Terms beginning with C
2,913 headwords
- C corporationA company taxed in its own right on its profits, with shareholders taxed again on the dividends they receive, as oppo…
- C reorganizationA reorganization in which one company exchanges its voting shares for substantially all the assets of another.
- c.Short for circa, meaning about or approximately, used before an uncertain date.
- C.BThe former name of the English Court of Common Pleas, so called because it was the forum for cases between subjects i…
- C.CAn abbreviation used for circuit, city, civil, or county court, and also for Chancery, civil, criminal, or Crown cases.
- C.FA term in a quoted sale price meaning that the price covers the goods and the freight to the named destination, but n…
- C.JShort for Corpus Juris, the body of the law.
- C.J.SShort for Corpus Juris Secundum, the legal encyclopedia.
- C.LFShort for cost, insurance, and freight.
- C.O.DCash or collect on delivery. By agreeing to this term the buyer undertakes to pay at the moment of delivery and appoi…
- C.PFormerly, a superior court with jurisdiction over all real actions and pleas between subjects, presided over by a chi…
- C.RThe chief court of early Norman England, established by William the Conqueror. It was a body of advisers who travelle…
- caUnder Magna Carta, a free man was to be fined only in proportion to his offense, and never so heavily as to deprive h…
- ca'canny strikeA strike in which the workers stay at their posts but deliberately work slowly, so as to cut output without walking out.
- ca’canny strikeA strike in which the workers stay at their posts but deliberately slow their pace so as to cut output.
- cabalA small group of political schemers or conspirators. The word is sometimes said to come from the initials of five min…
- cabalaAn esoteric or obscure body of doctrine, especially a secret teaching handed down among initiates.
- cabinet rankOfficials who, though not heads of executive departments, are given the standing of cabinet members, such as the U.S.…
- cabotageTrade carried on along a country's own coast, moving goods or passengers from one port in the country to another. The…
- cacicazgosLand held in entail by caciques, the leaders of Indian villages, and their descendants in Spanish America.
- cadastreA survey and valuation of land in a county or region, compiled for tax purposes.
- cadenaIn Spanish law, imprisonment; formerly, hard labor served while chained from waist to ankle.
- cadereTo end, cease, or fail. The word usually refers to a writ failing, as in the phrase meaning the writ fails.
- caducary(Of a bequest or estate) subject to escheat, lapse, or forfeiture.
- caduceTo take property by escheat or lapse.
- caeteris paribusAnother term for ceteris paribus.
- caeteris tacentibusFormerly, the others being silent. The phrase appeared in law reports after one judge's opinion, to note the judges w…
- caeterorum administrationAn administration granted to deal with the remainder of an estate not covered by an earlier limited grant.
- cafeteria planAn employee benefit plan letting staff choose among basic benefits up to a set money value.
- cahootsInformally, partnership, especially in something unlawful; collusion.
- Calandra ruleThe rule that a grand-jury witness may be compelled to answer questions about items even where the police obtained th…
- calendarA systematic ordering of time into years, months, weeks, and days, especially the Gregorian calendar established by P…
- calendar callA court sitting at which the judge calls each case awaiting trial, establishes its position, and fixes a trial date.
- calendar dayA full 24-hour day running from midnight to midnight.
- calendar eaducityThe lapse of a gift made by will.
- calendar monthOne of the twelve divisions of the calendar year; also, any period of roughly 30 days. At common law it meant 28 days…
- calendar motionA motion about the timing of court appearances, such as one to adjourn, to bring a case forward, or to reset it.
- calendar yearTwelve calendar months running from 1 January to 31 December; also, any twelve consecutive months.
- calendsIn the ancient Roman calendar, the first day of the month.
- callA request or command to come or assemble; also, a demand for payment of money.
- call equivalent positionIn securities law, a position that gains in value as the underlying shares rise, such as a long convertible security,…
- call loanA loan the lender can call in at any time, usually on 24 hours' notice, because there is no fixed maturity date.
- call optionAn option to buy something, especially securities, at a fixed price however far the market rises; the right to requir…
- call patentA land patent granted when the corners have been staked but the boundary lines have not yet been surveyed.
- call premiumThe percentage of a bond's face value a company pays, on top of that face value, to redeem a callable bond; the gap b…
- call priceThe price at which a bond may be redeemed before maturity.
- call to the barThe admission of a person to practice law, rendered from a Latin phrase meaning called to the bar.
- call-protection clauseA clause in a bond or callable preferred stock issue forbidding the issuer to call the security in during a stated pe…
- callable(Of a security) able to be redeemed by the issuing company before maturity.
- callable bondA bond the issuer may call in for payment before maturity.
- callable preferred stockPreferred stock the issuing company may buy back at a price fixed in advance, usually at or a little above par.
- callable securityAny security other than a short-term note which, when presented to the issuer, entitles the holder to a share of its…
- called meetingThe first meeting of a debtor's creditors and equity security holders, presided over by the U.S. Trustee, at which a…
- calling to the barThe admission of a person to practice law, rendered from a Latin phrase meaning called to the bar.
- calumniateTo slander someone or make false charges against them.
- calumnyMaliciously misrepresenting what someone said or did so as to damage their reputation; also, a false charge made in t…
- Calvo clauseA contract clause by which a foreign national gives up the right to call on their own government for diplomatic prote…
- Calvo doctrineIn international law, the rule that resident foreigners are entitled to the same protection as citizens but no more.…
- cambiatorAn exchanger, usually of money.
- cambistA broker who deals in promissory notes or bills of exchange.
- cambium localeA contract of exchange under which someone agrees to pay a sum of money in one place in return for money received in…
- cambium realeAn exchange of land.
- cameraA chamber or room, particularly a judge's private room.
- camerariusA chamberlain or other treasurer in charge of public money.
- campersThe share of a lawsuit's proceeds payable to someone who has financed the claim in return for part of the recovery.
- campipartitioAn agreement between a stranger to a lawsuit and a litigant under which the stranger pursues the claim in return for…
- canTo be able to do something; also, as courts often read it, to have permission to do it.
- cancelTo destroy a written document by defacing or obliterating it; also, to bring a promise, obligation, or right to an end.
- canceled checkA check the bank has paid and charged to the drawer's account, then marked and returned as evidence of payment.
- cancellariaAnother term for chancery, the court of the chancellor.
- cancellariusA chancellor, scrivener, or notary.
- cancellationDefacing or obliterating a document, as by drawing lines across it, so as to render it void; also, the annulling or e…
- cancellation clauseA contract clause allowing one or both parties to bring their obligations to an end in specified circumstances.
- cancellaturaDefacing or obliterating a document, as by drawing lines across it, so as to render it void.
- cancelled checkA check the bank has paid and charged to the drawer's account, then marked and returned as evidence of payment.
- cancelliLines drawn across a document, especially a will, to show that it has been revoked. The word formerly also meant the…
- canfaraA trial by hot iron, formerly used in England.
- canonA rule or principle, especially one accepted as fundamental.
- canon lawThe body of church law of the Roman Church, first compiled between the 12th and 14th centuries and since grown steadi…
- canon of constructionA rule used in interpreting legal documents, especially contracts and statutes. A few states have put such rules into…
- canon of descentA rule governing how land descends to the heirs of someone who dies without a will.
- canon of inheritanceA rule governing who inherits property and in what shares where there is no will.
- canonical(Of a rule) laid down by, or in accordance with, canon law; also, orthodox or conforming to accepted rules.
- canonical disabilityA canonical impediment to marriage, usually impotence.
- canonical impedimentA condition making a marriage liable to be annulled. The canonical impediments are consanguinity, affinity, and impot…
- canonical lawThe body of church law of the Roman Church, first compiled between the 12th and 14th centuries and since grown steadi…
- canonical purgationClearing oneself of an accusation in a church court by the oaths of twelve supporters.
- canonistAn expert in canon law, especially a canon lawyer or professor of the subject.
- cantredA subdivision of a county that formerly had its own local court.
- canumA duty or tribute a tenant owed a lord, usually paid in produce from the land.
- canvassTo examine something in detail; also, to seek political support from voters, or to gauge public opinion.
- capAn upper limit, such as a statutory ceiling on damages in a tort claim or on the interest a bank may charge.
- cap rateThe rate used to convert an income stream into a capital value, by dividing the annual income by the rate.
- capacitateTo qualify someone, or make them legally competent.
- capacityThe role in which someone acts; also, the legal power to enter into a transaction or to sue and be sued.
- capacity defenseA defense resting on the defendant's not being answerable for an unlawful act, or on the claimant's inability to brin…
- capacity to sueThe legal ability to bring a lawsuit in one's own name.
- capax doliAnother term for doli capax.
- capeA writ brought to recover possession of land.
- capiasAny of various writs requiring an officer to take a named defendant into custody.
- capias pro fineA writ for the arrest of someone who had failed to pay a fine imposed on them.
- capitaDivided equally among all the individuals concerned, usually within the same class.
- capitalTo do with economic or financial capital; also, punishable by death.
- capital accountAn account on a partnership's balance sheet showing a partner's share of the partnership capital.
- capital assetA long-term asset used in running a business or producing goods or services, such as equipment, land, or a plant. For…
- capital contributionCash, property, or services a partner puts into a partnership; also, money a shareholder makes available to a company…
- capital crimeA crime for which the death penalty may be imposed.
- capital expenditureMoney laid out to acquire or improve a fixed asset.
- capital expenseA cost a business incurs to obtain a long-term benefit. It cannot be deducted outright, but may be depreciated or amo…
- capital flightThe movement of large sums of investment money out of a country, usually prompted by political upheaval or a severe r…
- capital gainThe profit made when a capital asset is sold or exchanged.
- capital gainsProfits from selling capital assets, which are taxed at a rate different from ordinary income.
- capital goodsAssets used to produce other goods, such as machinery, tools, and plant, as opposed to goods bought for consumption.
- capital impairmentThe position of a company whose assets are worth less than its legal capital and liabilities combined.
- capital improvementMoney laid out to acquire or improve a fixed asset.
- capital leaseA lease amounting in substance to a purchase, under which the lessee takes possession with the first payment and owne…
- capital leverageThe use of borrowed money in a business to earn a return greater than the interest paid on it.
- capital lossThe loss made when a capital asset is sold or exchanged.
- capital marketA securities market in which long-dated stocks and bonds are traded.
- capital offenseA crime for which the death penalty may be imposed.
- capital outlayMoney laid out to acquire or improve a fixed asset; also, money spent on acquiring, equipping, and promoting a business.
- capital punishmentDeath imposed by the state as punishment for a serious crime.
- capital ratioThe ratio between the capital raised and the firm's total capitalization.
- capital recoveryThe recovery of a bad debt that had already been written off against the provision for doubtful accounts.
- capital returnIn tax law, money that merely returns cost or capital and so is not taxable as income.
- capital stockThe total number of shares, common and preferred, a company may issue under its charter or articles; also, the total…
- capital structureThe mix of debt and equity by which a business funds itself, and the relative proportions of short-term debt, long-te…
- capital surplusSurplus not built up out of profits, such as paid-in or donated surplus; a company's surplus other than earned surplu…
- capital transactionThe purchase, sale, or exchange of a capital asset.
- capital-gain distributionA taxable payment to a holder of units in a mutual fund, representing their share of the net capital gains the fund m…
- capital-gain dividendA taxable payment to a holder of units in a mutual fund, representing their share of the net capital gains the fund m…
- capital-gains taxA tax on the gain from selling a capital asset. Long-term gains are generally taxed at lower rates than ordinary income.
- capital-risk testIn securities law, a way of deciding whether a transaction is an investment contract and so subject to the securities…
- capital-stock taxA tax on shares in the shareholder's hands; also, a state tax on doing business in corporate form, usually charged to…
- capitaleMovable property, especially livestock. Over time chattel became the commoner word. It also meant a stolen article, o…
- capitalisA principal or chief person, thing, or proceeding.
- capitalis custosChief guardian.
- capitalis dominusChief lord.
- capitalis justiciariusThe principal minister of state who governed while the king was abroad. By the 13th century the duties of the office…
- capitalis plegiusChief pledge, the head of a frankpledge group.
- capitalismAn economic system resting on private ownership of the means of production, in which competition determines what is p…
- capitalizationTurning something into capital, and the sum that results. It also means the total long-term funding a business uses,…
- capitalization accounting methodA way of finding an asset's present value by discounting the stream of benefits it is expected to produce at an appro…
- capitalization rateThe interest rate used to work out the present value of a stream of future payments.
- capitalization ratioThe ratio between the capital raised and the firm's total capitalization.
- capitalizeTo turn earnings into capital; also, to treat a cost as a capital outlay rather than an ordinary running expense, to…
- capitalized expenseA cost recorded as an asset and written off over time, rather than deducted in full in the year it is incurred.
- capitaneusFormerly, someone holding land directly from the king. In maritime law it means a ship's captain or a naval commander…
- capitationA fixed tax charged on each person within a jurisdiction. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment forbids federal and state gover…
- capitation taxA fixed tax charged on each person within a jurisdiction. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment forbids federal and state gover…
- capitis deminutioA lessening or loss of a person's legal standing, as where someone forfeits their rights of citizenship or family.
- capitulaCollections of laws or ordinances arranged under headings; also, chapters or assemblies of clergy.
- capitula coronaeFormerly, a fuller version of the articles of the eyre, listing the matters the travelling justices were to inquire i…
- capitula de judaeisQuestions the travelling justices put in order to fix what a Jew would pay for the king's protection and a license to…
- capitularyAny orderly, systematic collection of laws arranged in chapters.
- capitulationSurrendering or giving in. In international law it means an agreement to surrender a fortified place or a military or…
- capriceArbitrary or unfounded motivation; also, a tendency to change one's mind on impulse.
- capricious(Of a person) behaving unpredictably or on impulse; (of a decision) contrary to the evidence or to settled rules of law.
- captain-of-the-ship doctrineIn medical-malpractice law, the rule making a surgeon liable for the acts of assistants working under their control e…
- captationPressure on a testator that substitutes someone else's wishes for their own. The word formerly described the first st…
- captatorSomeone who obtains a gift or legacy by trickery.
- captioThe arrest of a person or the seizure of a thing; also, the holding of a court.
- captionThe opening part of a court document, giving the names of the parties, the name of the court, the file number, and th…
- captive insuranceInsurance covering the group or business that set it up; also, insurance a subsidiary provides to its parent company,…
- captive insurance companyA company that insures the liabilities of its own owner, who is usually its sole shareholder and only customer.
- captive insurerA company that insures the liabilities of its own owner, who is usually its sole shareholder and only customer.
- captive-audience doctrineIn constitutional law, the principle that speech may be restricted where the listener cannot realistically get away f…
- captureIn property law, the rule that wild animals belong to whoever catches them, wherever they were before. In the law of…
- caputFormerly, a head, chief, or principal person. In Roman law it meant a person, and also a person's legal status.
- car trust certificateA security, usually issued by a railroad, to pay for new equipment. A trustee holds title to the equipment until the…
- carcerA prison or jail, especially one for holding people rather than punishing them. In English and Roman law it usually m…
- cardinal-change doctrineIn contract law, the principle that where the government unilaterally makes a fundamental change to a contract, going…
- careSerious attention or heed. In the law of negligence it means the conduct required of a person in a given situation, i…
- career criminalSomeone convicted of many criminal offenses, usually of a similar kind; a repeat offender.
