibition stopping a sheriff from taking such a fine. Th…
- beauty contestInformally, a meeting at which a major client interviews two or more law firms to decide which will get its work.
- before the factHappening before an event that matters in law.
- before-and-after theoryIn antitrust law, a way of measuring lost profits, and sometimes overcharges, by comparing the claimant's profits bef…
- behavioral scienceThe group of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and anthropology, that study human behavior.
- behoofA use, profit, or advantage forming part of a conveyance.
- belief-action distinctionIn First Amendment law, the Supreme Court's distinction between letting a person hold whatever belief they choose and…
- belief-clusterIn critical legal studies, a set of separate ideas or opinions that look connected when taken together in relation to…
- belligerencyThe status a nation takes on by making war against another; also, the state of waging war.
- belligerentA country engaged in a war or other hostilities.
- bellumArmed conflict carried on between nations, states, or rulers, and sometimes between parties within a single state; al…
- bellum justumIn international law, a just war: one its proponents regard as morally and legally justified, such as a war against a…
- bellwether stockA share whose price moves with market conditions, taken as an indicator of the strength of the market generally.
- belongTo be the property of someone; also, to be connected with something as a member of it.
- belowIn a lower court.
- below-market loanMoney lent at no charge, or, under the tax code, at a rate below the market rate.
- below-the-line(Of a tax deduction) taken after working out adjusted gross income and before working out taxable income. Medical pay…
- Ben Avon doctrineThe principle that due process entitles public utilities to have rates set by public-service commissions reviewed by…
- benchThe raised platform where the judge sits in a courtroom; also, the court in its official capacity, and judges collect…
- bench blotterA running list of the occasions on which a person has been arrested.
- bench conferenceA discussion between the judge and counsel, usually about an objection to evidence, held out of the jury's hearing.
- bench legislationThe law that results when judges read statutes in a way the legislature never intended.
- bench memoA short brief a lawyer submits to a trial judge, often at the judge's request; also, a memorandum an appeal judge's c…
- bench rulingA ruling a judge gives orally from the bench.
- bench trialA trial before a judge sitting without a jury, who decides the facts as well as the law.
- bench warrantA warrant a judge issues directly to a law-enforcement officer, especially to arrest someone held in contempt, indict…
- bencherA governing officer of an English Inn of Court; one of the Masters of the Bench.
- benchmarkA standard measure used as a basis for comparison.
- beneficeFormerly, an estate in land held for the tenant's lifetime.
- beneficialFavorable, or producing benefits; also, describing a right derived from something other than legal title.
- beneficial associationAn association formed to provide its members with mutual aid or benefits, such as help in sickness or on death, rathe…
- beneficial enjoymentHaving the use and benefit of property without holding legal title to it.
- beneficial holder of securitiesSomeone holding the equitable title to shares that are not registered in their name in the company's books.
- beneficial interestA right or expectation in something such as a trust or an estate, as opposed to legal title to it. Someone with a ben…
- beneficial ownerSomeone equity treats as the owner because the use and benefit belong to them, even though legal title is in another'…
- beneficial ownershipA beneficiary's interest in trust property.
- beneficial powerA power exercisable for the benefit of the person holding it, as opposed to a trust power, which is exercised for som…
- beneficial useIn property law, the right to use property and to everything that makes it desirable or habitable, such as light, air…
- beneficiarySomeone appointed to take a benefit under an arrangement such as a will or an insurance policy.
- beneficiary heirAn heir who accepts an inheritance only to the extent of the assets received, and so is not personally liable for the…
- beneficio primo ecclesiastico habendoFormerly, a writ from the king to the lord chancellor ordering that a named person be appointed to the first church l…
- beneficiumIn Roman law, a privilege, remedy, or benefit the law granted, such as an heir's right to decline an inheritance.
- beneficium abstinendiAn heir's right to refuse an inheritance and so avoid liability for the deceased's debts.
- beneficium cedendarum actionumA surety's right to have the creditor's rights of action made over to them once the surety has paid the debt.
- beneficium competentiaeIn Roman and Scots law, a debtor's right to be ordered to pay only as much as they reasonably can, so that after maki…
- beneficium divisionisA surety's right to be sued only for a share of the debt proportionate to the number of solvent co-sureties.
- beneficium inventariiAn heir's right to limit liability for the deceased's debts to the value of the assets, established by drawing up an…
- benefitAn advantage or privilege; also, profit or gain.
- benefit associationAn association formed to provide its members with mutual aid or benefits, such as help in sickness or on death, rathe…
- benefit certificateA written undertaking to pay a named person a stated sum on agreed conditions, often issued by fraternal and benefit…
- benefit of cessionA debtor's freedom from imprisonment for debt, gained by making over their property to their creditors.
- benefit of clergyAt common law, a cleric's right not to be tried for a felony in the King's Court, later extended to anyone who could…
- benefit of discussionA guarantor's right to require the creditor to pursue the principal debtor before coming to the guarantor.
- benefit of divisionA surety's right to be sued only for a share of the debt proportionate to the number of solvent co-sureties.
- benefit-of-bargain ruleAnother term for the benefit-of-the-bargain rule.
- benefit-of-the-bargain damagesDamages a party in breach must pay the injured party, equal to what that party would have received, profits included,…
- benefit-of-the-bargain ruleThe principle that a party in breach must give the injured party everything they would have had, profits included, if…
- benevolent associationAn association formed for charitable or mutual-aid purposes rather than for profit, typically providing help to membe…
- benevolent societyAn association formed to provide its members with mutual aid or benefits, such as help in sickness or on death, rathe…
- BenthamismThe theory that a law's worth should be judged by how far it promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number.…
- BenthamiteTo do with Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian theory.
- bequeathTo leave property, usually personal property, by will.
- bequestLeaving property, usually personal property, by will; also, the property so left.
- Berne ConventionAn international copyright treaty drawn up at Berne in 1886 and revised at Berlin in 1908, now administered by the Wo…
- Berry ruleThe rule that a defendant seeking a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence must show that the evidence i…
- bertillon systemA system of body measurement once used to identify criminals, named after the French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillo…
- besIn Roman law, two-thirds of the pound, being eight ounces out of twelve; in civil law, two-thirds of an inheritance.
- besayelA writ of right by which a great-grandfather's heirs recovered property he had held; also, a great-grandfather.
- best bidThe highest offer made to buy something at auction or on tender.
- best effortsGenuine, diligent attempts to carry out an obligation. As a standard it demands more than an obligation of good faith.
- best endeavorsGenuine, diligent attempts to carry out an obligation. As a standard it demands more than an obligation of good faith.
- best evidenceEvidence of the highest quality available, judged by the nature of the case rather than by the item put forward.
- best useIn valuing land, the use that would yield the most profit, often used to fix fair market value where property is take…
- best-efforts contractA contract in which a party undertakes to use its best efforts to keep its promises, so that performance is measured…
- best-efforts underwritingUnderwriting in which an investment banker agrees to manage a public sale of the issuer's securities without guarante…
- best-evidence ruleThe rule that to prove what a document, recording, or photograph contains, a party must produce the original unless i…
- best-mode requirementIn patent law, the requirement that a patent application disclose the best way of working the invention known to the…
- bestialitySexual activity between a human being and an animal.
- bestowTo give something as a gift.
- betSomething, especially money, staked as a wager.
- bettermentAn improvement that raises the value of land.
- betterment actA statute requiring a landowner to compensate an occupier who improved the land believing themselves to be the true o…
- beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard of proof in a criminal case: the evidence must leave the fact-finder with no reasonable doubt of the def…
- BFOQA job requirement that, although it discriminates against a protected group such as sex, religion, or national origin…
- BFPSomeone who buys something for value without notice of anyone else's claim to it or of any defect in the seller's title.