- career vice-consulA vice-consul who is a member of the Foreign Service.
- careless(Of a person) not taking reasonable care; (of an act) done without reasonable care.
- carelessnessFailing to do what one ought to have done, or doing what one ought not; also, a general disposition not to do what ou…
- cargo insuranceInsurance covering damage to freight while it is being carried.
- carjackingTaking a vehicle from a motorist by force.
- carnal abuseAn unlawful sexual act, especially one committed by an adult against a child.
- carnal knowledgeSexual intercourse, especially with an underage girl.
- Carriage of Goods by Sea ActA federal act of 1936 setting out the rights and duties of those who issue and hold ocean bills of lading where goods…
- carrierA person or organization, such as a railroad or an airline, that carries passengers or goods for a fee.
- carrier's lienA carrier's right to hold on to cargo until the owner pays the shipping charges.
- Carroll doctrineThe principle that a broadcast licensee may challenge the grant of a competing licence by the Federal Communications…
- carrybackIn tax law, a deduction, especially for a net operating loss, that cannot all be used in the year it arises and may i…
- carryforwardAn income-tax deduction, especially for a net operating loss, that cannot be used up in the year it arises and may be…
- carrying awayCarrying or moving something away. Some movement of the goods is a necessary element of larceny.
- carrying chargeA charge, over and above interest, paid to a creditor for carrying installment credit; also, the running costs of own…
- carrying costThe cost of holding an asset over time, taking in interest, storage, insurance, and similar outgoings.
- carryoverAn income-tax deduction, especially for a net operating loss, that cannot be used up in the year it arises and may be…
- carryover basisThe basis of property transferred by gift or into trust, which is the same as the transferor's basis.
- cart-boteAn allowance of wood for making and repairing farm equipment.
- cartaA charter, deed, or other written instrument.
- Carta MercatoriaAn English statute of 1303 laying down rules favorable to foreign merchants trading in England.
- carte blancheFull discretion to act as one thinks best, from the French for a blank sheet.
- cartelA combination of producers or sellers acting together to control what is produced or what it costs; also, an associat…
- carucageA tax charged either on a carucate of land or on the ploughs worked on it.
- carucateA measure of land for assessment, usually reckoned at about 120 acres, taken to be as much as one plough with eight o…
- carvageA tax assessed on ploughland.
- carve outTo create an explicit exception to a broad rule; in tax law, to separate the income produced by property from the pro…
- carveoutAn explicit exception to a broad rule; in tax law, the separation of the income produced by property from the propert…
- cas fortuitIn insurance, a chance event; an accident that could not have been avoided.
- casataA house with enough land attached to support one family.
- casatusA vassal or feudal tenant holding a casata.
- caseA proceeding, action, suit, or dispute at law or in equity.
- case agreed onA written statement of the facts, agreed and submitted jointly by the parties so that the court can decide without a…
- case at barThe case the court is considering at that moment.
- case at benchThe case the court is considering at that moment.
- case lawyerA lawyer whose knowledge is largely confined to one narrow field.
- case madeA written statement of the facts proved at trial, drawn up and agreed by the parties so that particular legal questio…
- case methodA way of teaching law in which students work from particular decided cases towards the general principles behind them…
- case of first impressionA case raising legal questions that no court in that jurisdiction has decided before.
- case reservedA written statement of the facts proved at trial, drawn up and agreed by the parties so that particular legal questio…
- case statedA written statement of the facts, agreed and submitted jointly by the parties so that the court can decide without a…
- case systemA way of teaching law in which students work from particular decided cases towards the general principles behind them…
- case-in-chiefThe evidence put forward by the party who carries the burden of proof; also, the part of a trial in which a party pre…
- case-management orderA court order controlling how a case on the court's list is to proceed, especially by limiting pretrial discovery.
- case-or-controversy requirementThe constitutional rule that a federal court may hear a case only if it involves a genuine dispute.
- case-within-a-case ruleIn a legal-malpractice claim, the requirement that the client show they would have won the underlying case but for th…
- casebookA collection of extracts from instructive decided cases on a subject, usually with commentary and questions, put toge…
- casebook methodA way of teaching law in which students work from particular decided cases towards the general principles behind them…
- caseflowThe movement of cases through the court system from first filing to final appeal; also, the study of that movement.
- caselawThe body of reported decisions that make up the law of a jurisdiction.
- caseloadThe number of cases assigned to a given court, agency, officer, judge, firm, or lawyer.
- cashMoney or its equivalent, including currency, coins, negotiable checks, and money held in bank accounts.
- cash bailA sum of money, rather than a surety bond, put up to secure a prisoner's release from jail.
- cash bookAn account book recording all the cash a business receives and pays out.
- cash budgetA period-by-period schedule of a business's opening cash, expected receipts, expected payments, and closing balance,…
- cash collateralCash, or assets readily turned into cash, in which both a bankruptcy estate and a secured creditor have an interest,…
- cash cycleThe time it takes for cash to move through a business, such as the interval between buying raw materials and selling…
- cash discountA reduction in price a seller gives for immediate payment in cash, or for settling the bill by a stated date.
- cash dividendA dividend paid to shareholders in money.
- cash equivalentA short-term security liquid enough to be treated as the same as cash.
- cash flowThe movement of cash through a business, taken as a measure of profitability or liquidity; also, the cash a business…
- cash flow per common shareCash flow from operations less preferred dividends, divided by the number of common shares in issue.
- cash mergerA merger in which shareholders of the target company must take cash for their shares.
- cash or deferred arrangementA retirement-plan provision letting an employee choose between taking a sum as pay or having it put into a profit-sha…
- cash saleA sale in which payment is made at the same time as the property is handed over; also, a stock-exchange transaction r…
- cash surrender valueIn insurance, the sum payable when a policy with a cash value, such as whole-life cover, is cashed in before it matur…
- cash tender offerA tender offer in which the bidder offers cash for the target's shares rather than shares in another company. Most te…
- cash valueWhat property would fetch on the open market between a willing buyer and a willing seller.
- cash-against-documents saleA sale in which the buyer pays when the seller hands over the documents of title to the goods, together with a draft…
- cash-and-carry clauseA rule in force before the United States entered the Second World War, allowing warring countries to pay cash for goo…
- cash-basis accounting methodAn accounting method that counts only cash actually received as income and cash actually paid out as expense.
- cash-equivalent doctrineIn tax law, the rule that income must be reported even where it does not come in cash, as where a taxpayer barters an…
- cash-expenditure methodIn tax law, a technique the IRS uses to reconstruct unreported income by comparing what a taxpayer spent over a perio…
- cash-out mergerA merger in which shareholders of the target company must take cash for their shares.
- cash-refund annuityAn annuity under which, after the annuitant dies, a lump sum is paid making up the difference between what was receiv…
- cash-transaction reportThe IRS form on which banks and other financial institutions must report cash transactions above a set amount.
- cash-value optionA life policyholder's right to surrender the policy for its cash value at a stated time or at any time.
- cashierSomeone who takes in and records payments at a business; also, a bank's or trust company's executive officer responsi…
- cashliteA penalty payable in money.
- cashoutAn arrangement by which a seller takes the whole of their equity in cash rather than keeping an interest in the prope…
- cassareTo quash or annul something, usually an agreement, law, or writ.
- cassationThe quashing of a judgment or decision.
- cast-iron-pipe doctrineThe principle that a company reserve built up from unpaid dividends on preferred stock must go to later preferred div…
- castigatoryA device for punishing scolds by ducking them repeatedly under water.
- casting voteA deciding vote cast by the presiding officer of a body when the votes are tied. The U.S. Constitution gives the Vice…
- castle doctrineAn exception to the duty to retreat, allowing deadly force to be used by someone defending their home and the people…
- castle-guardThe defense of a castle; also, a form of knight service under which a tenant had to help defend the lord's castle, th…
- casu consimiliFormerly, a writ of entry allowing the holder of a reversion to take possession of land that a life tenant had dispos…
- casu provisoFormerly, a writ of entry to recover a reversion in land disposed of by a widow holding it as her dower for life.
- casual(Of employment) irregular or occasional; (of an event) unexpected and unplanned.
- casual affrayAnother term for chance-medley.
- casual conditionA future and uncertain event whose happening decides whether an obligation exists or how far it extends.
- casual ejectorThe nominal defendant in an ejectment action, supposed by legal fiction to have wandered onto the land by chance and…
- casual employmentWork that is occasional, irregular, or for a limited and temporary purpose.
- casualtyA serious or fatal accident; also, a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed.
- casualty gainIn insurance, the profit an insured makes where the benefits paid exceed the adjusted value of the property lost.
- casualty insuranceInsurance against loss from a broad group of causes such as legal liability, theft, accident, property damage, and wo…
- casualty lossFor tax purposes, the total or partial destruction of an asset by an unexpected or unusual event, such as a car accid…
- casualty potIn tax law, a stage in working out liability at which casualty gains and losses are set against each other to see whe…
- casusA chance accident; an event happening without human intervention or fault. It also means a situation the legislature…
- casus foederisIn international law, a provocative act by one nation entitling another to call on an ally to honor the terms of thei…
- casus fortuitusA chance event; a loss not caused by anyone's fault.
- casus omissusA situation a statute or contract fails to provide for, which therefore falls to be governed by case law or by new ju…
- catallaMovable or transferable property, especially personal property; also, cattle used for ploughing.
- catalla otiosaChattels that are not animals; also, cattle not used for ploughing.
- catallis captis nomine districtionisFormerly, a writ allowing a landlord owed rent to seize the doors, windows, and gates of the tenant's house.
- catallis reddendisA writ ordering a bailee to hand over chattels withheld from their owner, later replaced by the writ of detinue.
- catalsMovable or transferable property, especially personal property; also, cattle used for ploughing.
- cataneusFormerly, someone holding land directly from the king; also, a ship's captain, and more generally a ruler or leader.
- catch-time charterA charter for a set period rather than for a particular voyage or task, under which the owner continues to manage the…
- catchpollA sheriff's deputy or bailiff.
- categorical questionA question that suggests its own answer to the person being questioned, especially one answerable simply yes or no; a…
- cater cousinA distant relative. The word comes from the French for a cousin in the fourth degree.
- cathedralThe principal church of a diocese, containing the bishop's throne.
- cathedral prefermentIn a cathedral church, a deanery, archdeaconry, canonry, or other office below the rank of bishop.
- Catoniana regulaIn Roman law, the principle that the passing of time cannot cure something void from the outset. It was typically use…
- cats and dogsSecurities that are not performing; also, highly speculative securities.
- caucusRepresentatives of a political party meeting to choose candidates and settle party policy; more generally, any meetin…
- causa causae est causa causatiThe cause of a cause is also the cause of the thing caused.
- causa causansThe immediate and effective cause of something.
- causa jactitationis maritagiiA suit brought to stop someone falsely claiming to be married to the claimant.
- causa matrimonii praelocutiA suit to enforce a promise of marriage.
- causa mortisDone or made in contemplation of one's own death.
- causa non secutaIn Roman law, a consideration that has failed to materialize.
- causa proximaThe immediate or nearest cause of a result.
- causa remotaA remote or indirect cause.
- causa sine qua nonA necessary cause; the cause without which the thing could not exist or the event could not have happened.
- causalTo do with causation; arising from a cause.
- causal challengeA challenge to a juror supported by a stated reason, such as bias or prejudice, which would disqualify that person fr…
- causalityThe principle of cause and effect, and the relationship between them.
- causam nobis significes quareFormerly, a writ ordering a town's mayor to give possession of land to someone the king had granted it to.
- causationThe bringing about of an effect; also, the relationship between a cause and its effect.
- causativeOperating as a cause, or producing a result; also, expressing causation.
- causatorA litigant; also, someone who manages or argues a case for another.
- causeSomething that produces an effect or result.
- cause in factThe cause without which the event would not have happened.
- cause listA list of the cases set down to be heard by a court.
- cause of actionThe set of facts that gives someone a basis for suing; a situation entitling one person to a remedy in court against…
- cause-and-prejudice ruleThe rule that a prisoner challenging a conviction or sentence on a constitutional ground never put to the trial court…
- cause-of-action estoppelA defense barring a party from relitigating an issue already decided against them in an earlier action, even where th…
- causidicusA speaker or pleader who argued cases orally on behalf of others.
- cautioSecurity given to ensure that an obligation is performed; also, a surety.
- cautio MucianaSecurity an heir or legatee gave to take immediate possession of an inheritance left on condition. The condition in t…
- cautio pignoratitiaSecurity given by pledging goods.
- cautionSecurity given to ensure that an obligation is performed; also, the person who gives it.
- caution moneyMoney a student or tenant deposits as security against damage or unpaid charges, returnable at the end of the term.
- cautionary instructionA direction telling jurors to disregard particular evidence or to use it only for a limited purpose; also, a directio…
- cautione admittendaFormerly, a writ ordering a bishop who had jailed an excommunicated person for contempt to accept the security offere…
- caveatA warning or qualification.
- caveat emptorThe rule that buyers purchase at their own risk. Modern statutes and decisions have greatly cut down its importance.
- caveat viatorA traveler's duty to take reasonable care to notice and avoid defects in the road.
- caveatable(Of a legal or equitable interest) capable of being protected by lodging a caveat.
- caveateeSomeone whose interest is challenged by a caveat.
- caveatorSomeone who lodges a caveat, especially to challenge the validity of a will.
- CBOEThe leading organized market in the United States for trading options.
- CBOTThe commodities exchange on which futures contracts in a wide range of agricultural products are made.
- CBTThe commodities exchange on which futures contracts in a wide range of agricultural products are made.
- CCC, abbrA federal agency that supports the prices of farm products through loan subsidies and purchases, to help sell them at…
- CDA bank's certificate acknowledging money received and promising to repay the depositor; a document evidencing a time…
- CEAThe Council of Economic Advisers, which advises the President on economic policy.
- ceapgildA tax or fine paid with an animal rather than in money.
- cearnetA customs document allowing an item, especially a car, to be taken temporarily from one country into another.
- ceaseTo stop, suspend, or bring to an end; also, to die out or pass away.
- cease-and-desist orderA court's or agency's order forbidding someone to carry on a particular course of conduct.
- ceasefireIn international law, a suspension of hostilities agreed between warring powers.
- cedantAn insurer that passes all or part of a risk it has underwritten to a reinsurer, usually along with a share of the or…
- cedeTo give up or surrender something; also, to assign or grant it.
- cedentAn insurer that passes all or part of a risk it has underwritten to a reinsurer, usually along with a share of the or…
- ceiling priceThe highest price a buyer will pay; also, the highest price a government agency or other regulator permits.
- ceiling rentThe most rent that may be charged under a rent-control rule.
- celiensIn Roman law, a dependant who relied on another for protection in lawsuits and other difficulties, often a freed slav…
- cenegildA fine a murderer paid to the victim's relatives by way of atonement.
- censo al quitarAn annuity that may be redeemed.
- censo consignativoA transferable annuity secured by a charge on the debtor's land, the debtor keeping full legal title to it.
- censo enfiteuticoAn annuity payable to a landowner by a tenant who has the use and profits of the land.
- censo redimibleAn annuity that may be redeemed.
- censo reservatioAn annuity a grantee of land pays the grantor, reserved when the land is transferred.
- censorIn Roman law, an officer who took the census, assessed property, and oversaw public morals. It also means someone who…
- censorial jurisprudenceThe critical study of what the law ought to be, as opposed to describing what it is, usually with a view to proposing…
- censumethidusAnother term for mortmain.
- censureAn official reprimand or condemnation; harsh criticism.
- censusThe official counting of people to gather social and economic information about the area they live in.
- centenaA district of a hundred freemen, found among the Germans, Franks, Goths, and Lombards, corresponding to the Saxon hun…
- centenariusA petty judge or under-sheriff of a hundred.
- center-of-gravity doctrineIn the conflict of laws, the rule that a choice-of-law question is answered by applying the law of the jurisdiction m…
- centesimaA hundredth part; one percent.
- Central American Court of JusticeA court created by a convention of 1908 between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, to safeg…
- central clearing systemA system for handling securities transactions in which an agent or subsidiary of an exchange acts as a clearinghouse…
- Central Criminal CourtThe Crown Court sitting in London, formerly the Old Bailey. Created in 1834, it may try any indictable offense commit…
- Central Criminal Court ActAn English statute allowing a trial to be moved to the Central Criminal Court where a fair trial could not be had loc…
- central governmentThe national government of a country, as opposed to the governments of its states, provinces, or localities.
- Central Intelligence AgencyA federal agency responsible for gathering, analyzing, and sometimes acting on information affecting national securit…
- Central OfficeThe main office for most of England's courts, established in 1879 to bring together the masters and associates of the…
- centumviriA Roman court hearing important cases, especially about inheritances, wills, and property. It originally had 105 judg…
- cepi corpus et bailI have arrested the defendant and released them on bail: a sheriff's note on the return of a writ.
- cepi corpus et committiturI have arrested the defendant and committed them to prison: a sheriff's note on the return of a writ.
- cepi corpus et paratum habeoI have made the arrest and am ready to produce the defendant: a sheriff's note on the return of a writ.
- cepitHe took. This was the operative word in a declaration in trespass or replevin.
- cerageA payment made towards the cost of wax candles for a church.
- ceratiumFormerly, a duty on the wax candles used in churches, usually paid twice a year.
- CERCLAThe Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, which makes responsible parties li…
- ceremonial maceA ceremonial staff, shaped like an ornamental weapon, carried as the emblem of an office. In the House of Commons it…
- ceremonial marriageA marriage entered into through a formal ceremony before an authorized officiant and witnesses, as opposed to one ari…
- certain contractA contract whose terms are fixed and definite, leaving nothing to be settled later.
- certificando de recognitione stapulaeA writ commanding the mayor of the staple to certify to the lord chancellor the existence and terms of a bond for com…
- certificateA document formally attesting to a fact.
- certificate creditorA creditor holding a certificate of indebtedness issued by a municipality or other public body in place of immediate…
- certificate into chanceryThe decision of a common-law court on a legal question referred to it by the chancery court.
- certificate landLand in western Pennsylvania set aside after the Revolution to be bought with the certificates soldiers had received…
- certificate of acknowledgmentA formal statement by an authorized officer that a signature on a document is genuine and was freely made.
- certificate of amendmentA document filed with a state authority, usually the secretary of state, recording changes made to a company's articl…
- certificate of assizeIn England, a writ granting a retrial, now replaced by a court order granting a motion for a new trial.
- certificate of authorityA document authenticating a notarized instrument being sent to another jurisdiction, assuring the recipient that the…
- certificate of conferenceA part of a pleading or motion, usually on its own page near the end, in which the filing party certifies that the pa…
- certificate of convenience and necessityA certificate an administrative agency issues granting operating authority to a utility or transport company.
- certificate of depositA bank's certificate acknowledging money received and promising to repay the depositor; a document evidencing a time…
- certificate of dischargeA written statement that one party, especially a debtor, has discharged its obligation to another, who accepts the di…
- certificate of dissolutionA document issued by a state authority, usually the secretary of state, certifying that a company has been dissolved.
- certificate of electionA document from a governor, board of elections, or other competent authority certifying that the named person has bee…
- certificate of incorporationA document issued by a state authority granting a company its legal existence and the right to operate as a corporati…
- certificate of insuranceA document acknowledging that an insurance policy has been written and setting out in general terms what it covers.
- certificate of interestIn oil-and-gas law, a document evidencing a fractional or percentage share in oil-and-gas production.
- certificate of magistracyA document authenticating a notarized instrument being sent to another jurisdiction, assuring the recipient that the…
- certificate of occupancyA document showing that a building complies with the zoning and building rules. One is often needed before title can…
- certificate of official characterA document authenticating a notarized instrument being sent to another jurisdiction, assuring the recipient that the…
- certificate of proofAn authorized officer's certificate, based on a third party's evidence, that a signature is genuine and was freely ma…
- certificate of prothonotaryA certificate issued by the chief clerk of a court attesting to the authenticity of its records.
- certificate of purchaseA document recording a successful bid for property at a court-ordered sale. The bidder receives a deed if the land is…
- certificate of registryA document certifying that a ship has been registered as the law requires.
- certificate of saleA document recording a successful bid for property at a court-ordered sale. The bidder receives a deed if the land is…
- certificate of serviceA part of a pleading or motion, usually on its last page, in which the filing party certifies that a copy has been se…
- certificate of stockA document evidencing ownership of shares in a company.
- certificate of titleA document showing who owns a piece of real or personal property, usually noting any liens or other encumbrances.
- certificated securityA security that is a recognized investment vehicle, belongs to or is divisible into a class or series of shares, and…
- certificationFormally attesting to something, and the state of having been so attested; also, the attesting statement itself, or t…
- certification markA word, symbol, or device used on goods or services to certify their origin, materials, method of manufacture, qualit…
- certification of bargaining agentAnother term for union certification.
- certification of labor unionAnother term for union certification.
- certification to state courtThe procedure by which a federal court of appeals holds off deciding a novel question of state law by referring it to…
- certification trademarkA word, symbol, or device used on goods or services to certify their origin, materials, method of manufacture, qualit…
- certified checkA check the drawee bank has accepted in advance, setting the money aside so that payment is guaranteed when the check…
- certified copyA copy certified by an authorized officer as a true reproduction of the original.
- certified financial statementA financial statement examined and reported on by an independent public or certified public accountant.
- certified mailMail for which the sender obtains proof of delivery in the form of a receipt signed by the addressee.
- certified military lawyerSomeone qualified to act as counsel in a general court-martial. They must be a judge advocate of the Army, Navy, Air…
- certified public accountantAn accountant who has met the statutory and administrative requirements to be licensed as a public accountant.
- certified questionA point of law on which a federal court of appeals seeks guidance from the Supreme Court or from a state's highest co…
- certifyTo authenticate or verify something in writing; to attest that it is true or meets set criteria. Of a court, it also…
- certiorariA discretionary writ by which an appeal court directs a lower court to send up the record of a case for review. The S…
- certworthinessThe quality in a case or issue that makes it worth reviewing on certiorari.
- certworthyInformally, (of a case or issue) deserving review by writ of certiorari.
- cessIn English law, an assessment or tax; in Scots law, a land tax.
- cessation-of-production clauseIn oil-and-gas law, a lease clause temporarily keeping a lease alive after production stops, giving the lessee a set…
- cessavit per bienniumA writ of right by which a landlord recovered land from a tenant who had failed for two years to pay rent or render t…
- cesseIn English law, an assessment or tax; in Scots law, a land tax.
- cesserFormerly, a tenant whose failure to pay rent or render services entitled the landowner to recover the land; also, the…
- cesset executioAn order directing that execution be stayed.
- cessioA giving up or assignment of something; a cession.
- cessio bonorumAn assignment of a debtor's property to their creditors.
- cessio in jureA fictitious action used to convey property: the claimant demanded it, the owner did not dispute the claim, and a mag…
- cessionary bankruptSomeone who gives up all their property so that it can be divided among their creditors.
- cessorFormerly, a tenant whose failure to pay rent or render services entitled the landowner to recover the land; also, the…
- cessureFormerly, a tenant whose failure to pay rent or render services entitled the landowner to recover the land; also, the…
- cestuiA beneficiary.
- cestui que trustSomeone holding equitable rights in property who receives the rents, income, and profits from it; a beneficiary.
- ceteris tacentibusFormerly, the others being silent. The phrase appeared in law reports after one judge's opinion, to note the judges w…
- CFCA foreign company in which U.S. shareholders hold enough of the stock for its income to be attributed to them for tax…
- CFPA certified financial planner.
- CFRThe yearly compilation of executive-agency regulations first published in the Federal Register, together with earlier…
- CFTCA federal agency that oversees trading in commodity futures and commodity options.
- CGL policyA commercial general liability policy, covering a business against most claims for bodily injury and property damage…
- chafewaxA chancery officer who warmed the wax used to seal writs, commissions, and other instruments. The office was abolishe…
- chain conspiracyA conspiracy in which each participant deals only with the one before and the one after, so that the scheme runs as a…
- chain gangA group of prisoners chained together to stop them escaping while working outside a prison.
- chain of causationA series of events each brought about by the one before it; also, the causal link between a cause and its effects.
- chain of custodyThe record of where a piece of physical evidence has been and who has held it, from the moment it was obtained until…
- chain of titleThe ownership history of a piece of land, from the first owner to the present one. It also means the history of a neg…
- chain-certificate methodThe procedure for proving a foreign official record genuine, by obtaining a series of certificates each vouching for…
- chain-of-causation ruleIn workers' compensation law, the principle that an employee's suicide may be compensable where an earlier work injur…
- chain-referral schemeA scheme in which a participant pays for the chance to earn money by introducing new people to it, and again when tho…
- chairThe person who presides over a committee, convention, assembly, or other deliberative body.
- chairpersonThe person who presides over a committee, convention, assembly, or other deliberative body.
- chairwomanThe person who presides over a committee, convention, assembly, or other deliberative body.
- challengeFormally questioning the legality or qualifications of a person, action, or thing.
- challenge for causeA challenge to a juror supported by a stated reason, such as bias or prejudice, which would disqualify that person fr…
- challenge propter affectumA challenge on the ground that some circumstance, such as kinship with a party, makes the juror unfit to serve in tha…
- challenge propter defectumA challenge on the ground that the juror is unfit to serve on any jury, for reasons such as alienage, being under age…
- challenge propter delictumA challenge on the ground that the juror has lost their civil rights, as by conviction of an infamous crime.
- challenge to the arrayA challenge to the way the whole jury panel was chosen, usually for failure to follow the procedures meant to produce…
- challenge to the jury arrayA challenge to the way the whole jury panel was chosen, usually for failure to follow the procedures meant to produce…
- challenge to the pollA challenge to an individual juror, as opposed to one attacking the whole panel.
- challenge, vdTo dispute or call something into question; also, to object formally to someone's legality or qualifications.
- chamberA room or compartment; also, a legislative or judicial body, or the hall where it does business. A judge's chamber is…
- chamber businessA judge's official business conducted outside the courtroom.
- chamber of accountsIn French law, a court deciding disputes about the collection of public revenue.
- chamber of commerceAn association of merchants and other business leaders formed to promote commercial interests in an area, usually aff…
- chamberlainA treasurer; originally the keeper of the royal treasure chamber. The title has belonged to several high offices in E…
- chamberlariaThe office of chamberlain.
- champertorSomeone who finances and promotes another's lawsuit in return for a share of what is recovered.
- champertousTo do with, or amounting to, champerty.
- champertyAn agreement between a stranger to a lawsuit and a litigant under which the stranger pursues the claim in return for…
- chanceA hazard or risk; also, the unforeseen or unintended consequences of an act, or an accident.
- chance verdictA verdict, now unlawful, reached by chance or by drawing lots.
- chance-of-survival doctrineThe principle that a claimant in a wrongful-death case need only show that the defendant's conduct was a substantial…
- chancellorA judge sitting in a court of chancery; also, the president or chief executive of a university or other institution o…
- chancellor of the dioceseThe sole judge of a diocese's consistory court.
- Chancellor of the ExchequerIn England, the government minister in charge of revenue and expenditure. The Chancellor formerly sat in the Court of…
- Chancellor, LordThe highest judicial officer in England, who sat as speaker of the House of Lords, was a member of the Cabinet, and p…
- chancerTo adjust something according to equitable principles, as a court of chancery would. The practice grew up in parts of…
- chanceryA court of equity, or the courts of equity taken together.
- Chancery Court of YorkThe church court of the province of York, which heard appeals from the diocesan courts.
- chancery guardianA guardian appointed by a court of chancery to look after a child's person or property.
- change of circumstancesA material alteration in the facts on which a court order was based, such as a change in income or in a child's needs…
- change of conditionIn workers' compensation law, a substantial worsening of an employee's health after an award, justifying an increase…
- change of venueThe transfer of a lawsuit from one place to another, or from one court to another in the same district, usually becau…
- change orderA directive from the federal government to a contractor altering the specification of what is being produced under th…
- changed circumstancesA material alteration in the facts on which a court order was based, which may justify varying the order.
- changing fundA fund, especially a trust fund, whose form changes from time to time as it is invested and reinvested.
- channelThe bed of a stream; the groove along which water flows.
- chantryAn endowment for priests to say Mass for the soul of the founder or those they named. The practice was abolished in E…
- chapiterA list of matters the king drew up to be put before the travelling justices, justices of assize, or justices of the p…
- Chapter 11The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code letting an insolvent business, or one facing insolvency, reorganize under court su…
- Chapter 12The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing a court-approved debt-repayment plan for family farmers with a regular i…
- Chapter 13The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code under which a debtor's future earnings are collected by a trustee and paid to unse…
- Chapter 7The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code under which a trustee gathers in and sells a debtor's property, voluntarily or by…
- Chapter 9The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code governing the adjustment of a municipality's debts; also, a case filed under it.
- chapter surfingInformally, a debtor's shift from a filing under one chapter of the Bankruptcy Code to a filing under another.
- character evidenceEvidence of a person's character or reputation, offered to suggest that they acted in keeping with it. Its use is tig…
- character loanA loan made on the strength of the borrower's character and steady earnings. Such loans are usually secured by a mort…
- character witnessA witness who gives evidence about another person's character or standing in the community.
- characterizationIn the conflict of laws, the classifying and interpreting of the legal rules that bear on a case, so as to decide whi…
- chargeA formal accusation of a crime as a first step towards prosecution. It also means an instruction or command, the set…
- charge accountA credit arrangement under which a customer buys goods and services and pays for them periodically or within a set time.
- charge and dischargeIn equity practice, accounts the court ordered each side to file: the claimant's statement of what was owed and the d…
- charge and specificationIn military law, a written statement of an alleged offense and the particulars supporting it.
- charge conferenceA meeting between the trial judge and the parties' lawyers to settle the directions that will be given to the jury.
- charge offTo treat a debt owed to the business as a loss because payment is unlikely; to write it off as bad.
- charge sheetA police record listing each person taken into custody, what they are accused of, and who accuses them. In military l…
- charge-backA bank's reversal of sums it had provisionally credited to a customer's account, usually because a check paid in has…
- chargeable(Of an act) capable of being charged as a criminal offense.
- chargeeThe holder of a charge over property or of security for a loan; also, someone charged with a crime.
- charging instrumentA formal document, usually an indictment or an information, setting out a criminal charge.
- charging lienA lawyer's lien over a judgment they helped the client obtain; also, a lien over specified property in the debtor's h…
- charging orderA statutory procedure by which a creditor of an individual partner can be paid out of that partner's interest in the…
- charitableDevoted to a general public purpose, usually for the benefit of people in need who cannot pay for what they receive;…
- charitable bequestA gift by will to a charitable organization.