- BHCA company that owns or controls one or more banks. Holding 25 percent is usually enough to count.
- bi-scotIn English law, a fine for failing to repair banks, ditches, and causeways.
- biasA leaning one way; prejudice.
- bicameral(Of a legislature) having two chambers, usually called the House of Representatives and the Senate. The federal gover…
- bidAn offer to buy something at a stated price, whether or not it is actually for sale.
- bid and askedA note showing the range of prices quoted for securities on an over-the-counter exchange, the bid being the buying pr…
- bid bondA bond a bidder gives to guarantee that, if awarded the contract, they will enter into it and provide the required pe…
- bid inA bid the owner of auctioned property makes to stop it selling below its real value.
- bid offTo buy something by bidding at an auction or a court-ordered sale.
- bid peddlingA general contractor's attempt, after winning a contract, to cut its own costs by finding a subcontractor who will un…
- bid priceThe most a prospective buyer will pay for a security at a given moment.
- bid quoteThe price a broker will pay for a security or commodity.
- bid shoppingA general contractor's attempt, after winning a contract, to cut its own costs by finding a subcontractor who will un…
- bid wantedA dealer's notice that offers are invited from anyone for a security being sold.
- bidding upDriving the price of an auction lot up through a series of rising bids. It is unlawful where those bidding are acting…
- biennial sessionA legislative session held every two years. Most state legislatures sit this way, usually in odd-numbered years.
- bienniumA two-year period, and the period for which many state legislatures make appropriations.
- biensFormerly, goods or property. In most civil-law jurisdictions the word takes in land as well.
- bifactoral obligationAn obligation arising from two sources at once, such as an agreement together with a rule of law.
- bifurcated divorceA divorce granted in two stages: the marriage is dissolved first, and questions such as property and support are deci…
- bifurcated trialA trial split into two stages, such as guilt and then punishment, or liability and then damages.
- big bathInformally, writing off substantial costs at once, either to shed an unprofitable line of business or to avoid having…
- Big BoardThe New York Stock Exchange, probably from its former name, the New York Stock and Exchange Board; also, a display sh…
- big potIn tax law, a stage in working out liability in which qualifying transactions are set against each other to see wheth…
- bigamistSomeone who marries while already legally married to another person.
- bigamous(Of a person) guilty of bigamy; (of a marriage) involving bigamy.
- bigamusSomeone who commits bigamy. The word also once meant a man who married a widow or who remarried, and under church law…
- bigamyMarrying one person while still legally married to another. It is a crime if done knowingly.
- BILShort for bill of lading.
- bilaginesTown bylaws; rules a town's inhabitants make for their own governance.
- bilanIn civil law, a book in which bankers and merchants record everything they owe and everything owed to them; a balance…
- bilanciis deferendisAn obsolete writ ordering a corporation to bring weights to a given place to weigh wool licensed for export.
- bilateralAffecting or binding both parties.
- bilateral actAn act requiring the agreement of two or more separate parties, such as a contract, conveyance, mortgage, or lease.
- bilateral contractA contract in which each side promises something, so that each is both bound by their own promise and entitled to enf…
- bilateral mistakeA mistake in which each party misunderstands what the other intends.
- bilateral monopolyA theoretical market with only one buyer and one seller, which slows dealings because either can hold out for better…
- bilboesA device used for punishment at sea, a board with holes securing an offender's hands and feet.
- billA formal written complaint, such as a court paper asking for some specific action on stated grounds. It also means th…
- bill brokerA middleman who arranges the buying and selling of commercial paper.
- bill for a new trialA bill in equity to halt a judgment and obtain a new trial because of some fact that would make enforcing the judgmen…
- bill in aid of executionA bill to set aside a fraudulent charge on property or a fraudulent transfer of it.
- bill in equityThe pleading by which a claim was brought in a court of equity. Before law and equity were merged it did the work of…
- bill in perpetuam rei memoriamAn original bill to preserve the evidence of an important witness who might die or leave the jurisdiction before a ca…
- bill in the nature of interpleaderA bill of interpleader filed by someone who themselves claims an interest in the property in dispute.
- bill obligatoryA written promise to pay, made under seal.
- bill of adventureA shipper's written statement that the goods shipped belong to someone else and travel at that owner's risk.
- bill of attainderA special act of the legislature imposing the death penalty on someone for a serious offense such as treason, without…
- bill of certiorariA bill in equity seeking to have an action moved up to a higher court.
- bill of complaintThe original bill that starts an action in a court of equity.
- bill of conformityA bill filed by an executor or administrator seeking the court's guidance in winding up a complicated estate, usually…
- bill of costsA certified, itemized statement of the costs one party owes another.
- bill of creditPaper legal tender issued by a state on its own credit, meant to circulate as money in ordinary business. The phrase…
- bill of debtA debt instrument, such as a bill obligatory or a promissory note.
- bill of discoveryA bill in equity seeking disclosure of facts known to the other side.
- bill of entryA written description of goods an importer files with customs officials to get permission to unload a ship's cargo.
- bill of evidenceA transcript of the evidence given at trial.
- bill of exceptionsA formal written statement, signed by the trial judge and put before the appeal court, of the objections a party took…
- bill of exchangeAn unconditional written order, signed by one person, directing another to pay a fixed sum on demand or at a set time…
- bill of foreclosureA bill in equity filed by a lender to have mortgaged property sold to meet all or part of the secured debt.
- bill of healthA certificate that a ship's cargo and crew are healthy, issued by the port authority the vessel sails from and shown…
- bill of indemnityFormerly, an act of Parliament passed each year to protect officeholders who had unwittingly failed to swear a requir…
- bill of indictmentA document put before a grand jury so that it can decide whether there is enough evidence to charge the accused forma…
- bill of informationA formal criminal charge brought by a prosecutor without a grand jury indictment. Most states use it for misdemeanors…
- bill of interpleaderAn original bill filed by someone against two or more people who each claim the same debt or duty from them, asking t…
- bill of ladingA document a carrier issues acknowledging receipt of goods for shipment, setting out the terms of carriage and servin…
- bill of MiddlesexA process by which the Court of King's Bench obtained jurisdiction over a defendant living outside its reach, by alle…
- bill of mortalityA record of the number of deaths in a district. Such records were compiled in England, often weekly, from the late 16…
- bill of pains and penaltiesA legislative act like a bill of attainder but imposing a punishment short of death. The Constitution's ban on bills…
- bill of parcelsA seller's itemized list of goods and prices, meant to help a buyer spot mistakes or omissions in a shipment; also, a…
- bill of particularsA formal, detailed statement of the claims or charges a claimant or prosecutor is making, usually supplied after the…
- bill of peaceAn equitable bill filed by someone facing many suits about the same right, or repeated suits on it, asking the court…
- bill of reviewA bill in equity asking a court to reverse or revise an earlier decree.
- bill of revivorA bill filed to revive and continue a suit in equity that has lapsed before it was finished, most often because the c…
- bill of revivor and supplementA combination of a supplemental bill and a bill of revivor, joined for convenience. Its two parts must still be draft…
- bill of rightsA part of a constitution setting out where a society will leave people free to act as they choose, and guaranteeing t…
- bill of saleA document transferring title to personal property, either outright or by way of security.
- bill of sightA declaration an importer makes to a customs officer when unsure what is being shipped, allowing the goods to be insp…
- bill payableA bill or note that a business owes and must pay.
- bill penalA written promise to pay that carries a penalty larger than the underlying debt if payment is not made.
- bill quia timetAn equitable bill used to guard against possible future injuries and to preserve the means by which existing rights a…
- bill receivableA bill or note owed to a business and due to be collected.
- bill renderedAn account drawn up by the creditor and put to the debtor to examine and accept.
- bill singleA written promise to pay that is not under seal and carries no penalty for failing to pay.
- bill to carry a decree into executionA bill brought where a decree could not be enforced without a further court order, whether through the parties' negle…
- bill to perpetuate testimonyAn original bill to preserve the evidence of an important witness who might die or leave the jurisdiction before a ca…
- bill to suspend a decreeA bill brought to have a decree set aside.
- bill to take testimony de bene esseA bill brought to take evidence relevant to pending litigation from a witness who may not be available at the trial.
- billa casseturAnother term for cassetur billa.
- billable hourA unit of time by which a lawyer or paralegal records work done for a client, usually divided into quarters or tenths…
- billable timeA lawyer's or paralegal's time that can be charged to a client.
- billetaA proposed statute or petition put before Parliament.
- billheadA printed invoice carrying a business's name and address.
- billing cycleThe period at the end of which creditors regularly send out bills to customers or debtors.
- bills and notesBills of exchange and promissory notes taken together, as a class of negotiable instrument.
- bills in a setA bill of lading made up of several separate parts, each numbered and providing that delivering the goods against any…
- bimetallismA monetary system in which the currency is defined by two metals, usually gold and silver, both legal tender and exch…
- bindTo place a legal duty on a person or institution.
- bind overTo put someone under a bond or other legal obligation, especially to require a criminal defendant to appear for trial…
- binderA document in which the buyer and seller of land record their shared intention to transfer ownership, usually accompa…
- binding agreementA contract that can be enforced.
- binding arbitrationSettling a dispute through one or more neutral outsiders, usually chosen by the parties, whose decision binds them.
- binding authorityA precedent a court is bound to follow, as a lower court is bound by a relevant holding of a higher court in the same…
- binding instructionA direction requiring the jury to find for one party and against the other if they decide that, on the balance of pro…
- binding precedentA precedent a court is bound to follow, as a lower court is bound by a relevant holding of a higher court in the same…
- binding receiptAn insurer's memorandum giving the insured temporary cover while the application for a policy is being processed or t…
- binding slipAn insurer's memorandum giving the insured temporary cover while the application for a policy is being processed or t…
- bindover hearingA criminal hearing, usually before a magistrate, to decide whether there is enough evidence to prosecute the accused.…
- biological childA child related by birth, as opposed to one who was adopted.
- biological fatherThe man who fathered the child.
- biological warfareThe use of biological or infectious agents in war, usually delivered by aircraft or missiles.
- bipartite(Of a document) drawn up in two parts, one executed by each party.
- birretumA cap or coif once worn by British judges and serjeants-at-law.
- birthThe complete emergence of a newborn from the mother's body.
- birth certificateA formal document recording a person's date and place of birth and their parentage.
- birth motherA biological mother, as opposed to an adoptive one.
- birth recordOfficial statistical records of people's dates and places of birth and their parentage.
- bishopThe chief and highest-ranking member of the clergy in a diocese.
- biting ruleA rule of construction that where a deed or will has granted a fee simple, a later provision trying to cut down or qu…
- Bivens actionA lawsuit to remedy a federal official's violation of a constitutional right. It allows federal officials to be sued…
- Black ActAn English statute of 1722 making it a capital offense to kill or maim animals unlawfully. It was passed after a seri…
- Black ActsIn Scots law, statutes of the Scottish Parliament passed between 1535 and 1594, recorded in a volume printed in black…
- Black Book of the ExchequerA record book containing treaties, conventions, charters, papal bulls, and other English state documents, dating from…
- black capA cap an English judge put on when passing sentence of death.
- black mariaInformally, a locked van the police use to carry prisoners to and from jail.
- black marketAn illegal market in goods the government controls or forbids, such as the underground trade in prescription drugs.
- black rentFeudal rents paid in labor, grain, or coin of baser metal than silver.
- black wardA subvassal; the vassal of the king's own vassal.
- black-rage insanity defenseA defense arguing that racial oppression has provoked such rage in the defendant that they could not control their co…
- blackacreAn imaginary piece of land used in legal discussion, especially in law-school problems, to work through questions of…
- blackletter lawLegal principles that are old, fundamental, and thoroughly settled. The name comes from the heavy Gothic type once us…
- blacklistTo put someone's name on a list of those to be boycotted or punished.
- blackmailA threatening demand made without justification; extortion.
- blackmail suitA suit brought by someone with no real claim, in the hope of extracting a settlement from a defendant who would rathe…
- Blackstone lawyerA lawyer with a broad grasp of settled legal principles; also, a self-taught lawyer, especially in America before the…
- blameAttributing fault, or expressing disapproval; also, responsibility for something wrong.
- blanc seignIn civil law, a signed blank paper entrusted to someone who may fill it in so as to bind the signer, within the limit…
- blank acceptanceAcceptance by the drawee of a bill of exchange before the bill has been made out, shown by the drawee signing the ins…
- blank barA plea in bar raised by a defendant in a trespass action, used to force the claimant to state exactly where the alleg…
- blank billA bill with the payee's name left blank.
- blank bondA bond with the payee's name left blank, so that whoever fills it in may claim on it.
- blank checkA check the drawer has signed but left blank as to the payee, the amount, or both.
- blank contractA printed contract form with blanks left to be filled in with the particular terms.
- blank indorsementAn indorsement naming no particular payee, which makes the instrument payable to the bearer and transferable by deliv…
- blank lienA lien granted in blank, leaving the secured property or the amount to be filled in later.
- blank stockShares whose voting powers and rights are fixed by the issuer's board after the shares have been sold.
- blanket agreementA collective-bargaining agreement covering workers throughout an organization, an industry, or a geographical area.
- blanket bondA single bond covering a group of people or a range of risks, rather than one person or one obligation.
- blanket contractA contract covering a group of products, goods, or services for a fixed period.
- blanket lienA lien letting a creditor take any or all of a debtor's property to cover an overdue loan.
- blanket mortgageA mortgage covering two or more properties pledged together to secure one debt.
- blanket policyA policy covering all of the insured's property wherever it happens to be.
- blanket search warrantA single warrant authorizing the search of more than one place; also, an unconstitutional warrant purporting to allow…
- blasphemerSomeone who commits blasphemy.
- blasphemyIrreverence towards God, religion, or something else held sacred. It was a crime at common law and remains one in a f…
- blended fundA fund made up of income from more than one source, usually the proceeds of selling a testator's land and personal pr…
- blended trustA trust whose beneficiaries form a group, no member of which has a separable interest of their own. Courts rarely rec…
- blending clauseA clause in a will disposing both of the testator's own property and of property over which they hold a power of appo…
- blind entryAn accounting entry showing only the amounts debited and credited, with no explanation.
- blind pigInformally, a place where alcohol is sold illegally, a term common during Prohibition.
- blind pleaA guilty plea entered without any promise of concession from the judge or the prosecutor.
- blind sellingSelling goods without giving the buyer any chance to examine them.
- blind tigerInformally, a place where alcohol is sold illegally, a term common during Prohibition.
- blind trustA trust in which the person setting it up hands their investments to an independent trustee, usually to avoid a confl…
- blocA group of people or countries lined up behind a common interest, even if only for a while.
- blockAn area of a town enclosed by streets; also, a quantity of things bought or sold together as one unit.
- block interestInterest worked out on the original face amount of a loan, which stays the same even as the principal is paid down, s…
- block policyAn all-risk policy covering groups of property, such as goods held in bailment or a business's stock, against most pe…
- block votingAn agreement among shareholders to cast their votes together as one block.