- charitable contributionA gift of money or property to an organization carrying on charitable work. Contributions to a qualifying charity are…
- charitable corporationA company formed for charitable purposes rather than for profit, whose income must go to those purposes and not to it…
- charitable deductionA deduction for a gift to a qualifying charity or other tax-exempt institution.
- charitable immunityThe immunity of a charitable body from liability in tort. Most states have abolished or restricted it.
- charitable organizationIn tax law, a tax-exempt body created and run exclusively for religious, scientific, literary, educational, athletic,…
- charitable purposeIn tax law, the purpose for which a body must be formed if it is to qualify as a charity under the tax code.
- charitable remainderA remainder, usually following a life estate, given to a charity.
- charitable remainder annuity trustA charitable-remainder trust under which the beneficiaries receive a fixed sum, at least 5% of the original capital's…
- charitable trustA trust created for the benefit of a particular charity, several charities, or the public at large rather than a priv…
- charitable useA trust created for the benefit of a particular charity, several charities, or the public at large rather than a priv…
- charitable-remainder trustA trust holding assets set aside for a charitable purpose, which pass to the charity once a life or intermediate inte…
- charityA tax-exempt body created and run exclusively for religious, scientific, literary, educational, athletic, public-safe…
- charlatanSomeone who pretends to more knowledge or skill than they have; a quack.
- chartaA charter or deed; also, a token by which an estate was held, or a royal grant of privileges or liberties.
- chartelA combination of producers or sellers acting together to control what is produced or what it costs.
- charterA document by which a government grants rights, liberties, or powers to its citizens; also, a legislative act creatin…
- charter agreementA contract leasing a ship, or a principal part of it, usually to a merchant for carrying goods on a set voyage to one…
- charter of affreightmentThe hiring of a ship to carry cargo.
- charter-landLand held under charter or deed; freehold land, a privileged form of ownership usually free of the customary burdens…
- chartered life underwriterAn underwriter who has met the requirements of The American College to be designated a life insurance underwriter.
- chartered shipA ship hired specially to carry the goods of a single person or company.
- charterpartyA contract leasing a ship, or a principal part of it, usually to a merchant for carrying goods on a set voyage to one…
- chartophylaxA keeper of records or public instruments; a registrar.
- chaseA franchise from the Crown allowing the grantee to keep animals for hunting within a defined district. It was called…
- chattelMovable or transferable property, especially personal property.
- chattel lienA lien over goods or other personal property, securing a debt owed by their owner.
- chattel mortgageA mortgage over goods bought by installments, under which the seller passes title to the buyer but keeps a lien secur…
- chattel paperA document showing both a debt and either a security interest in or a lease of specific goods. It typically arises wh…
- chattel personalA tangible good or an intangible right, such as a patent.
- chattel realAn interest in land less than a freehold, such as a leasehold. The most important is an estate for years, treated as…
- chattel vegetableA movable article of vegetable origin, such as timber, undergrowth, corn, or fruit.
- chattel-mortgage bondA bond secured by a mortgage over personal property.
- chaud-medleyAnother term for chance-medley.
- chauntryAn endowment for priests to say Mass for the soul of the founder or those they named, abolished in England by the Cha…
- cheatObtaining another's property dishonestly by means of a false token or other unlawful trick; also, someone who habitua…
- cheatingObtaining another's property dishonestly by means of a false token or other unlawful trick.
- cheating by false pretensesDeliberately obtaining both possession and ownership of money or goods by misrepresentation, intending to defraud.
- checkA draft signed by the drawer, drawn on a bank, payable on demand and freely negotiable. An instrument can be a check…
- check-kitingThe illegal practice of writing a check on an account without the funds to meet it, hoping that money from a check pa…
- check-off systemThe arrangement by which an employer deducts union dues directly from employees' wages and pays them to the union.
- checkpoint searchA search of anyone or anything passing a fixed point on a military installation.
- checks and balancesThe principle that each branch of government can counter the actions of the others, so that none controls the whole.…
- chefeA payment made to a victim's family in compensation for a killing.
- chequeA draft signed by the drawer, drawn on a bank, payable on demand and freely negotiable.
- cherry-stem annexationAnnexed land that on a map looks like a cherry on a stem, because the territory taken in does not touch the annexing…
- chevageA yearly tribute a villein paid a lord, commonly exacted for permission to marry or to work outside the lord's domain.
- chevisanceA composition or agreement between a creditor and a debtor; also, an unlawful or usurious contract, especially one de…
- chezeA house with its outbuildings and adjoining land; a farmyard.
- Chicago Board of TradeThe commodities exchange on which futures contracts in a wide range of agricultural products are made.
- Chicago Board Options ExchangeThe leading organized market in the United States for trading options.
- chicaneryTrickery or deception.
- chiefSomeone placed above the rest; a leader. Also, the principal or most important part of something.
- chief baronThe presiding judge of the English Court of Exchequer, an office later absorbed into that of the Lord Chief Justice.
- chief executiveThe head of the executive branch of a government, such as the President of the United States.
- chief executive officerA company's most senior administrator, who runs it day to day and answers to the board of directors.
- chief judgeThe judge who presides over a court's sittings and deliberations while also overseeing its administration.
- chief justiceThe presiding justice of an appellate court, usually the highest in a jurisdiction and especially the U.S. Supreme Co…
- Chief Justice of EnglandThe former title of the Lord Chief Justice of England.
- Chief Justice of the Common PleasFormerly, the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas. When the Judicature Act of 1875 merged that division into…
- chief justiciarThe chief minister and judge of medieval England, who governed in the king's absence and presided over the royal courts.
- chief leaseA head lease out of which a sublease has been granted.
- chief lordThe immediate lord of a fee, to whom the tenants answered directly and personally.
- chief magistrateThe highest-ranking official in a government, such as a king in a monarchy, a president in a republic, or a governor…
- chief pledgeThe head of a tithing or frankpledge group.
- chief rentsA small fixed yearly rent a freeholder of a manor paid the lord; a quit rent. Such rents were abolished in 1922.
- chief useA standard for fixing a tariff classification, under which a commodity's use is judged by looking at its intended use…
- chiefryA small rent a feudal landholder paid the sovereign.
- childAt common law, someone under 14, though the age now varies between jurisdictions; more generally a boy or girl, a you…
- child abuseDeliberate or neglectful physical or emotional harm inflicted on a child, including sexual molestation.
- child destructionKilling a fetus, usually by attacking the mother; a deliberately induced miscarriage.
- child endangermentPutting a child in a place or situation that exposes them to danger to life or health.
- child molestationAny indecent or sexual activity involving a child, usually one under 14.
- child neglectThe failure of someone responsible for a child to meet the child's emotional or physical needs.
- child out of wedlockA child neither born nor conceived in lawful marriage and never afterwards legitimated. At common law such a child wa…
- child pornographyMaterial depicting a child in sexually explicit conduct, the production, distribution, and possession of which are cr…
- child supportA parent's legal duty to contribute to a child's maintenance and education, enforceable both civilly and criminally;…
- child- and dependent-care tax creditA tax credit for someone in full-time employment who keeps a household for a dependent child or a disabled spouse or…
- child-care fundState funds set aside to reimburse counties for part of what they spend on foster care for children.
- child-care rulesAdministrative rules governing the care of foster children.
- child-kidnappingThe kidnapping of a child, often without force or fraud, as where someone simply walks off with another's baby stroller.
- child-labor lawA state or federal statute protecting children by laying down the conditions under which they may work.
- child-sexual-abuse-accommodation syndromeThe medical and psychological condition of a child who has suffered repeated sexual abuse, usually at the hands of a…
- child-slayingThe killing of a child.
- child-stealingThe kidnapping of a child, often without force or fraud, as where someone simply walks off with another's baby stroller.
- Children begotten adulterouslyAnother term for incestuosi.
- children begotten incestuouslyChildren born of a union between people too closely related to marry.
- chillTo inhibit or discourage something.
- chilling a saleBidders or others acting together to put people off bidding, so that they can buy the item themselves at a lower price.
- chilling effectIn constitutional law, the effect of a law or practice that seriously discourages people from exercising a constituti…
- Chimel searchA search of a detained suspect and the area within their immediate reach, carried out to protect the arresting office…
- chimney moneyA tax of two shillings on every fireplace in England, introduced in 1662 under Charles II and abolished in 1688 after…
- Chinese WallA screening arrangement protecting client confidences by keeping one or more lawyers in a firm away from a particular…
- chirographIn civil law, a handwritten instrument signed by the person who wrote it; also, a written deed, signed and witnessed,…
- chirographer of finesAn officer of the Court of Common Pleas who wrote out court-ordered fines and delivered the indentures recording them…
- chirographicWritten by hand. When deeds were shorter than they are now, both parts were often written on one piece of parchment w…
- chirographumA handwritten document, usually an undertaking or acknowledgment of debt written by the debtor; also, a right of acti…
- chitA signed voucher for money received or owed, usually for food or drink; also, any slip of paper bearing writing.
- chivalryTenure by knight service, under which land was held in return for military service.
- choateComplete in itself; having ripened or become perfected.
- choate lienA lien in which the holder, the property, and the amount are all fixed, so that the lien is perfected and nothing fur…
- choatenessThe state of being complete and perfected, so that nothing further need be done.
- choice of evilsIn criminal law, a defense for someone who acts in an emergency they did not create and does a lesser harm than would…
- choice of jurisdictionIn the conflict of laws, the question of which state or country should take jurisdiction over a case.
- choice of lawThe question of which jurisdiction's law should govern a case.
- choice-of-law clauseA contract clause by which the parties choose the jurisdiction whose law will govern any dispute between them.
- chop-shopA garage where stolen cars are broken up so that the parts can be sold separately.
- choseA thing, whether tangible or not; an item of personal property.
- chose in actionA right enforceable against a person rather than attaching to a thing, such as a debt, a share in a company, or a cla…
- chose in possessionPersonal property of which the same person holds both the title and the possession.
- chose transitoryA movable chattel.
- christianitatis curiaA court of the church, with jurisdiction over religious matters and over the clergy.
- church courtA religious court hearing matters concerning a particular faith. In England it means a court with jurisdiction over t…
- church lawThe body of law governing a church, its clergy, and its property.
- church propertyProperty belonging to the church.
- churningA stockbroker's excessive trading of a customer's account to generate commissions rather than to serve the customer,…
- CIAA federal agency responsible for gathering, analyzing, and sometimes acting on information affecting national securit…
- CIOThe Congress of Industrial Organizations, which merged with the American Federation of Labor in 1955.
- cippiAn iron bar with sliding shackles for confining prisoners' ankles, especially aboard ship.
- circaAbout or around; approximately, used before an uncertain date.
- circle conspiracyA conspiracy in which one person or group at the center deals separately with several others, who have no dealings wi…
- circuitA judicial division in which hearings are held at several locations, so that judges travel between courthouses; also,…
- circuit courtA court whose jurisdiction covers several counties or districts, so that it sits in each in turn.
- circuit judgeA judge sitting on a circuit court, especially a federal judge on a court of appeals. It formerly also meant a judge…
- circuit justiceA justice sitting on a circuit court; also, a Supreme Court justice assigned to one or more federal circuits, with po…
- circuit-ridingThe practice of judges travelling within a defined circuit to hear cases in one place for a time and then move on to…
- circuit-riding justiceA Supreme Court justice who, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, had to travel a circuit to preside over trials. In each…
- circuity of actionA procedure that lets the same dispute be litigated twice over, making the process needlessly long and roundabout, as…
- circular letter of creditA letter of credit addressed to several correspondents, allowing the beneficiary to draw on any of them.
- circular noteA letter of credit addressed to several correspondents, allowing the holder to draw money in different places while t…
- circulating capitalCapital used up and replaced in the course of production, such as stock in trade, raw materials, and cash, as opposed…
- Circumspecte agatisA directive from the king to his justices marking out the limits of church jurisdiction. Issued around 1285 as a writ…
- circumstantial evidenceEvidence from which a fact may be inferred, rather than evidence of that fact from someone's own knowledge or observa…
- cirliscusAnother term for ceorl, a free peasant of the lowest rank.
- citatio ad reassumendam causamIn civil law, a citation issued to revive an action that lapsed when a party died, directed at the deceased party's h…
- citationA writ from a court ordering someone to appear at a stated time and place to do what it requires, or explain why they…
- citation orderThe proper order in which the various authorities supporting a legal proposition should be listed.
- citation signalIn citing legal authority, an abbreviation placed before a reference to indicate how it bears on the point, such as w…
- citationalTo do with a citation, especially a reference citation.
- Citations, Law ofA decree of the Emperor Valentinian in AD 426 naming Papinian, Paul, Gaius, Ulpian, and Modestinus as the only jurist…
- citatorA book or part of a book containing tables showing where cases or statutes have been cited in later decisions.
- citeA reference to a legal authority such as a case, statute, or treatise, given to support or contradict a proposition.
- citizenSomeone who by birth or naturalization belongs to a political community, owing it allegiance and entitled to all its…
- citizen suitAn action under a statute allowing ordinary people to sue those who break the law, especially environmental law, and…
- citizen-informantA witness who, expecting no payment and acting for the public good, comes forward and volunteers information to the p…
- citizensSomeone who by birth or naturalization belongs to a political community, owing it allegiance and entitled to its righ…
- citizenshipThe status of being a citizen; also, the quality of a person's conduct as a member of a community.
- Citizenship ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution providing that everyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of…
- citologyThe study of citations, especially in footnotes, and of their influence on legal scholarship.
- cityA municipal corporation, usually headed by a mayor and governed by a council; also, the territory within its boundari…
- city attorneyA lawyer employed by a city to advise it and represent it in legal matters.
- city clerkA public official responsible for keeping a city's records and accounts.
- city councilA city's legislative body, usually responsible for passing ordinances, levying taxes, voting funds, and running the c…
- city counselA lawyer employed by a city to advise it and represent it in legal matters.
- city courtA court with jurisdiction, usually both civil and criminal, over cases arising in the municipality where it sits. Its…
- city judgeA local judge with criminal or civil jurisdiction, or sometimes both, within a city.
- city solicitorA lawyer employed by a city to advise it and represent it in legal matters.
- CivAn abbreviation for a civil court.
- civicTo do with citizenship or a citizen; also, to do with a city.
- civilTo do with the state or its citizens; also, to do with private rights and remedies pursued by suit rather than by cri…
- civil actionA case brought to enforce or protect a private right, as opposed to a criminal prosecution.
- civil arrestThe arrest and detention of a defendant in a civil case until bail is given or the judgment is paid. Most states have…
- civil assaultAn assault treated as a tort rather than a crime. The same conduct may be both, but this term picks out the elements…
- civil bailA bond or deposit securing the release of someone arrested for failing to pay a civil debt ordered by a court, condit…
- Civil CodeThe code that embodied the law of Rome; also, a modern code setting out a jurisdiction's private law.
- civil cognationRelationship by blood rather than by marriage, arising through descent from the same man and woman, whether traced th…
- civil commitmentConfining someone to a mental hospital or similar institution by court order, for treatment rather than as punishment.