- blockadeIn international law, a belligerent's sealing off of an enemy's ports by stationing ships where they can intercept ve…
- blockage ruleIn tax law, the principle that a large block of shares may be worth less than the sum of the individual shares, becau…
- Blockburger testA test of whether the facts alleged in one case are essentially the same as those alleged in an earlier one. If they…
- blockbustingThe practice, usually by an estate agent, of persuading owners to sell quickly and often at a loss by suggesting that…
- blocked accountAn account at a bank or other institution to which access has been restricted, whether by the government or by someon…
- blocked currencyCurrency or bank deposits that government restrictions confine to use within the country where they are held.
- blocked incomeMoney a foreign taxpayer earns that escapes U.S. tax because the foreign country will not allow it to be converted in…
- bloodThe relationship arising from descent from a common ancestor.
- blood alcohol contentThe proportion of alcohol in a person's blood, given as a percentage. It is used to decide whether someone is legally…
- blood feudA state of hostility between families in which one seeks to avenge the killing of one of its members by killing a mem…
- blood moneyFormerly, a payment made by a murderer's family to the victim's next of kin; also, a reward for capturing someone cha…
- blood-grouping testA test used in paternity cases to determine whether a particular man could be a child's father. It cannot establish p…
- blood, corruption of theA defunct doctrine, now regarded as unconstitutional, under which a person lost the ability to inherit property or pa…
- bloodwiteA fine imposed for shedding blood, or the right to levy such a fine.
- blotterA running record kept by police of arrests as they are made.
- Blue BookA compilation of session laws; also, a volume formerly published giving parallel citation tables for the National Rep…
- blue booksReference volumes issued by a government department, traditionally bound in blue covers.
- blue chipShares regarded as a safe investment because the company behind them has a record of stability, steady growth, and re…
- blue lawA statute restricting or forbidding commercial activity on Sundays. Once common, such laws declined after the 1980s,…
- Blue ListA daily listing, printed on blue paper, of municipal bonds offered on the secondary market.
- blue noteA note that keeps a life-insurance policy in force until the note falls due.
- blue-blue-ribbon juryA jury made up of specialists in a technical field, drawn on where a case turns on expert subject matter.
- blue-chip stockStock regarded as a safe investment because the company has a long record of stability, steady growth, and reliable e…
- blue-pencil testA test for deciding whether to strike down a whole contract or only the offending words. Only the words go if they co…
- blue-ribbon juryA jury made up of the best-educated people on a panel, sometimes used by agreement in a complex civil case and someti…
- blue-skyTo approve a sale of securities as complying with the blue-sky laws.
- blue-sky lawA state statute setting standards for offering and selling securities, meant to protect people from fraudulent scheme…
- BluebookThe citation guide generally treated as authoritative for American legal citations, compiled by the editors of the Co…
- bluewater seamanAn experienced deep-sea sailor qualified for all seaman's duties and certified by an inspecting authority.
- boardA group of people with managerial, supervisory, or advisory powers; also, the daily meals, and sometimes lodging, pro…
- board lotThe standard unit in which shares and bonds are traded, usually 100 shares or $1,000 to $5,000 par value of bonds.
- board of adjustmentAn administrative body whose job is to hear and decide zoning appeals.
- board of aldermenA city's legislative body, usually responsible for passing ordinances, levying taxes, voting funds, and running the c…
- board of directorsA company's governing body, elected by the shareholders to set policy, appoint the executive officers, and take the m…
- board of educationA state or local body that governs and runs the public schools of a state or district.
- board of equalizationA local body responsible for adjusting tax rates between districts so that the burden falls fairly.
- board of examinersAn appointed group of public officials responsible for setting the tests that applicants for occupational and profess…
- board of fire underwritersAn unincorporated voluntary association of fire insurers.
- Board of GovernorsThe board that oversees the Federal Reserve System and sets national monetary and credit policy. It has seven members…
- Board of Green ClothA body responsible for running the royal household's staff, especially its finances, accounting for expenses and payi…
- board of healthA municipal or state body charged with protecting public health.
- Board of Immigration AppealsThe highest administrative tribunal for matters arising under U.S. immigration law, hearing appeals from the immigrat…
- board of legal specializationA body, usually part of a state bar association, that certifies lawyers as specialists in a given field. A lawyer typ…
- board of pardonsA state body, usually including the governor, with power to pardon people convicted of crimes.
- board of paroleA body that decides whether prisoners may be released before their sentences are complete.
- Board of Patent Appeals and InterferencesA quasi-judicial body that reviews rejected patent applications and decides which of rival applicants has priority.
- board of regentsA group appointed to oversee an educational institution, especially a university.
- board of registrationA state body authorized to licence and discipline members of a trade or profession.
- board of reviewA body that reviews the decisions of an administrative agency, or property-tax assessments. In some cities it means a…
- Board of Tax AppealsThe former name of the United States Tax Court.
- board of tradeA federation of business executives working to advance and protect commercial interests; also, an organized commoditi…
- board of trusteesThe governing body of a trust, charity, university, or similar institution, responsible for its policy and property.
- board of zoning appealsAn administrative body whose job is to hear and decide zoning appeals.
- board-certified(Of a professional) recognized by an official body as a specialist in a particular field of law or medicine.
- bocklandLand held under charter or deed; freehold land. This was a privileged form of ownership, usually free of the customar…
- boclandLand held under charter or deed; freehold land. This was a privileged form of ownership, usually free of the customar…
- bodily harmPhysical hurt or damage done to a person's body.
- bodily heirA lineal descendant of the deceased, not counting a surviving spouse, adopted children, or collateral relatives. The…
- bodily injuryPhysical damage to a person's body.
- bodyThe main part of a written document; also, a collection of laws, an artificial person created by legal authority, or…
- body corporateA body, usually a business, that the law allows to act as a single person separate from the shareholders who own it,…
- body executionA court order directing an officer to take a named person into custody, usually so as to bring them before the court…
- body of lawsA collection of laws.
- body politicA group of people considered in their political rather than private capacity, organized under a single governing auth…
- bogus checkA check that is refused because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
- boiler-room transactionInformally, a high-pressure telephone sales pitch, often fraudulent.
- boilerplateReady-made or all-purpose wording that will serve in a variety of documents; also, standard contract language the par…
- bolsterTo shore up evidence that has not been attacked with further supporting evidence. The practice is often held improper.
- boltsCases argued by students in the Inns of Court. These practice exercises were held in private, unlike the more formal…
- bombardmentIn international law, an attack from land, sea, or air using weapons able to destroy targets at a distance with bombs…
- bonaGoods; personal property.
- bona confiscataGoods confiscated by, or forfeited to, the Crown.
- bona felonumPersonal property belonging to a convicted felon.
- bona fide contractA contract in which equity may step in to correct imbalances and adjust matters according to what the parties intended.
- bona fide emptorA buyer who acquires property in good faith, without notice of any competing claim.
- bona fide holder for valueSomeone who has given value in exchange for a negotiable instrument, and so takes it free of many defenses available…
- bona fide judgment creditorSomeone who obtains a judgment without fraud or collusion.
- bona fide occupational qualificationA job requirement that, although it discriminates against a protected group such as sex, religion, or national origin…
- bona fide possessionPossession by someone who genuinely does not know that ownership of the property is disputed.
- bona fide purchaserSomeone who buys something for value without notice of anyone else's claim to it or of any defect in the seller's title.
- bona fide purchaser for valueSomeone who buys legal title to land without actual or constructive notice of any defect, claim, or competing equity.…
- bona fide saleA sale made in good faith for valuable consideration, with no notice of a defect in title or any other reason not to…
- bona fugitivorumGoods belonging to a fugitive.
- bona immobiliaImmovable property.
- bona notabiliaGoods of note; property in a deceased person's estate substantial enough to require an accounting.
- bona paraphernaliaClothes, jewelry, and ornaments not forming part of a married woman's dowry.
- bona perituraPerishable goods, which an executor or trustee must promptly turn into money.
- bona utlagatorumGoods belonging to an outlaw, which were forfeited to the Crown.
- bona vacantiaOwnerless property, such as the estate of someone who dies with no heir willing and able to claim it. Such property e…
- bona waviataStolen goods a thief throws away while fleeing. They passed to the Crown as a penalty on the owner for failing to pur…
- bonae fideiOf good faith; in good faith.
- bonae fidei possessorIn Roman law, someone possessing another's property in good faith. Unless the owner sued to recover it, the possessor…
- bondA written promise to pay money or do something if certain circumstances arise or a certain time passes; also, an inte…
- bond and mortgageA bond secured by a mortgage on land.
- bond conversionThe exchange of a convertible bond for another asset, usually shares.
- bond couponThe part of a coupon bond that the holder clips off and hands in to collect an interest payment.
- bond covenantA provision in a bond indenture protecting bondholders by setting out what the issuer may and may not do, such as bar…
- bond creditorA creditor whose debt is secured by a bond.
- bond discountThe amount by which a security's market price falls below its face value.
- bond dividendA dividend paid by giving shareholders a bond rather than scrip, property, or cash.
- bond for a deedA bond given by the seller of land, binding the seller to convey it once the buyer tenders the agreed price.
- bond for deedA bond given by the seller of land, binding the seller to convey it once the buyer tenders the agreed price.
- bond for landA bond given by the seller of land, binding the seller to convey it once the buyer tenders the agreed price.
- bond for titleAn arrangement in which the seller of land keeps legal title until the buyer has paid the price in full.
- bond fundA mutual fund investing mainly in corporate or municipal bonds.
- bond indentureA contract between a bond issuer and the bondholders setting out the bond's face value, interest rate, maturity date,…
- bond issueA quantity of bonds offered for sale at one time by a single issuer on the same terms.
- bond of corroborationA further obligation given to reinforce the debtor's original one.
- bond premiumThe amount by which a bond's market price exceeds its face value.
- bond ratingA system for assessing the investment quality of a bond issue.
- bond retirementThe cancellation of a bond that has been called in or paid off.
- bond tableA table used to work out a bond's current value from its coupon rate, the time left to maturity, and the yield if hel…
- bond trustA trust whose capital consists of interest-bearing bonds.
- bond, vdTo secure payment by giving a bond; also, to provide a bond for someone.
- bonded(Of a person or body) acting under, or placed under, a bond.
- bonded debtA debt secured by a bond; a business or government debt represented by bonds it has issued.
- bonded warehouseA warehouse where imported goods are stored under customs supervision until the duty on them is paid.
- bondholderSomeone who holds a government or corporate bond.
- bonding companyA company that insures a party against loss caused by a third party.
- bondmanA serf or peasant; a villein.
- bondsmanSomeone who guarantees a bond; a surety. The word also once meant a serf or villein.
- bones gentsFormerly, qualified or competent people, especially men fit to serve on a jury.
- boni hominesFormerly, free tenants who sat in judgment on one another in their lord's court.
- bonificationA remission of tax, usually on goods meant for export, which lets a commodity be sold abroad as though it had never b…
- bonis non amovendisAnother term for de bonis non amovendis.
- bonitarianRecognized in equity rather than by the strict letter of the law.
- bonitarian ownershipOwnership recognized in equity though not by the strict civil law, where the holder has the use and benefit of proper…
- bonitaryRecognized in equity rather than by the strict letter of the law.
- bono et maloFor good and ill: a phrase formerly used in writs by which a prisoner submitted to be tried, or a jury was summoned.
- bonorum possessio contra tabulasAn order allowing the applicant to take possession of an estate contrary to the will. Magistrates made such orders in…
- bonusA payment made over and above what is due or expected. Bonuses paid to workers are not gifts: they are given for serv…
- bonus shareA share issued for no payment, as an inducement to buy some other type or class of security. It counts as a form of w…
- bonus stockA share issued for no payment, as an inducement to buy some other type or class of security. It counts as a form of w…
- bonus zoningZoning that grants a developer extra building density or height in return for providing a public benefit, such as ope…
- boodleInformally, money paid as a bribe, usually to a public official.
- bookTo record something in a book, such as a sale or an accounting item; also, to enter an arrested person's name on the…
- book accountA detailed statement of debits and credits recording the history of a business's transactions.
- book entryA note made in an accounting journal; also, the method of recording ownership of publicly traded securities under whi…
- book equityThe proportion of a company's book value attributed to a particular class of shares.
- book of original entryThe day-to-day record in which a business's transactions are first written down.
- book valueThe value at which an asset is carried on a balance sheet.
- book-entry bondA bond for which no written certificate of ownership is issued.
- book-value stockShares offered to executives at book value rather than market value, on the understanding that once the book value ha…
- bookieSomeone who sets the odds and takes bets on the outcome of events, especially sporting events.
- booking contractAn agreement engaging an actor or other performer.
- bookkeepingThe routine recording of debits and credits, and the summarizing of financial information, usually for a business.
- booklandLand held under charter or deed; freehold land. This was a privileged form of ownership, usually free of the customar…
- bookmakerSomeone who sets the odds and takes bets on the outcome of events, especially sporting events.
- bookmakingGambling that involves taking and recording bets on an event, such as a horse race.
- books of accountRecords of original entry kept in the ordinary course of business by a shopkeeper, trader, or other businessperson.
- Books of AdjournalIn Scots law, the records of the High Court of Justiciary.
- boomageA fee a company charges for collecting and sorting logs gathered in its boom, the line of sawn logs held on a stream'…
- bootIn tax law, extra money or property that remains taxable in an otherwise tax-free exchange. In a corporate reorganiza…
- boot campA camp where Navy or Marine Corps recruits undergo basic training.
- boothageCustomary dues paid to a lord for setting up a booth at a fair or market.
- bootlegTo make, copy, or sell something illegally or without authorization.
- bootleggerSomeone who makes, transports, or sells something illegally, especially alcohol.
- bootstrapTo make a success of something despite scant resources; also, to reach a conclusion that nothing supports.
- bootstrap doctrineIn the conflict of laws, the rule barring a collateral attack on the jurisdiction of another state's court that has g…
- bootstrap saleA sale in which the price is funded out of the earnings and profits of the thing being sold, particularly a leveraged…
- bootyIn international law, movable property taken from the enemy as spoils during warlike operations; also, property taken…
- bord-halfpennyCustomary dues paid to a lord for setting up a booth at a fair or market.
- bordageA tenure under which a tenant held a cottage and a few acres in return for customary services to the lord.
- bordariiTenants holding by bordage. Their position was less servile than that of villein tenants.
- borderThe dividing line between one nation, or political subdivision, and another.
- border controlIn international law, the practical expression of a country's territorial sovereignty, by which it regulates who and…
- border searchA search by immigration or customs officers at a country's border to detect and prevent unlawful entry of people or g…
- bordereauA schedule of the risks reinsured, especially a periodic report from the insurer to a treaty reinsurer setting out th…
- bordlandsLand the nobility used to produce food, either kept under their own control or let to tenants who supplied provisions…
- bork(Of the Senate) to reject a nominee for the Supreme Court or another government post because of the nominee's unortho…
- boroughA town or township with a municipal charter, such as one of the five divisions of New York City. In English law it me…
- borough courtAn inferior civil court of record, usually presided over by the municipal recorder. Parliament abolished most of them…
- borough EnglishA common-law rule of descent under which the youngest son inherited all his father's land.