- civil commotionA public uprising in which a large number of people acting together cause harm to people or property. It generally in…
- civil conspiracyAn agreement between two or more people to do an unlawful act, or a lawful act by unlawful means, which causes damage…
- civil contemptFailing to obey a court order made for another party's benefit. It is punished so as to compel compliance, and the co…
- civil corporationA company formed for ordinary civil purposes, as opposed to a religious or charitable body.
- civil courtA court that hears civil cases rather than criminal prosecutions.
- civil dayA full calendar day running from midnight to midnight, as opposed to the natural day from sunrise to sunset.
- civil deathIn older usage, the loss at common law of rights such as voting, contracting, inheriting, and suing, suffered by some…
- civil defenseThe practice of protecting civilians from the dangers of war or disaster and helping them recover from its immediate…
- civil disabilityThe position of someone who has lost a legal right or privilege because of a criminal conviction, as where a driving…
- civil disobedienceA deliberate but non-violent breach of the law, committed to draw attention to a law or set of laws whose legitimacy…
- civil disorderA public disturbance in which three or more people commit violent acts causing immediate danger or injury to people o…
- civil forfeitureA proceeding the government brings against property itself, on the ground that the property was used to commit a crim…
- civil fraudA tort arising from a knowing misrepresentation, concealment of a material fact, or reckless statement made to induce…
- civil fruitThe produce of land or property. In civil law it means income or goods derived from property without reducing the pro…
- civil infractionAn act or omission that is forbidden and punishable but is not a crime. Many states classify most traffic offenses th…
- civil injuryPhysical harm or property damage arising from a breach of contract or from a criminal act, which can be put right thr…
- civil justiceThe means by which a society puts civil wrongs right.
- civil lawOne of the two great legal systems of the Western world, first administered in the Roman Empire and still influential…
- civil liabilityLiability arising under civil rather than criminal law; the state of being legally answerable in civil damages.
- civil libertyFreedom from unwarranted government interference in matters such as speech, worship, association, and personal conduct.
- civil listA yearly sum voted by Parliament to meet the expenses of the royal household.
- civil marriageA wedding conducted by an official such as a judge, or another authorized person, rather than solemnized by a member…
- civil monthOne of the twelve divisions of the calendar year.
- civil offenseA minor breach of the law, such as a parking offense, which carries a penalty but is treated as civil rather than cri…
- civil penaltyA fine imposed for breaking a statute or regulation.
- civil possessionPossession that continues because the owner still intends to own the property, even though they no longer occupy it o…
- civil powerThe power held by a person or body exercising any function of the state; the capacity to influence the activities of…
- civil procedureThe body of law, usually rules made by a legislature or by courts, governing how civil litigation is conducted; also,…
- civil processThe court papers by which a civil case is started or carried forward, such as a summons or subpoena.
- civil rightA right the law guarantees to every person against discrimination and interference by the government or by others, su…
- civil serviceThe administrative branches of government; also, the people employed in them.
- Civil Service CommissionA defunct federal board created in 1883 to ensure that civil-service staff were appointed on merit rather than by per…
- civil societyThe political body of a state or nation; the body politic.
- civil warAn armed conflict between people of the same nation, especially the American war of 1861 to 1865.
- civil wrongA breach of non-criminal law, such as a tort, a breach of contract or trust, a breach of statutory duty, or a failure…
- civil-authority clauseIn insurance, a clause, especially in a fire policy, covering damage caused by firefighters, police, or other public…
- civil-liability actA statute imposing civil liability for conduct that would not otherwise give rise to a claim, such as one making a se…
- civil-rights actAny of several federal statutes passed after the Civil War and again during and after the civil-rights movement of th…
- civil-rights removalThe transfer of a case from a state court to a federal court on the ground that the defendant cannot enforce or recei…
- civilianSomeone not serving in the military; also, a lawyer practicing in a civil-law jurisdiction.
- civilisTo do with, or according to, civil law.
- civilistaA lawyer practicing in a civil-law jurisdiction.
- civiliterBy civil rather than criminal proceedings; also, civilly, or as a citizen.
- civilizationThe turning of a criminal matter into a civil one by law or by judgment.
- civisA Roman citizen, entitled to the public and private rights that went with Roman citizenship.
- civitasA state, or a body of people living under a given body of law; also, the rights of a citizen.
- CJEContinuing legal education for judges, usually run by a publicly funded body and covering such topics as judicial wri…
- CLThe body of law developed from judicial decisions rather than statutes; also, one of the two great legal systems of t…
- Claflin trustA trust that cannot be brought to an end early by the beneficiaries, because doing so would defeat what the settlor i…
- Claflin-trust principleThe rule that beneficiaries cannot end a trust early if doing so would defeat one of the settlor's material purposes…
- claimThe set of facts giving rise to a right a court can enforce; also, the assertion of an existing right, any right to p…
- claim and deliveryA claim to recover particular goods wrongfully taken or held, together with damages for the taking or detention.
- claim checkA receipt given for property left in someone's keeping, handed back when the property is collected.
- claim for reliefThe part of a complaint specifying what the claimant asks the court to order.
- claim in equityA summary proceeding created to do away with drawn-out pleading in simple cases, introduced in England in 1850 and ab…
- claim of appealA document filed with the court and served on the other parties, stating an intention to appeal a judgment or order.…
- claim of cognizanceAn application seeking the return of a case to the applicant's own court. The right could be claimed by a person, cit…
- claim of conusanceAn application seeking the return of a case to the applicant's own court.
- claim of libertyA petition to the Crown, filed in the Court of Exchequer, seeking the Attorney General's confirmation of liberties cl…
- claim of ownershipHolding a piece of property with the intention of claiming it as one's own, a requirement of adverse possession.
- claim of rightA plea, usually to a charge of theft, that the defendant took the property honestly believing they had a better right…
- claim of titleHolding a piece of property with the intention of claiming it as one's own, a requirement of adverse possession.
- claim preclusionThe rule that a final judgment on the merits bars the same parties from litigating the same claim again.
- claim-jumpingExtending the boundaries of a mining claim so as to encroach on other areas or claims; also, filing a duplicate claim…
- claim-of-right doctrineIn tax law, the rule that income received must be reported even if the taxpayer's right to keep it is disputed or res…
- claim-property bondA bond a claimant gives in order to seize property held by the defendant before judgment in a replevin action. It pro…
- claimantSomeone who asserts a right or demand, especially formally.
- claims adjusterSomeone appointed to investigate and settle a matter, especially an independent agent or insurance-company employee w…
- claims courtA court empowered to hear claims against a state or its subdivisions in cases where the state has given up its sovere…
- claims-consciousnessThe quality of a legal culture in which people firmly expect justice and are ready to take concrete steps to obtain it.
- claims-made policyA policy covering all claims made during a stated period, whatever the date of the events that gave rise to them.
- clamIn civil law, secretly or covertly. Under Roman law an act such as occupying or altering someone else's property was…
- clamea admittenda in itinere per attornatumFormerly, a writ from the king directing the travelling justices to allow a claim to be made by attorney where the cl…
- clameur de haroAn outcry recognized in the Channel Islands as a protest against trespass to land, surviving from the Duchy of Norman…
- clamorFormerly, a lawsuit or a claim; also, the public outcry a citizen was expected to raise on discovering a crime. In ci…
- clandestineSecret or concealed, especially for unlawful or unauthorized purposes.
- clandestine marriageA marriage resting merely on the parties' agreement; also, one entered into secretly, such as one solemnized by an un…
- classA group of people, things, qualities, or activities sharing common characteristics.
- class actionA lawsuit in which one person or a small group represents the interests of a much larger group. Federal procedure req…
- class directorA director whose term on a board is staggered against the others' so as to make a hostile takeover harder; also, a di…
- class giftA gift to a group of people described collectively rather than named individually, the share of each depending on how…
- class legislationLegislation applying only to a particular class of people or things rather than generally, which may be unconstitutio…
- class lotteryA lottery in which tickets are drawn in classes, with the number and value of the prizes fixed and rising with each c…
- class of stockA category of company shares, used where more than one type of stock is issued.
- class rateA single rate applying to the carriage of several articles of the same general kind.
- class representativeSomeone who sues on behalf of a group of claimants in a class action.
- class suitA lawsuit in which one person or a small group represents the interests of a much larger group, subject to requiremen…
- class votingA method of shareholder voting under which different classes of shares vote separately on fundamental changes affecti…
- class-based animusHostility towards an identifiable group of people, usually one the Constitution protects. It is an essential element…
- class-one insuredIn a motor policy, the named insured and any relative living with them.
- class-two insuredIn a motor policy, someone lawfully occupying the vehicle at the time of an accident.
- classificationIn the conflict of laws, the classifying and interpreting of the legal rules bearing on a case, so as to decide which…
- classified informationInformation designated as secret or confidential, which only a limited number of authorized people may know.
- classified riskIn life and health policies, the risk arising from a policyholder's poor health or other hazard.
- classified taxA tax system charging different rates on different kinds of property.
- clausa rebus sic stantibusA treaty provision stating that the treaty binds only so long as the circumstances existing when it was signed remain…
- clauseA distinct section or provision of a legal document; also, a part of a whole that is not necessarily set apart from t…
- clause of accrualA clause, usually in a gift by will or a deed between tenants in common, passing a beneficiary's share to the survivo…
- clause paramountA clause in a charterparty bringing the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act into the charter.
- clause potestativeIn French law, a contract clause reserving to one party the right to cancel the contract.
- clause rollsSealed rolls containing royal writs and other documents the sovereign thought unsuitable for the public record.
- clausulaA clause; a sentence or part of a sentence in a written instrument or statute.
- clausula derogativaA clause in a will or deed declaring that any later document altering it is void unless it contains an agreed mark or…
- clausula rebus sic stantibusA treaty provision stating that the treaty binds only so long as the circumstances existing when it was signed remain…
- clausumAn enclosed piece of land.
- clausuraAn enclosed piece of land.
- claw backTo reclaim money already paid out, especially where a payment turns out to have been undeserved.
- clawbackMoney taken back, especially the recovery of tax allowances through an additional charge to tax.
- Clayton ActA federal statute of 1914 amending the Sherman Act, forbidding price discrimination, tying arrangements, exclusive-de…
- CLEThe system by which lawyers keep learning after law school, usually through seminars sharpening their skills or updat…
- clean billA bill so heavily altered in committee that it is simpler to introduce it afresh than to explain all the changes.
- clean bill of ladingA bill of lading carrying no clause or note qualifying its terms. In maritime law it means one that, by making no pro…
- clean draftA draft with no shipping documents attached to it.
- clean houseTo dismiss a considerable number of employees, usually managers, so that new ones can be brought in; also, to sell se…
- clean letter of creditA letter of credit payable simply on presentation, with no documents needing to be produced alongside it.
- clean-hands doctrineThe principle that a party who has themselves acted improperly, as by bad faith, cannot claim an equitable remedy or…
- clean-slate ruleIn criminal procedure, the rule that the bar on double jeopardy does not prevent retrying a defendant who appealed an…
- cleanup clauseA clause in a loan agreement requiring the loan to be repaid in full within a set period, after which no further lend…
- cleanup doctrineThe principle that once a court of equity has taken jurisdiction of a case it may decide both the equitable and the l…
- clearFree of encumbrances or claims; also, free from doubt, or unambiguous.
- clear and convincing evidenceEvidence showing that what is to be proved is highly probable or reasonably certain. It demands more than the balance…
- clear and convincing proofEvidence showing that what is to be proved is highly probable or reasonably certain, a standard falling between the c…
- clear annual valueThe net yearly value of property after taxes, mortgage interest, and other charges have been paid.
- clear chanceIn tort law, the rule that a claimant who was themselves careless may still recover if the defendant had the last rea…
- clear errorA trial judge's decision or action that strikes the reviewing court as unmistakably wrong. Even a clear error may not…
- clear market valueThe price a willing seller would take and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, neither being under pressure.
- clear residueWhat is left of an estate's income after the deceased's debts, the costs of administration, and the general legacies…
- clear titleA title free of any encumbrance, burden, or other limitation.
- clear valueIn tax law, for inheritance tax, what is left of an estate once all claims against it have been paid.
- clear-and-present-danger testIn constitutional law, the doctrine allowing government to restrict freedom of speech and of the press where that is…
- clear-reflection-of-income standardIn tax law, an accounting method the IRS may impose on a taxpayer whose own method does not clearly reflect income.
- clear-view doctrineIn criminal procedure, the rule allowing a police officer to seize, and use in evidence, an item in plain sight from…
- clearanceIn maritime law, a ship's right to leave port, or the certificate from the port collector evidencing it. In the film…
- clearance cardA letter an employer gives a departing employee stating how long they were employed, in what capacity, and why they l…
- Clearfield Trust doctrineThe doctrine describing the federal courts' power to make federal common law where there is both authority to do so a…
- clearingIn banking, the exchanging of checks and settling of balances between banks. In maritime law it means a ship's depart…
- clearing accountIn banking, an account, usually temporary, holding sums to be transferred elsewhere before the accounting period ends.
- clearing agentIn securities law, a person or firm acting as intermediary in a securities transaction or providing facilities for co…
- clearing agreementA contract enabling money claims between creditors and debtors in different currency areas to be settled collectively…
- clearing corporationA body that acts as an intermediary in settling securities or commodities trades, matching the two sides and guarante…
- clearing loanA loan to a bond dealer to bridge the period until a bond issue is sold.
- clearinghouseA place where banks exchange checks and drafts and settle their daily balances; an association of banks or other payo…
- clearingsIn banking, checks or other items drawn on a local bank and presented for payment through a clearinghouse or directly…
- clearly-erroneous standardThe standard an appeal court usually applies to a trial court's findings of fact. A finding may be reversed only if t…
- clemencyMercy or leniency, especially a President's or governor's power to pardon an offender or reduce a sentence.
- clementMerciful; disposed to leniency.
- clergy privilegeAt common law, a cleric's right not to be tried for a felony in the King's Court, later extended to anyone who could…
- clergy, benefit ofAt common law, a cleric's right not to be tried for a felony in the King's Court, later extended to anyone who could…
- clergyable(Of an offense or person) allowing benefit of clergy to be claimed.
- clergyman-penitent privilegeThe right to keep confidential what was said to a member of the clergy acting in their spiritual capacity, so that ne…
- clerical errorA mistake arising from carelessness in writing or copying something on the record, rather than from any judicial reas…
- clerical misprisionA court clerk's mistake or fraud that is apparent from the record itself.
- clerico capto per statutum mercatoriumFormerly, a writ for delivering up a cleric imprisoned for debt or convicted of an offense, so that they could be han…
- clericusIn church law, someone in holy orders; a priest. It also meant a court clerk or an officer of the royal household.
- clerkA public official whose duties include keeping records or accounts.
- clerk of courtThe official responsible for a court's records, filings, and administrative business.
- clerk of enrollmentsThe former head of the Enrollment Office, which Parliament abolished in 1879, transferring its duties to the Central…
- clerk of indictmentAn officer of England's Central Criminal Court responsible for drawing indictments and assisting the Clerk of Arraign…
- Clerk of NichilsAn Exchequer officer who once a year enrolled the debts sheriffs had returned as impossible to levy, and sent the lis…
- clerk of records and writsOfficers of the English Court of Chancery responsible for filing documents and sealing bills of complaint and writs o…
- clerk of the corporationA company officer in charge of official correspondence, board minutes, and the records of share ownership and transfer.
- Clerk of the Crown in ChanceryThe head of the permanent staff of the Crown Office in Chancery, responsible for reading the titles of Bills in the H…
- Clerk of the House of CommonsAn officer of the House of Commons who keeps the House journal, signs orders, indorses bills sent to the Lords, and h…
- clerk of the marketThe overseer of a public market, who witnessed oral contracts, checked weights and measures, measured land, and settl…
- Clerk of the ParliamentsThe principal permanent official of the House of Lords, responsible for its minutes and documents and for advising me…
- Clerk of the PeaceAn officer of the Quarter Sessions responsible for the courts' records, preparing indictments, entering judgments, is…
- Clerk of the PellsAn Exchequer officer who entered tellers' bills on the parchment rolls, one for receipts and another for payments.
- Clerk of the PipeAn Exchequer officer responsible for the Pipe Rolls. The office was abolished in 1833.
- Clerk of the Privy SealAn officer responsible for preparing documents for the Lord Privy Seal. Use of the Privy Seal was abolished in 1884.
- Clerk of the SignetAn officer who kept the privy signet and attended the sovereign's principal secretary. The signet sealed royal letter…
- clerkshipA post in which a law student or recent graduate assists a lawyer or judge with legal writing, research, and other wo…
- clientA person or body that engages a professional for advice or help in that professional's line of work.
- client security fundA fund maintained by a bar association to reimburse clients whose money a lawyer has misappropriated.
- client stateA country obliged to share control of its external relations to some degree with one or more foreign powers.
- client-security fundA fund, usually set up by a state or a state bar association, to compensate people who have lost money through their…
- clientalTo do with a client or the relationship between client and professional.
- clientelaThe relationship between a dependant and a patron; also, a person's dependants collectively.
- Clifford trustAn irrevocable trust set up for at least ten years and a day, under which the income goes to a beneficiary but the pr…
- clinical diagnosisA diagnosis made from the symptoms alone.
- clinical legal studiesLaw-school training in which students work on real cases under the supervision of a practising lawyer or law professor.
- clog on the equity of redemptionAn agreement or condition preventing a mortgagor in default from recovering the property free of encumbrance once the…
- closeAn enclosed piece of land; also, a person's interest in a particular piece of land, whether enclosed or not, and the…
- close corporationA company whose shares are held by a small number of people and are not traded publicly, so that the owners usually a…
- close rollsSealed rolls containing royal writs and other documents the sovereign thought unsuitable for the public record.
- close writA royal writ sealed because its contents were thought unsuitable for public inspection; also, a writ addressed to a s…
- close-connectedness doctrineA doctrine some courts use to deny holder-in-due-course status to the assignee of a negotiable note where the assigne…
- close-jail executionA body execution directing that the person arrested be confined in jail without the liberty of the jail yard.
- close-nexus testThe test by which a private person's act counts as state action, and may give rise to liability for violating constit…
- closed(Of a class or organization) limited to a set number; (of a proceeding) conducted in private.
- closed accountAn account to which no further credits or debits may be added, but which stays open for adjustment or setoff.
- closed corporationA company whose shares are held by a small number of people and are not traded publicly, so that the owners usually a…
- closed courtThe English Court of Common Pleas, open only to serjeants-at-law. Their monopoly was abolished in 1845.
- closed insurance contractAn insurance policy whose terms cannot be altered. A fraternal benefit society may not write one.
- closed mortgageA mortgage that cannot be paid off in full before maturity without the lender's consent.
- closed policyAn insurance policy whose terms cannot be altered.
- closed sessionA sitting from which anyone not directly involved is excluded.
- closed shopA workplace where, by agreement with a union, the employer hires and keeps only union members in good standing. Feder…
- closed testamentA will signed by the testator, sealed, and handed to a notary before three to seven witnesses, with a declaration tha…
- closed transactionIn tax law, a transaction in which the amount realized on a sale can be fixed, so that a gain or loss can be stated.
- closed unionA union that makes membership hard to obtain, as by charging high dues or limiting the number admitted.
- closed willA will signed by the testator, sealed, and handed to a notary before witnesses, with a declaration that it is a valid…
- closed-end fundA mutual fund with a fixed number of shares, traded on a securities exchange or over the counter.
- closed-end mortgageA mortgage allowing neither early repayment nor further borrowing against the same security.
- closed-end mortgage bondA mortgage bond whose terms forbid the debtor from issuing further bonds against the same collateral.
- closed-shop contractA labor agreement requiring an employer to hire and keep only union members and to dismiss those who are not.
- closely held corporationA company whose shares are held by a small number of people and are not traded publicly, so that the owners usually a…
- closingThe final meeting between parties to a transaction, at which it is completed; particularly in real estate, the meetin…
- closing agreementIn tax law, a written agreement between a taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service settling a tax dispute.
- closing argumentA lawyer's final address to the judge or jury before they retire, asking them to weigh the evidence and apply the law…
- closing costsThe expenses payable in a property sale, usually as a lump sum on completion, over and above the purchase price and i…
- closing of estateThe completion of the administration of a deceased person's estate, once the administrator has distributed the assets…
- closing priceA security's price at the end of a given trading day.
- closing statementA lawyer's final address to the judge or jury before they retire; also, a written breakdown of the costs in a propert…
- clotureThe procedure for ending debate in a legislative body and calling an immediate vote.
- cloud on titleA defect, or possible defect, in an owner's title to land, arising from some claim or encumbrance such as a lien, an…
- CLSA school of thought arguing that the legal system's apparent neutrality masks its real function of preserving the exi…
- CLSerAn adherent of the critical legal studies school of thought.
- CLUAn underwriter who has met the requirements of The American College to be designated a life insurance underwriter.
- club-lawGovernment by the club, that is, by violence, with unlawful force taking the place of law.
- cluster zoningZoning that lets houses be grouped closely together on part of a site in return for leaving the rest as open space.
- CMOIn securities law, a bond secured by a pool of mortgages or pass-through securities, repaid according to the schedule…
- CMRThe Court of Military Review; also, a series reporting the opinions of the U.S. Court of Military Appeals and selecte…
- CNAn abbreviation used for a company, and also for a county.
- co-administratorSomeone appointed to administer an estate jointly with one or more other administrators.
- co-adventurerSomeone who takes part in a joint venture with one or more others.
- co-agentSomeone who shares with another agent the authority to act for the same principal.
- co-assigneeOne of two or more people to whom the same subject matter is assigned.
- co-obligeeOne of two or more people to whom an obligation is owed.
- co-obligorOne of two or more people who have taken on an obligation.
- co-optTo add someone as a member; also, to absorb or assimilate.
- co-optationThe selection of someone to fill a vacancy, usually in a closely held company.
- COAAn agreement for carrying goods by water, usually taking the form of a bill of lading or a charterparty.
- coadjutorA co-worker or assistant, especially one appointed to help a bishop who cannot manage alone through age or infirmity.
- coal noteA promissory note made under a statute requiring payment for coal from any vessel in the port of London to be in cash…
- coal noticeIn Pennsylvania, a notice that must appear in deeds and other instruments transferring surface land, setting out any…
- Coase TheoremAn economic proposition about the relationship between legal rules on entitlements and economic efficiency. Advanced…
- coast waterTidal water navigable by an ocean-going vessel; any water opening directly or indirectly into the ocean and navigable…
- coasting tradeTrade between coastal ports or navigable rivers of the United States, as opposed to trade between nations.
- coastwise tradeTrade between coastal ports or navigable rivers of the United States, as opposed to trade between nations.
- COB clauseIn insurance, a clause providing that the total paid for medical and hospital care will not exceed the benefits avail…
- COBRAA federal statute requiring employers who provide group health cover to keep it available for a set period after empl…
- coconspiratorSomeone who takes part in a criminal conspiracy with another; a fellow conspirator.
- coconspirator’s exceptionAn exception to the hearsay rule under which what one conspirator said or did during and in furtherance of the conspi…
- CODAA retirement-plan provision letting an employee choose between taking a sum as pay or having it put into a profit-sha…
- codeA complete and orderly system of law, officially enacted; a systematic collection or revision of laws, rules, or regu…
- Code CivilThe code embodying the civil law of France, dating from 1804. It was known from the start as the Code Civil, to disti…
- Code de commerceA codification of French commercial law, enacted in 1807, covering commercial transactions, bankruptcy, and the juris…
- Code NoirA body of laws issued by Louis XIV for the French colonies, regulating slavery and barring Jews and non-Catholic wors…
- code of conductA written set of rules governing the behavior of a defined group, such as lawyers, government employees, or company s…
- Code of Federal RegulationsThe yearly compilation of executive-agency regulations first published in the Federal Register, together with earlier…
- Code of HammurabiThe oldest known written legal code, produced in Mesopotamia during the reign of Hammurabi in the 18th century BC. It…
- Code of JustinianA collection of imperial constitutions compiled by a commission of ten appointed by Justinian and published in AD 529…
- Code of Military JusticeThe body of substantive and procedural rules governing discipline in the armed forces.
- Code of Professional ResponsibilityA set of ethical guidelines for lawyers, arranged as canons, disciplinary rules, and ethical considerations. The Amer…
- code pleadingA system of procedure requiring a pleader to state only the facts giving rise to the claim, not the legal conclusions…
- code stateA state that had already merged law and equity procedurally, so that equity was no longer administered as a separate…
- coded communicationsMessages encoded or enciphered by transposing or substituting characters, so that they mean nothing to anyone without…
- codefendantOne of two or more defendants sued in the same case or charged with the same crime.
- codexA code, especially the Justinian Code; also, a book written on paper or parchment, particularly a volume of an ancien…
- Codex JustinianeusA collection of imperial constitutions compiled by a commission of ten appointed by Justinian and published in AD 529.
- Codex TheodosianusA compilation of imperial enactments prepared at the direction of the emperor Theodosius and published in AD 438. It…
- codicilAn addition to a will which does not necessarily dispose of the whole estate but modifies, explains, or qualifies the…
- codicillusAn informal document directing an heir to do something, usually to pay money or transfer property to a third person.…
- codificationThe process of gathering, arranging, and systematizing the laws of a jurisdiction, or of one branch of the law, into…
- codifying statuteA statute intended to restate the whole of the law on a topic, taking in earlier case law as well as legislation. Cou…
- Coefficient ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution allowing Congress to make whatever laws are necessary and proper for carrying its…
- coemptioIn Roman law, a form of civil marriage carried out by a symbolic purchase of the wife in the presence of witnesses.
- coemptionBuying up the entire available quantity of a commodity.
- coerceTo compel someone by force or threat.
- coerced confessionA confession obtained by force, threats, or improper pressure, which cannot be used in evidence.
- coercionCompulsion by physical force or the threat of it. An act such as signing a will is invalid if done under coercion.
- coercive reliefA remedy that orders someone to do or stop doing something, as opposed to merely declaring rights or awarding money.
- coexecutorOne of two or more people named in a will as executor of the estate.
- coexistenceIn international law, the peaceful continuation of nations or peoples alongside one another within a workable politic…
- cogentCompelling or convincing.
- cognate(Of a relationship) between people descended from a common ancestor.
- cognate nuisanceA nuisance closely related in kind to another, sharing enough of its features to be treated alongside it.
- cognate offenseA lesser offense related to a greater one, sharing several of its elements and belonging to the same class. Shoplifti…
- cognatiSomeone related to another through a common ancestor.
- cognatic(Of a relationship) between people descended from a common ancestor.
- cognatioThe relationship between people who share a common ancestor; blood relationship.
- cognationRelationship by blood rather than by marriage, arising through descent from the same man and woman, whether traced th…
- cognatusSomeone related to another through a common ancestor.
- cognitioFormerly, the acknowledgment of a fine, or the certificate recording it. In Roman law it meant a magistrate's or judg…
- cognitive testA test of whether a defendant was able to know certain things, namely the nature of their conduct and whether it was…
- cognitorSomeone formally appointed to represent another in a civil trial.
- cognizableCapable of being known or recognized, especially identifiable as a group through a shared characteristic that others…
- cognizanceThe power to try and determine cases; jurisdiction. It also means taking judicial or official notice of something, an…
- cognizeeThe person to whom land was granted in a conveyance by fine.
- cognizorThe person who granted land in a conveyance by fine.
- cognovitAn acknowledgment of debt or liability in the form of a judgment confessed by the debtor. Credit contracts once often…
- cognovit actionemHe has confessed the action: the debtor's formal admission of liability on which a confessed judgment rests.
- cognovit clauseA contract clause by which a debtor agrees in advance to the jurisdiction of certain courts, gives up the right to no…
- cognovit judgmentA judgment entered on the debtor's own confession of liability, without a trial.
- cognovit noteA promissory note containing a cognovit clause.
- cohabitationLiving together, especially as partners in life, usually with the implication of a sexual relationship.
- cohabitation agreementA contract setting out the property and financial arrangements between people who live together without marrying.
- Cohan ruleIn tax law, a former rule allowing a taxpayer with no records to estimate travel and entertainment expenses, provided…
- coheirOne of two or more people to whom an inheritance passes.
- Cohen doctrineA doctrine allowing an appeal from an interim order that conclusively settles a question wholly separate from the mer…
- cohort analysisA statistical study following a group of people who share some characteristic, such as year of birth, over a period o…
- Coinage ClauseThe provision of the U.S. Constitution giving Congress the power to coin money.
- coincident indicatorAn economic or market indicator that turns at roughly the same time as overall conditions begin to change.
- coindicteeOne of two or more people indicted together.
- coined termA trademark made up of an invented word with no independent meaning. Such a mark is treated as inherently distinctive…
- coinsuranceInsurance provided jointly by two or more insurers. It also means property insurance under which the insured must bea…
- coinsurance clauseA clause requiring a property owner to carry insurance up to an amount stated in the policy in order to be covered in…
- coinsurerAn insurer who shares in the losses under a policy.
- cojudicesIn England, associate judges sitting alongside others.
- cold bloodThe state of mind of someone who kills deliberately and with premeditation, rather than in the heat of the moment.
- cold checkA check that is refused because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
- cold-water ordealAn early form of trial in which the accused was thrown into water, the outcome being taken as a divine revelation of…
- colegateeOne of two or more people who take a legacy together under a will.
- colibertusA serf nominally freed but still subject to certain servile conditions, occupying a position between servile and free…
- collapsible corporationA company formed with the intention of dissolving it before it realizes income, so that the shareholders' gains would…
- collapsible partnershipIn tax law, a partnership formed by partners who mean to dissolve it before any income is realized. Gains from unreal…
- collateTo bring inherited property back into an estate so that it can be divided.
- collateralSupplementary, accompanying but secondary; also, not in the direct line of descent but on a parallel or diverging one.
- collateral actAny act, usually other than paying money, for which a bond or recognizance is given as security.
- collateral affinityThe relationship between one spouse's relatives and the other's, such as that between a wife's brother and her husban…
- collateral ancestorLoosely, an aunt, uncle, or other relative who is not strictly an ancestor.
- collateral ascendantLoosely, an aunt, uncle, or other relative who is not strictly an ancestor.
- collateral assigneeA lender to whom an interest in property, usually land, is assigned as security for a loan.
- collateral assignmentAn assignment of property as security for a loan.
- collateral assuranceA pledge given in addition to the main assurance in an agreement.
- collateral attackA challenge to a judgment brought in a different proceeding rather than by appeal. A petition for habeas corpus is on…
- collateral conditionA condition requiring an act that has nothing to do with the main purpose of the agreement.
- collateral consanguinityThe relationship between people sharing the same blood or origin.