- borough fundThe revenue raised by a municipal borough.
- borough sessionsCriminal court sittings held before a municipal recorder.
- borough-holderThe head of a tithing or frankpledge; also, a petty constable.
- borrowTo take something for temporary use; also, to receive money on the understanding that it must be repaid, usually with…
- borrowed capitalMoney lent to a company or other body to finance its operations, including cash dividends declared but temporarily he…
- borrowed employeeAn employee whose services are lent, with their consent, to another employer who takes temporary control of their wor…
- borrowed servantAn employee whose services are lent, with their consent, to another employer who takes temporary control of their wor…
- borrowed-statutes doctrineThe principle that where one state adopts a statute identical to another state's, the settled interpretation given by…
- borrowerA person or body to whom money or something else is lent.
- borrowheadThe head of a tithing or frankpledge; also, a petty constable.
- borrowing statuteA statutory exception to the rule that a forum state applies its own limitation period, specifying when it will inste…
- borsholderThe head of a tithing or frankpledge; also, a petty constable.
- Boston interestInterest calculated on the basis of a 360-day year and the actual days elapsed, a convention once common in New England.
- botelessWithout relief or remedy, and without the option of making amends for a crime by paying money. The modern word bootle…
- bothagiumCustomary dues paid to a lord for setting up a booth at a fair or market.
- botiler of the kingAn officer who supplied the king's wines. By virtue of the office he could take two casks from every wine-laden ship.…
- botiomry bondA contract lending money on the security of a ship, usually at a high rate of interest, to cover the risks of a set p…
- bottom-hole contractIn oil-and-gas law, an agreement requiring the well owner to pay the lessee once the lessee has drilled to a specifie…
- bottomage bondA contract lending money on the security of a ship, enforceable only if the vessel completes the voyage safely.
- bottomlandLow-lying land, often within a river's floodplain.
- bottomryA contract by which a shipowner pledges the ship as security for a loan to finance a voyage, for instance to equip or…
- bottomry bondA contract lending money on the security of a ship, usually at a high rate of interest, enforceable only if the vesse…
- bottomry loanA loan secured on a ship or her cargo, repayable with high interest only if the voyage succeeds, so that it works as…
- bought and sold notesTwo memoranda a broker draws up to record a sale, sending the bought note to the buyer and the sold note to the seller.
- bought noteA written memorandum of a sale that the broker handling it gives to the buyer.
- boulevard ruleThe rule that a driver approaching a highway from a lesser road must stop and give way to all traffic on the highway.
- boulwarismA bargaining tactic in which an employer works out the likely outcome of negotiations and then puts a firm offer to t…
- bounced checkA check that is refused because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
- boundA boundary; also, a limit or restriction on what may be done.
- bound bailiffA deputy sheriff placed under bond to guarantee that they will carry out their duties faithfully.
- boundaryA natural or artificial line marking the limits of a piece of land.
- boundary by acquiescenceThe principle by which neighboring owners settle an uncertain boundary for good by agreeing where it lies.
- boundary by agreementThe principle by which neighboring owners settle an uncertain boundary for good by agreeing where it lies.
- boundary trafficThe movement of people or goods across an international boundary.
- bounded treeA tree marking a corner of a property boundary.
- bounderA visible mark showing a territorial limit in a land survey.
- bountyA payment or benefit offered, especially by a government, to induce someone to act or perform a service; also, a gift…
- bounty hunterSomeone who for a fee pursues a person charged with or suspected of a crime, especially one hired by a bail-bond comp…
- bounty landPublic land given as a reward, especially for military service.
- bourseIn French law, an exchange, particularly a stock exchange.
- boutiqueA small specialist business, especially a law firm concentrating on one area of practice.
- bow-bearerAn officer responsible for catching trespassers and poachers in the king's forest.
- box-top licenseA printed licence shown on the outside of a software package, telling the buyer that opening it binds them to the ter…
- boycottAction designed to isolate an opponent socially or economically. The word comes from Captain Charles Boycott, an Engl…
- braceryThe offense of selling a pretended right or title to land, outlawed by statute under Henry VIII. The word also covers…
- bracket creepThe process by which inflation or rising income pushes people into higher tax brackets.
- bracket systemA system for collecting sales tax from a table setting graduated amounts according to the purchase price. It saves th…
- BractonThe usual title of one of the earliest books of English law, written about 1250. Henry of Bratton, a judge of the Kin…
- Brady ActA federal law setting up a national system for rapid background checks on people seeking to buy handguns.
- Brady materialInformation or evidence favorable to a criminal defendant which the prosecution has a duty to disclose. Withholding i…
- Brady vThe Supreme Court decision establishing that the prosecution must disclose evidence favorable to the accused, and tha…
- brain deathThe bodily condition of showing no response to stimuli, no spontaneous movement, no breathing, no reflexes, and no el…
- brakeA rack used to extort confessions, so called after the Tower of London official credited with introducing it.
- branchAn offshoot or division of an institution; also, a line of family descent from a common ancestor.
- brand nameA name a manufacturer uses to identify its goods and distinguish them from a competitor's.
- Brandeis briefA brief, usually on appeal, that draws on social and economic studies as well as legal principle and authority. It is…
- Brandeis rulesA set of principles describing the Supreme Court's practice of deciding constitutional questions only when it must, a…
- brandingMarking cattle with a hot iron to show who owns them; formerly also a punishment in which an offender was marked with…
- brassageA government charge covering the actual cost of coining metal. Any profit above that is called seigniorage.
- breachA violation of a law or obligation.
- breach of arrestA military offense committed by an officer who, being under arrest in quarters, leaves them without a superior office…
- breach of closeEntering another's land unlawfully or without permission; trespass at common law.
- breach of contractBreaking a contractual obligation, whether by failing to do what one promised or by getting in the way of the other p…
- breach of covenantBreaking a promise, express or implied and usually contained in a contract, either to do something or to refrain from…
- breach of dutyBreaking a legal or moral obligation; failing to act as the law requires.
- breach of peaceThe offense of causing a public disturbance or behaving in a disorderly way, particularly by making unnecessary or di…
- breach of prisonA prisoner's forcible escape from lawful confinement. Prison breach was traditionally distinguished from escape by th…
- breach of promiseGoing back on one's word, especially on a promise to marry.
- breach of the peaceThe offense of causing a public disturbance or behaving in a disorderly way, particularly by making unnecessary or di…
- breach of trustA trustee's breach either of the trust's terms or of the general duties equity imposes on trustees, whether the breac…
- breach of warrantyThe breaking of an express or implied warranty about the title, quality, contents, or condition of goods sold.
- bread actsFormerly, statutes regulating the price, weight, and quality of bread.
- breakageAn allowance a manufacturer gives a buyer for goods damaged in transit or storage. It also means the trifling sums ra…
- breakingIn the law of burglary, making an opening into a building, whether by force or by some trick, so as to get in without…
- breaking a caseOne appellate judge telling another on the same panel how they are provisionally inclined to decide a case. These inf…
- breaking a closeEntering another's land unlawfully or without permission; trespass at common law.
- breaking and enteringThe modern statutory offense of breaking into and entering any building, not just a dwelling and not only at night, i…
- breaking bulkSplitting a large shipment into smaller lots. It also means theft by a bailee, especially a carrier, who opens the co…
- breaking of entailFreeing an estate from the restrictions of an entail so that it can be disposed of freely. It was once done by a fine…
- breast of the courtA judge's own conscience, mind, or discretion, rendered from a Latin phrase meaning in the judge's breast.
- breathalyzeTo test a person's breath for alcohol using a breath-analysis device.