- collateral consequenceA penalty for committing a crime that falls outside the sentence itself, such as the loss of a professional licence.
- collateral contractA separate agreement standing alongside a main contract, whose consideration is the making of that main contract.
- collateral covenantA covenant concerning something other than the land granted, so that its benefit does not run with the land.
- collateral defenseIn criminal law, a defense of justification or excuse that does not deny the allegation itself and so stands apart fr…
- collateral descentDescent along a collateral line, from brother to brother or cousin to cousin, where the parties are related through a…
- collateral estoppelA defense barring a party from relitigating an issue already decided against them in an earlier action, even where th…
- collateral factA fact not directly connected with the matter in dispute, particularly one belonging to a different transaction.
- collateral fraudDeception outside the matters being tried, whether in a contract or a lawsuit, which deprives a party of informed con…
- collateral heirAn heir who is not a direct descendant, such as a brother or cousin.
- collateral issueA question not directly connected with the matter in dispute.
- collateral limitationA limitation making the length of an estate depend on some event other than the grantee's life, such as a grant to on…
- collateral lineA line of descent connecting people who are not each other's ancestors or descendants but who share a common ancestor.
- collateral loanA loan secured by property or securities.
- collateral matterIn the law of evidence, a matter on which evidence could not have been led for any relevant purpose. If a witness is…
- collateral mistakeIn contract law, a mistake about some external circumstance rather than about the substance of the agreement, which t…
- collateral mortgageA mortgage given as additional security for a debt that is already secured, rather than as the primary security for it.
- collateral negligenceNegligence by an independent contractor, for which the person who engaged them is generally not liable.
- collateral noteA note backed by a pledge of real or personal property as security.
- collateral obligationA liability taken on by someone who makes themselves answerable for another person's debt.
- collateral powerA power to appoint property held by someone who has no estate in the land, but only the authority to appoint.
- collateral proceedingA proceeding brought to deal with a question incidental to the main proceeding.
- collateral promiseA promise to answer for another's debt, made without any real benefit to the person promising. Unlike an original pro…
- collateral relativeA relative outside the direct line of inheritance, such as a cousin.
- collateral securityA security given in addition to a primary security, intended to guarantee that the primary one is valid or can be con…
- collateral trust bondA bond secured by depositing other securities with a trustee; particularly a long-term corporate bond secured by othe…
- collateral trust certificateA certificate evidencing a debt secured by other securities deposited with a trustee.
- collateral useIn intellectual-property law, the lawful use of a trademark by someone other than its owner, who must clearly identif…
- collateral warrantyA warranty given by someone who is a stranger to the title, which therefore benefits only the person it was given to…
- collateral-benefit ruleIn tort law, the rule that compensation an injured party receives from a source independent of the wrongdoer is not d…
- collateral-contract doctrineThe principle that in a dispute over a written contract, proof of a second, oral agreement is not shut out by the par…
- collateral-inheritance taxA tax on property passing by will or intestacy to someone other than the deceased's spouse, parent, or descendant.
- collateral-negligence doctrineThe rule that someone engaging an independent contractor is not liable for physical harm the contractor causes where…
- collateral-order doctrineA doctrine allowing an appeal from an interim order that conclusively settles a question wholly separate from the mer…
- collateral-source ruleIn tort law, the rule that compensation an injured party receives from a source independent of the wrongdoer is not d…
- collateralizeTo serve as collateral for something; also, to secure a loan with collateral.
- collateralized mortgage obligationIn securities law, a bond secured by a pool of mortgages or pass-through securities, repaid according to the schedule…
- collatio bonorumIn civil law, the bringing back into account of goods or money a parent advanced to a child, so that the parent's est…
- collationComparing a copy with its original to check that it is correct, and the officer's report of that comparison. It also…
- collation to a beneficeIn church law, a bishop conferring a living in a case where the bishop also holds the right to present, so that prese…
- collatione facta uni post mortem alteriusFormerly, a writ to the Court of Common Pleas asking it to order a bishop to appoint a clerk in place of one who had…
- collatione heremitagiiFormerly, a writ by which the Crown granted the keeping of a hermitage to a clerk.
- collative factA fact that confers rights.
- collatorSomeone who compares a copy with its original to check that it is accurate.
- collectabilityHow far a judgment creditor is actually able to make the debtor pay; the extent to which a judgment can be satisfied…
- collecting bankIn the check-collection process, any bank handling an item for collection apart from the paying bank and the bank of…
- collectionIn banking, the process by which an item such as a check makes its way to the bank that must pay it.
- collection indorsementAn indorsement restricting further negotiation of an instrument, such as one marking it for deposit only or for colle…
- collection itemAn item, such as a documentary draft, that a bank takes for a customer's account but does not credit until payment ha…
- collective bargainingNegotiation between an employer and representatives of organized employees to settle the terms of employment, such as…
- collective markA trademark or service mark used by an association, union, or other group to identify its products or services, or to…
- collective measureIn international law, action taken by more than one country to achieve an agreed end, whether arranged ad hoc or thro…
- collective punishmentA penalty imposed on a group without regard to which of them was actually responsible for the conduct. The Geneva Con…
- collective trademarkA trademark or service mark used by an association, union, or other group to identify its products or services, or to…
- collective workA publication such as a periodical, anthology, or encyclopedia in which several separate and independent works are ga…
- collective-bargaining agreementA contract between an employer and a labor union setting the terms and conditions of employment.
- collegaSomeone holding joint authority with another; a colleague. The word usually referred to a member of an association or…
- collegatarySomeone who shares a legacy with one or more others.
- collegeAn institution teaching the liberal arts, humanities, and sciences, as opposed to technical or professional training.…
- College of ArmsAnother term for the heralds' college, the body governing coats of arms.
- collegiumAn association of at least three people entitled to assemble and make rules about membership, organization, and membe…
- collegium illicitumAn association not sanctioned by law, or one meeting for some purpose other than the one stated in its charter.
- collegium licitumAn association empowered to act as a legal person in pursuing some useful purpose or business.
- collisionThe crashing together of two vessels.
- collision insuranceMotor insurance covering damage to the insured's own vehicle, but not personal injury resulting from an accident.
- collobiumA hood or shoulder covering formerly worn by serjeants-at-law.
- colloquiumEvidence brought to show that an allegedly defamatory statement referred to the claimant even though it did not name…
- colloquyA formal discussion, such as the exchange between a judge, the lawyers, and a criminal defendant by which the judge s…
- collusionAn agreement to defraud someone or to obtain something the law forbids. Before no-fault divorce, for instance, a husb…
- collusive actionA case between two parties who have no real dispute, brought merely to settle a legal question or obtain a precedent…
- collusive joinderJoining a defendant, usually one from another state, purely so that the case can be moved to federal court.
- Collyer doctrineThe principle that the National Labor Relations Board will send an issue brought before it to arbitration where the c…
- colonialA nation that establishes colonies; a colonial power.
- colonial lawThe law governing a colony; also, the body of law in force in the 13 original American colonies before the Declaratio…
- colonyA dependent territory under the sovereignty of an independent country but treated as part of it in dealings with othe…
- colorAppearance or semblance, especially of a legal claim to a right, authority, or office. In common-law pleading it mean…
- color bookIn international law, an official collection of a government's diplomatic documents and internal papers, published to…
- color of authorityThe appearance of authority backing a public officer's acts, arising from their apparent title to the office or from…
- color of lawThe appearance of a legal right without the substance of one. The phrase usually implies a misuse of power made possi…
- color of officeThe authority inherent in an office, especially a public one. Acts done under color of office carry, or appear to car…
- color of titleAn apparent title resting on a document or proceeding that looks as though it passes title but is in fact defective.…
- colorable(Of a claim) appearing to be true or valid; also, intended to deceive, or counterfeit.
- colorable alterationIn intellectual-property law, a change that makes no real difference and is introduced only to distinguish an inventi…
- colorable claimA claim that is genuine and can reasonably be advanced on the facts and the law as it stands, or as it might reasonab…
- colorable transactionA sham transaction got up to look genuine.
- colorable-imitation testIn trademark law, a test asking whether an ordinary person, unable to compare the two items side by side, could tell…
- Colorado River abstentionA federal court's decision to hold off while parallel proceedings on the same matter are going on in a state court.
- comakerSomeone who joins in borrowing money on a promissory note, especially a person who stands surety if the maker defaults.
- combatantIn international law, someone who takes a direct part in hostilities and who may therefore be attacked, but who is en…
- combinationAn alliance of people or companies working together towards a shared, usually economic, aim. It also means an agreeme…
- combination in restraint of tradeAn agreement, express or tacit, between two or more people or businesses aimed at raising prices, cutting output, or…
- combination patentA patent for an invention that brings existing components together in a new way.
- comesA count or earl; also, someone forming part of a high official's retinue.
- comes and defendsTraditionally, the opening words of a defendant's plea or demurrer, announcing that the defendant appears and intends…
- comes nowTraditionally, the opening words of a pleading, becoming come now where the subject is plural.
- comfort letterIn securities law, a letter from a certified public accountant confirming that no false or misleading information has…
- coming-to-rest doctrineIn insurance, the principle that cover for shipped goods ends once they are unloaded and any cables or other links to…
- comingleTo mix separate funds or property together into one mass.
- comitasCourtesy between political bodies such as nations, states, or courts of different jurisdictions, particularly in reco…
- comitas gentiumCourtesy between nations, particularly in recognizing each other's laws and judicial acts.
- comitatu commissoFormerly, a writ or commission authorizing a sheriff to take charge of a county.
- comitatusA county or shire; also, the territory over which a count or earl had jurisdiction, a county court, or the retinue at…
- comitesCounts or earls; also, those forming part of a high official's retinue.
- comites paleysCounts or earls palatine, who exercised royal privileges within a county palatine.
- comitiaAn assembly of the Roman people gathered for legislative or judicial business.
- comitia centuriataAn assembly of the whole populace voting by centuries, empowered to elect magistrates and to hear appeals in capital…
- comitia curiataAn assembly, originally of patricians, whose main function was to authorize private acts of citizens such as wills an…
- comitia tributaAn assembly of the tribes convened to elect lower officials, which took on a great deal of legislative work in the la…
- comityCourtesy between political bodies such as nations, states, or courts of different jurisdictions, particularly in reco…
- Comity ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution giving citizens of each state the same privileges and immunities as citizens of t…
- commandAn order or directive; in legal positivism, the sovereign's expressed wish that someone act or refrain from acting, b…
- Commander in Chief ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution making the President supreme commander of the armed forces.
- commander-in-chiefSomeone holding supreme command of armed forces; also, the title of the President when acting as constitutional head…
- commandmentAn authoritative order of a judge or magistrate; also, the offense of inducing someone else to commit a crime.
- commencementThe opening paragraph of a contract, typically naming the parties and the date on which the agreement is made.
- commencement of infringementIn copyright law, the first in a series of separate infringements, such as the first of many individual sales of infr…
- commendaA business association in which one person takes responsibility for managing all the property of the business.
- commendationThe act of becoming a lord's feudal tenant in order to receive the lord's protection.
- commendatorSomeone holding a benefice as trustee, so called because the benefice is commended to their care.
- commendatusSomeone who, by voluntarily swearing homage, placed themselves under a lord's protection.
- commentAn explanatory note written by the drafters of a statute, code section, or rule, setting out what the provision is me…
- comment on the evidenceA statement to the jury by the judge or by counsel about the weight of particular evidence. Lawyers commonly make suc…
- comment periodThe period during which the public may submit comments on a proposed administrative rule before it is finalized.
- commentatorsA group of Italian jurists active in the 14th and 15th centuries who wrote commentaries relating Roman law to feudal,…
- commenterSomeone who comments, especially a person who sends comments to an agency about a proposed rule or regulation.
- commerceThe exchange of goods and services, especially on a large scale involving carriage between cities, states, or nations.
- Commerce ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution giving Congress power to regulate commerce among the states, with foreign nations…
- Commerce CourtA former federal court, abolished in 1913, which heard appeals from orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
- commercial agentAn agent employed to buy or sell goods for a principal in the ordinary course of trade; also, a consular officer resp…
- commercial assetsThe whole of a merchant's available property, stock in trade, cash, and other assets.
- commercial bankA bank authorized to take both demand and time deposits, provide trust services, issue letters of credit, rent safe-d…
- commercial briberyCorruptly dealing with a prospective buyer's agents or employees so as to gain an advantage over competitors.
- commercial brokerA broker who arranges the sale of goods without holding or controlling them.
- commercial courtA court dealing exclusively with commercial disputes.
- commercial credit companyA finance company that lends to manufacturers and wholesalers.
- commercial divisionA division of a court dealing exclusively with commercial litigation, set up to clear the general lists and handle co…
- commercial domicileA domicile a company acquires by carrying on enough activity in a place for its property or business there to be taxe…
- commercial finance companyA finance company that lends to manufacturers and wholesalers.
- commercial franchiseA franchise using local money and management, under which a third party runs a business identified as offering a part…
- commercial frustrationAn excuse for not performing a contract because of an unforeseeable and uncontrollable event.
- commercial general liability policyAn insurance policy, usually taken out by a business, covering damages it becomes legally liable to pay a third party…
- commercial impracticabilityThe happening of an event whose non-occurrence the parties assumed when contracting, with the result that one of them…
- commercial insuranceInsurance protecting a business against the ordinary risks of trading, such as damage to premises and stock and liabi…
- Commercial lawA pricing arrangement in which the manufacturer bears the seller's freight costs and takes them into account before q…
- commercial leaseA lease for business purposes.
- commercial letter of creditA letter of credit used to pay for goods, especially in international trade, with the buyer as the issuer's customer…
- commercial loanA loan a financial institution makes to a business, generally for 30 to 90 days.
- commercial nameA name or symbol identifying a company, partnership, or business rather than a product or service; the name a busines…
- commercial paperAn instrument other than cash for paying money, typically a draft such as a check or a note such as a certificate of…
- commercial partnershipA partnership whose ordinary business is buying and selling.
- commercial setThe main documents covering a shipment of goods, usually an invoice, bill of lading, bill of exchange, and certificat…
- commercial speechCommunication such as advertising and marketing that concerns only the commercial interests of the speaker and the au…
- commercial suretyA surety paid for undertaking the obligation to the creditor. A bonding company is the typical example.
- commercial tort claimA tort claim in which the claimant is either an organization or an individual whose claim arose in the course of thei…
- commercial treatyA treaty between two or more countries about trade or other commercial activity. It may be general, setting the frame…
- commercial unitA quantity of goods treated in commerce as a single whole, which would be materially reduced in character or value if…
- commercial-activity exceptionAn exception to sovereign immunity, allowing a claim against a foreign state where it arises from that state's privat…
- commercial-law noticeUnder the Uniform Commercial Code, notice arising either from actually knowing a fact or being told of it, or from ci…
- commercial-traveler ruleThe principle that an accident happening to an employee whose job requires travel occurs in the course of employment,…
- commercially reasonable(Of a sale of property) carried out in good faith and in line with accepted commercial practice.
- comminatoriumA clause often added at the end of a writ, warning the sheriff to be faithful in carrying it out.
- commingleTo mix separate funds or property together into one mass.