- BreathalyzerA device that measures the alcohol in a person's breath to estimate the level in their blood, used especially where p…
- breathing roomInformally, the period after a bankruptcy filing during which a debtor can work out a repayment plan without creditor…
- bredwiteA penalty for breaking the rules on the weight or quantity of bread.
- Brehon lawThe ancient system of law in Ireland at the time of Henry II's conquest. It was formally abolished in 1866.
- brephotrophiPeople who ran institutions taking in and caring for poor or abandoned children. The word is Greek, was used in late…
- brethrenBrothers, especially those regarded as spiritual kin, such as male colleagues on a court. Use of the term has natural…
- Bretts and Scotts, Laws of theA system of laws used by the Celtic peoples of Scotland until the start of the 14th century, when Edward I of England…
- breveA writ. The Latin word meant short, and writs were short documents, unlike charters.
- breve de rectoAnother term for de recto.
- breve de transgressione super casumA writ of trespass on the case, used where the harm followed indirectly from the wrongful act rather than immediately.
- breve innominatumA writ that states the cause of action only in general terms.
- breve magnum de rectoThe great writ of right, by which a claimant asserted the strongest possible title to land.
- breve perquirereTo purchase a writ or licence to sue in the king's courts.
- breve rebellionisA process empowering a private person to arrest a defendant and bring them before the Chancery to compel obedience to…
- breve testatumA written memorandum recording the terms on which land was conveyed and possession given. The witnesses did not sign…
- brevetIn military law, a commission promoting an officer to a higher rank, especially in wartime, without any matching rise…
- brevet officerA military officer holding a nominal rank higher than the one they are paid for.
- brevia formataWrits in settled and approved form, issued as a matter of course.
- brevia testataA written memorandum recording the terms on which land was conveyed and possession given. The witnesses did not sign…
- breviateAn abstract of a document, especially a short statement attached to a parliamentary bill summarizing what it contains.
- brevibus et rotulis liberandisFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff to hand over to a successor all the records and equipment of the office.
- bribeA payment, gift, or favor given or promised in order to pervert the judgment or sway the conduct of someone in a posi…
- bribe-giverSomeone who offers a bribe.
- bribe-takerSomeone who takes a bribe.
- bribeeSomeone who takes a bribe.
- briberSomeone who offers a bribe.
- briberyCorruptly giving, taking, or asking for a private benefit in return for official action. It is a felony in most juris…
- bridge bankA national bank chartered to run an insolvent bank for up to three years, or until it can be sold.
- bridge loanA short-term loan covering costs until longer-term finance can be arranged.
- briefA written statement setting out a party's legal arguments in litigation, especially on appeal, together with the fact…
- brief-writingThe art or practice of drafting legal briefs.
- brigandagePlundering and banditry by organized bands of robbers. Piracy is sometimes called brigandage at sea.
- bright-line ruleA rule of decision that settles questions, particularly borderline ones, simply and clearly, sometimes trading fairne…
- bring to bookTo arrest an offender and bring them to trial.
- British subjectThe status the British Nationality Act 1981 confers on citizens of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such…
- broad interpretationAn interpretation that reads a document in light of the situation before the court and seeks to give effect to its sp…
- broad-form insuranceComprehensive cover, usually added by endorsement to a liability or property policy, widening the protection normally…
- broad-form policyA policy giving broad protection with few limits, offering more cover than a basic-form policy but less than an open-…
- broadside objectionAn objection that does not identify the particular ground relied on. Because a party must usually state the basis of…
- brocardA basic legal principle or maxim, especially one drawn from Roman law or ancient custom.
- brocariusA broker; a middleman between buyer and seller.
- brokerAn agent who acts as an intermediary or negotiator, especially between prospective buyers and sellers, and who is emp…
- broker call loanA loan the lender can call in at any time, usually on 24 hours' notice, because there is no fixed maturity date.
- broker for saleA broker engaged to sell something who neither holds the goods nor can sue in their own name on the contracts they make.
- broker-agentSomeone who acts as an intermediary between parties to a transaction and also represents one of them; also, someone l…
- broker-dealerA brokerage firm that trades securities on its own account before selling them on to customers. Such a firm is usuall…
- brokerageA broker's business or office; also, a broker's fee.
- brokerage contractAn agency agreement engaging a broker to make contracts in the principal's name and on their behalf, for which the br…
- brokerage listingAnother term for a listing agreement between an owner and a broker.
- brotherA male with one or both parents in common with another person.
- brother-germanHaving both parents in common; a full brother, as opposed to a half-brother.
- brother-in-lawThe brother of one's spouse, or the husband of one's sister. The husband of a spouse's sister is also sometimes recko…
- brother-sister corporationOne of two or more companies controlled by the same, or substantially the same, owners.
- Bruton errorA breach of a criminal defendant's constitutional right to confront witnesses, committed by admitting a confession fr…
- brutum fulmenAn empty noise or idle threat; something of no effect. It also means a judgment void on its face, which in law is no…
- Bryan treatiesIn international law, any of 48 treaties meant to avert war by requiring the signatories to refer disputes of every k…
- BTAThe former name of the United States Tax Court.
- bubbleInformally, a dishonest or hollow business venture, usually built on a fictitious or inflated prospectus and designed…
- Bubble ActAn English statute of 1720 passed to prevent corporate fraud.
- bucket shopAn establishment that appears to deal in stock-exchange transactions but in fact merely records bets, usually small o…
- bucketingThe illegal practice of taking an order to buy or sell shares and not carrying it out at once. The wrongdoer profits…
- budgetA statement of an organization's expected income and spending over a set period, usually a year; also, a sum set asid…
- buffer-zoneIn land-use planning, a strip of land separating two different zones so that each blends more easily into the other,…
- buggerySodomy or bestiality.
- buggingElectronic surveillance by which conversations are intercepted, overheard, and recorded, usually without those speaki…
- building codesLaws and regulations setting standards for how buildings and dwellings are constructed, maintained, occupied, used, a…
- building lienA lien a builder or contractor has over the property they have worked on, securing payment for the labor and material…
- building lineA line drawn along a curb or the edge of a sidewalk fixing how far back from the street a building must stand, so tha…
- building loanA form of bridge loan used mainly to put up a building, advanced in stages as the work progresses and used to pay the…
- building permitA licence a government body, usually a municipality, grants for putting up a new building or substantially altering a…
- building restrictionsRules governing what kind of structures may be built on a piece of land, usually set out in zoning ordinances or in r…
- building-and-loan associationA quasi-public corporation that builds up funds from members' contributions and lends to members buying or building h…
- built-in obsolescenceThe practice of deliberately making consumer goods that will wear out or go out of date after limited use, so that bu…
- bulk(Of goods) not divided up into separate parts.
- bulk discountA reduction in price given for buying in large quantity.
- bulk mortgageA mortgage over personal property taken in bulk, or a pledge of a mass of goods held in one place; also, a mortgage c…
- bulk saleA sale of a large quantity of stock outside the ordinary course of the seller's business.
- bulk transferA sale of a large quantity of stock outside the ordinary course of the seller's business.
- bullA document issued by a Pope, named after the leaden seal attached to it; also, the seal itself on an official document.
- bull marketA securities market in which prices rise steadily over a long period.
- bulletin des loisIn French law, the publication giving official notice of the text of a law or decree and the date it takes effect.
- bullionGold or silver in an uncoined mass.
- bullion fundPublic money a mint uses to buy precious metals for coining and to pay those who deposit bullion.
- bullpenAn area of a prison where inmates are held in close confinement; also, a cell where prisoners wait before being broug…
- bum-marriage doctrineThe principle that the privilege protecting communications between spouses cannot be claimed where the marriage, thou…
- bumbershoot insuranceMarine insurance giving broad cover against ocean marine risks, especially a policy written through the London market…
- bumpingA senior employee displacing a junior one from their post; also, the airline practice of refusing seats to passengers…
- buncoA swindling game or scheme; any trick calculated to win someone's confidence in order to deceive them.
- bundleTo sell related products or services together in one transaction at a single price.
- bunkhouse ruleThe principle that an employee injured while living in accommodation the employer provides may claim compensation eve…
- burdenA duty or responsibility; also, something oppressive, or a restriction on the use or value of land.
- burden of allegationA party's duty to plead a matter if it is to be considered in the case.
- burden of going forward with evidenceA party's duty to put in enough evidence on an issue for the fact-finder to decide it, rather than have it decided ag…
- burden of persuasionA party's duty to persuade the fact-finder to take their view of the facts. In civil cases the claimant generally has…
- burden of pleadingA party's duty to plead a matter if it is to be considered in the case.
- burden of productionA party's duty to put in enough evidence on an issue for the fact-finder to decide it, rather than have it decided ag…
- burden of proofA party's duty to prove a disputed allegation. It takes in both the duty to persuade the fact-finder and the duty to…
- Bureau VeritasAn international body of marine underwriters that surveys and classifies vessels. Founded in Belgium in 1828, it move…
- Burford abstentionA federal court's refusal to review a state court's decision in a case that turns on a complex regulatory scheme and…
- burgage-tenureA form of socage tenure under which tenants paid yearly rents to the lord of the borough. In Scots law it was the ten…
- burgatorA burglar; someone who breaks into a house or enclosed place.
- burgessAn inhabitant or freeman of a borough or town; also, a borough magistrate, someone entitled to vote at elections, or…
- burgh EnglishA common-law rule of descent under which the youngest son inherited all his father's land.
- burgh EngloysA common-law rule of descent under which the youngest son inherited all his father's land.
- burglarSomeone who commits burglary.
- burglariousTo do with burglary.
- burglarizeTo commit a burglary.
- burglaryAt common law, breaking into and entering another's dwelling at night intending to commit a felony. Modern statutes e…
- burglary toolAn implement made or adapted to help in committing a burglary. In many places it is an offense to have one, if the po…
- burgleTo commit a burglary.
- burial insuranceInsurance covering the cost of the holder's burial and funeral.
- buried-facts doctrineIn securities law, the rule that disclosure in a proxy statement is inadequate if a reasonable shareholder might fail…
- burkingMurdering someone, usually by smothering, in order to sell the body. The word comes from the Scottish pair Burke and…
- burlawIn Scots law, a law made by the members of a local community.
- burlaw courtIn Scots law, a community assembly that decided minor local disputes.
- bursting-bubble theoryIn the law of evidence, the principle that a presumption vanishes as soon as credible evidence contradicts the facts…
- businessA commercial enterprise carried on for profit; an occupation someone follows regularly for a living.
- business agentA union official chosen to deal with employers on the members' behalf.
- business associationsThe field of law dealing with the various forms a business may take, such as companies, limited-liability companies,…
- business combinationThe bringing together, for accounting purposes, of a company and one or more other businesses, incorporated or not; a…
- business compulsionUnlawful pressure to perform, applied by threatening financial harm at a moment when the person threatened cannot exe…
- business corporationA company formed to carry on commercial activity for profit.
- business courtA court dealing exclusively with commercial litigation. Such courts emerged late in the 20th century as a way of clea…
- business cycleThe repeated expansion and contraction of economic activity over time.
- business dayA day on which most institutions are open, usually meaning a day when banks and the major stock exchanges are trading…
- business enterprisesThe field of law dealing with the various forms a business may take, such as companies, limited-liability companies,…
- business entryA document admissible under the exception to the hearsay rule for business records.
- business expenseA cost incurred in running and promoting a business, especially one laid out to further the business in the tax year…
- business gainProfit made from carrying on a business.
- business guestSomeone invited onto premises for a purpose connected with the occupier's business.
- business homesteadProperty used as a place of business which, in some states, is protected from forced sale to satisfy a debt.
- business inviteeSomeone invited, expressly or by implication, to enter or use another's premises, such as a business visitor or a mem…
- business lossIn tax law, a loss on the sale or exchange of something used in a trade or business. It is deductible against ordinar…
- business planA written proposal setting out a new business or business idea, usually covering finance, marketing, and operations.
- business recordA report, memorandum, or other record made in the ordinary course of business, which may be ordered produced in disco…
- business trustA form of business organization resembling a company, in which investors hold transferable certificates of beneficial…
- business-entry ruleAn exception to the hearsay rule allowing business records such as reports or memoranda to be admitted if they were m…
- business-interruption insuranceInsurance against losses caused by a business having to stop trading, such as profits lost while premises are closed…
- business-judgment ruleIn company law, the presumption that directors making business decisions in which they have no personal interest act…
- business-purpose doctrineIn tax law, the principle that a transaction must serve a genuine business purpose, and not merely avoid tax, to qual…
- business-records exceptionAn exception to the hearsay rule allowing business records such as reports or memoranda to be admitted if they were m…
- business-risk exclusionAn exclusion in some commercial general liability policies ruling out cover for ordinary risks of trading, such as da…
- bust-up mergerA merger in which the acquiring company sells off parts of the target's business to repay the loans that funded the t…
- but seeA signal used before a citation to point the reader to authority that conflicts with the statement just made.
- but-for causeThe cause without which the event would not have happened.
- but-for testIn tort and criminal law, the rule that causation exists only where the result would not have come about but for the…
- butlerageA duty on wine imported into England, payable to the royal butler.
- buttalsThe boundary lines of a piece of land, described in relation to the land next to it.
- butts and boundsAnother term for metes and bounds.
- buyThe act of buying something.
- buy orderTo purchase the whole interest of an owner or shareholder, so as to take over their stake in the business.
- buy outTo purchase the whole interest of an owner or shareholder, so as to take over their stake in the business.
- buy-and-sell agreementAn arrangement among the owners of a business under which the survivors agree to buy out the interest of an owner who…
- buy-downMoney a house buyer pays up front to reduce the interest payable on the mortgage.
- buy-sell agreementAn arrangement among the owners of a business under which the survivors agree to buy out the interest of an owner who…
- buyerSomeone who makes a purchase.
- buyer in ordinary course of businessSomeone who buys in good faith, without knowing that the sale breaches a third party's ownership rights or security i…
- buying inThe purchase of property by its original owner, or by someone else with an interest in it, at an auction or foreclosu…
- buying on marginBuying securities or commodities through a broker on a margin account, so that part of the price is borrowed.
- buying syndicateA group of investment bankers who share the risk of underwriting an issue of securities.
- buyoutThe purchase of all, or a controlling proportion, of a business's assets or shares.
- BWA dealer's notice that offers are invited from anyone for a security being sold.
- by God and my countryThe customary answer a criminal defendant gave at arraignment when asked how they wished to be tried.
- by operation of lawThe way in which a right or liability arises automatically, whatever the party concerned actually intended.
- by-bidderSomeone the seller employs at an auction to bid on the property purely to stir up bidding among genuine buyers.
- by-biddingThe illegal practice of employing someone to bid at an auction purely to drive up bidding on the seller's property.
- by-electionAn election held specially to fill a vacant seat.
- bylawA rule an association or company adopts for its own internal governance. Company bylaws are usually made separately f…
- bylaw manOne of the leading men of a town, appointed for some purpose under the town's own bylaws.
- bypass trustA trust taking a deceased person's estate, so that the surviving heirs receive a life interest in the trust rather th…
- byrlawIn Scots law, a law made by the members of a local community.
- byrlaw courtIn Scots law, a community assembly that decided minor local disputes.
- bystanderSomeone present when an event happens who takes no direct part in it.