- comminglingMixing funds together, especially a fiduciary mixing their own money with a beneficiary's or client's. It is usually…
- commissarySomeone commissioned to carry out a duty, usually as a representative of a superior; also, a general store or lunchro…
- commissio rebellionisA process empowering a private person to arrest a defendant and bring them before the Chancery to compel obedience to…
- commissionA warrant or authority from the government or a court empowering the person named to perform official acts; also, the…
- commission brokerA member of a stock or commodity exchange who carries out buy and sell orders.
- commission del credereThe commission a seller's agent receives for guaranteeing that the buyer will pay.
- commission governmentA form of municipal government in which legislative power rests with a small number of people.
- commission merchantAn agent employed to sell property for a principal, who holds or controls the goods and is paid by commission. A merc…
- commission of appraisement and saleA court order requiring property to be valued and sold in an admiralty action against the property itself.
- commission of assizeA royal authorization empowering someone to hold court and try cases arising while the travelling justices were sitti…
- commission of charitable usesAn authorization from the Court of Chancery to a bishop or other person to investigate allegations of fraud or other…
- commission of delegatesA commission appointing someone, usually a lord, bishop, or judge, to sit with others to hear an appeal from a church…
- Commission of Gaol DeliveryA royal appointment authorizing a judge to travel the assize circuit and try all the criminal cases of those held in…
- commission of lieutenancyA commission sending officers into every county to establish military order among the inhabitants. It replaced the ea…
- commission of lunacyA writ or commission to inquire whether someone was of unsound mind.
- commission of partitionAn authorization appointing someone to sit with others to divide land held by tenants in common who want it partitioned.
- commission of rebellionA process empowering a private person to arrest a defendant and bring them before the Chancery to compel obedience to…
- commission of reviewIn England, an authorization occasionally granted in an exceptional case to review a judgment of the Court of Delegat…
- commission of the peaceThe appointment of someone to keep the peace locally. Those appointed gradually acquired judicial duties and became k…
- commission of unliveryA court order requiring goods to be unloaded from a ship so that they can be valued.
- commission planA form of municipal government in which both legislative and executive power rest with a small group of elected offic…
- commission to examine a witnessA judicial commission directing that a witness outside the court's territorial reach be examined on deposition.
- commissioned officerAn officer in the armed forces holding rank and office under a presidential commission.
- commissionerSomeone who heads or serves on a commission; also, the administrative head of an organization, such as a professional…
- commissioner of bailAn officer appointed to take bail bonds.
- commissioner of deedsAn officer one state authorizes to take acknowledgments of deeds and other papers while living in another state, thos…
- commissioner of highwaysA public officer responsible for overseeing the building, alteration, and repair of highways.
- commissioner of woods and forestsAn officer who took over the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice of the Forest under an Act of Parliament of 1817.
- commissive wasteDamage to property caused by something the tenant actually did, rather than by neglect.
- commitTo carry out a crime; also, to send someone to prison or to a mental health facility, especially by court order.
- commitmentAn undertaking to do something in future, especially to take on a financial obligation. It also means entrusting some…
- commitment feeA sum a would-be borrower pays a lender for its promise to lend at a stated rate within a set time. Such fees are com…
- commitment letterA lender's written offer of a mortgage loan, generally setting out the amount, the interest rate, and the other terms.
- commitment warrantA warrant committing someone to custody.
- committeeA group of people appointed or elected to consider, decide, or manage some matter.
- committee of the wholeA whole legislative house sitting as a committee, working under relaxed procedural rules.
- committing magistrateA judicial officer who conducts preliminary criminal hearings and may release a defendant for want of evidence, reman…
- committiturAn order or minute stating that the person named is to be committed to the sheriff's custody.
- committitur pieceA document used to charge a debtor already in prison with a further civil debt, especially by the claimant who had th…
- commixtioA mixture of dry or solid goods belonging to different owners, the resulting mass being held in common or divided in…
- commodati actioAn action to recover a thing lent free of charge and not returned.
- commodatumIn Roman and civil law, a free loan of goods for the borrower to use and then give back. It benefits the borrower alo…
- commodityAn article of trade or commerce, covering tangible goods such as products or merchandise but not services; also, an e…
- Commodity Credit CorporationA federal agency that supports the prices of farm products through loan subsidies and purchases, to help sell them at…
- Commodity Futures Trading CommissionA federal agency that oversees trading in commodity futures and commodity options.
- commodity loanA loan secured by a commodity such as cotton or wool, represented by a warehouse receipt or other negotiable document.
- commodity optionThe right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a set quantity of a commodity, or a futures contract in it, at a fi…
- commodity paperAn instrument representing a loan secured by a bill of lading or warehouse receipt.
- commodity-backed bondA bond whose interest or principal is tied to the price of a particular commodity, such as gold. It carries a low int…
- commonA right to use another person's land, such as a right to graze animals or take wood.
- common and notorious thiefSomeone convicted of theft or larceny more than once.
- common appendantA tenant's right to graze animals on the landowner's land, arising from long-standing practice.
- common appurtenantA landowner's right to graze animals on another's land, arising from a written grant connected with the ownership or…
- common areaIn landlord-and-tenant law, the parts of a property that all tenants may use while the landlord keeps control of and…
- common assumpsitAn action for breach of an implied promise to pay a debt.
- common assuranceDocumentary evidence of title, such as a deed or a judgment about the ownership of property.
- common at largeA right to graze animals on another's land arising from a written grant unconnected with the ownership or occupation…
- common bailA fictitious surety filed by a defendant in a civil action, usually a minor one.
- common barA plea in bar raised by a defendant in a trespass action, used to force the claimant to state exactly where the alleg…
- Common BenchThe former name of the English Court of Common Pleas, so called because it was the forum for cases between subjects i…
- common business purposeRelated activity carried on by two or more associated businesses. If one falls within the Fair Labor Standards Act, a…
- common callingAn ordinary occupation a citizen has the right to follow under the Privileges and Immunities Clause; also, a business…
- common carrierA carrier legally bound to carry passengers or goods for anyone who pays the approved fare or charge.
- common causeA plea at common law in a civil action, as opposed to a criminal prosecution; formerly, a plea made by a commoner.
- common chaseA chase in which everyone has the right to hunt.
- common costA cost that cannot be traced to any particular product or service but arises from production generally, such as overh…
- common councilThe legislative body of a city or borough.
- common countA count pleaded in general form, such as one for money had and received, which does not set out the particular facts…
- common courtA court of general jurisdiction, open to ordinary litigants rather than confined to a special class of case.
- common dayIn England, an ordinary court day.
- common descriptive nameIn trademark law, a word that describes a thing generally without identifying its source or maker, such as car or sink.
- common designAn intention by two or more people to join in an unlawful act; also, an intention to commit more than one crime, or t…
- common disasterAn event causing two or more people with related property interests, such as an insured and the beneficiary, to die s…
- common duty of careA landowner's duty to take reasonable care in the circumstances to see that a lawful visitor is reasonably safe while…
- common easementAn easement under which the owner of the burdened land may also share in the benefit of it.
- common elementsAn area owned and used jointly by the residents of a condominium, subdivision, or planned development.
- common enterpriseIn criminal law, an undertaking by two or more people to commit an offense they have agreed on. In tort law it means…
- common errorIn copyright law, a mistake appearing in both a protected work and an allegedly infringing one, which is strong evide…
- common fineA sum a tenant owed a lord to meet the cost of holding a court leet, or to allow litigants to try their case nearer h…
- common fisheryA fishing ground where everyone has the right to take fish.
- common heritage of mankindIn international law, the parts of the earth and space regarded as belonging to humanity as a whole, wherever people…
- common highwayBroadly, any main route by land, water, or air; also, a free public road or street anyone may use, the main road conn…
- common in grossA right to graze animals on another's land arising from a written grant unconnected with the ownership or occupation…
- common in the soilThe right to dig and carry away earth from another's land.
- common informerSomeone who sues to recover a penalty in a penal action. In some places such an action may be brought either by the a…
- common intendmentThe natural or ordinary meaning of words when a document is being interpreted.
- common juryAn ordinary jury drawn from the general panel, as opposed to a special jury chosen for particular qualifications.
- common knowledgeA fact so generally known that a court may accept it as true without proof.
- common lawThe body of law made by judicial decisions rather than by statutes or constitutions; case law.
- common lawyerA lawyer trained or practising in a common-law system.
- common marketAn economic association formed by several nations to lower trade barriers between them, the European Union being the…
- common mistakeA mistake shared by both parties to a contract and relied on by each. A court will often rewrite or set aside a contr…
- common money bondA promise to pay a sum of money as a penalty for failing to carry out a duty.
- common nuisanceAn unreasonable interference with a right shared by the public generally, such as something dangerous to health, offe…
- common occupantSomeone who occupies land in the gap after the death of a tenant holding for another's life but before the person who…
- common of diggingThe right to dig and carry away earth from another's land.
- common of estoversA tenant's right to take necessary supplies, especially wood, from the lord's estate.
- common of fisheryA right to fish in waters on another's land.
- common of pastureA right to pasture one's cattle on another's land, which may be appendant, appurtenant, or in gross.
- common of piscaryA right to fish in waters on another's land.
- common of shackThe right of those occupying land in a common field to turn their cattle out to graze it after harvest.
- common of turbaryThe right to cut turf from another's land for fuel.
- common planAn intention by two or more people to join in an unlawful act; also, the general layout of plots of land around a par…
- common pleaA plea at common law in a civil action, as opposed to a criminal prosecution.
- common pleas courtFormerly, a superior court with jurisdiction over all real actions and pleas between subjects, presided over by a chi…
- Common Pleas, Court ofFormerly, a superior court with jurisdiction over all real actions and pleas between subjects. In 1873 it became the…
- common propertyProperty held jointly by two or more people.
- common recoveryAn elaborate proceeding, full of legal fictions, by which a tenant in tail freed an entailed estate from the entail.…
- common schemeAn intention by two or more people to join in an unlawful act; also, the general layout of plots of land around a par…
- common schoolAn elementary, middle, or high school set up under state law, run by local authorities, funded by public taxation, an…
- common scoldSomeone who habitually breaks the peace by scolding others, stirring up discord, and making themselves a public nuisa…
- common stockA class of shares entitling the holder to vote on company matters, to receive dividends once other claims and dividen…
- common substitutionIn Roman law, the naming of someone to take the place of an heir who has refused or failed to accept an inheritance.
- common suitFormerly, a plea made by a commoner in a civil action.
- common tenancyA tenancy by two or more people in equal or unequal undivided shares, each entitled to possess the whole property but…
- common thiefSomeone convicted of theft or larceny more than once.
- common traverseA traverse that denies an allegation in terms and offers the point denied for decision.
- common trust fundA fund set up within a bank's trust department pooling the assets of many small trusts so as to spread investments mo…
- common wallA wall dividing two separately owned properties, which the two owners share as tenants in common.
- common-authority ruleThe principle that one person may consent to a search of another's property where both use, control, or have access t…
- common-bond doctrineThe rule that prospective members of a credit union must share some connection, such as a common employer, beyond sim…
- common-character requirementThe rule that for a group to qualify as a class, certifying it must save time, effort, and expense and produce unifor…
- common-defeasance bondA bond requiring the obligor to pay a stated sum as a penalty if the underlying obligation is not performed.
- common-disaster clauseA clause in a will, insurance policy, or similar document dealing with what happens if the person giving and the pers…
- common-employment doctrineThe former rule that an employer was not liable to an employee for injury caused by the negligence of a fellow employ…
- common-enemy doctrineIn property law, the rule that a landowner may fend off surface water as necessary, as during a flood, without regard…
- common-fund doctrineThe principle that where a claimant or their lawyer creates, finds, increases, or preserves a fund in which others al…
- common-interest doctrineThe rule that parties sharing a common legal interest may exchange privileged material with each other without giving…
- common-knowledge exceptionThe principle that evidence from an ordinary witness about routine or simple medical procedures may be used to prove…
- common-law actionAn action governed by the common law rather than by statute, equity, or civil law.
- common-law assignmentAn assignment for creditors' benefit made under the common law rather than under a statute.
- common-law bondA performance bond given by a building contractor which goes beyond what a statutory bond requires, providing extra c…
- common-law cheatObtaining another's property dishonestly by means of a false token or other unlawful trick.
- common-law contemptConduct obstructing justice or attacking the authority of the court, punishable as contempt at common law rather than…
- common-law copyrightThe copyright an author had at common law in an unpublished work, lasting until publication, when statutory copyright…
- common-law corporationA company that, though it has no charter, has gained corporate status by operating as a corporation over a long perio…
- common-law crimeA crime recognized by the common law rather than created by statute.
- common-law dedicationA dedication made without any statute, in which an owner sets aside land, or an easement over it, for public use, and…
- common-law extortionThe offense committed by a public official who unlawfully obtains property under color of office, especially by colle…
- common-law fraudFraud as the common law defines it: a knowingly false statement of material fact, made to induce another to act, on w…
- common-law jurisdictionA place whose legal system descends from the English common law; also, a court's jurisdiction over the kinds of case…
- common-law lawyerA lawyer trained or practising in a common-law system.
- common-law lienA lien arising under the common law rather than by statute, equity, or agreement, giving one person the right to keep…
- common-law maliceThe intention, without justification or excuse, to do a wrongful act; also, reckless disregard of the law or of anoth…
- common-law marriageA marriage taking legal effect without licence or ceremony, where a couple live together as husband and wife, intend…
- common-law pleadingThe system of pleading developed at common law, under which the parties exchanged formal documents until a single iss…
- common-law ruleA judge-made rule as opposed to a statutory one; also, a rule of law rather than of equity, or a general rule as oppo…
- common-law stateAny state that is not a community-property state.
- common-law trustA form of business organization resembling a company, in which investors hold transferable certificates of beneficial…
- common-nucleus-of-operative-fact testThe doctrine that a federal court may hear state-law claims arising from the same facts as the federal claims that gi…
- common-return daysRegular days on which parties were required to appear in court; also, an enactment regulating adjournments and the da…
- common-situs picketingUnlawful picketing by union workers of a whole construction site arising out of a dispute with only one of the subcon…
- common-source doctrineThe principle that a defendant in an action to try title who claims through the same source as the claimant may not s…
- common-stock equivalentA security exchangeable for common stock and therefore treated as the equivalent of it, such as certain convertible s…
- common-stock fundA mutual fund that invests only in common stock.
- common-stock ratioThe proportion of a company's total capitalization made up of common stock. It measures shareholders' relative claims…
- commonable(Of an animal) allowed to graze on common land; (of land) capable of being held in common.
- commonality testThe principle that a group seeking certification as a class must share at least one issue whose resolution will affec…
- commonerIn British usage, an ordinary citizen rather than a peer. It formerly also meant a member of the House of Commons, or…
- commonwealthA nation, state, or other political unit; also, a political unit with local self-government that is voluntarily joine…
- commonwealth courtIn Pennsylvania, a court hearing cases involving state agencies and local government.
- commorancyA temporary residence in a place; in English usage, a permanent one.
- commorantSomeone living in a place temporarily; in English usage, someone permanently resident there.
- commorientesPeople who die at the same time, such as spouses killed in one accident; also, the rules of succession that apply whe…
- communeA community of people who hold property in common.
- commune placitumFormerly, a plea between subjects, as opposed to a plea of the Crown, that is a criminal case.
- communi dividundoIn Roman and civil law, an action to divide up jointly owned property.
- communiaThings owned by everyone in common, such as running water, the air, and the sea.
- communicationThe expression or exchange of information by speech, writing, or gesture; also, the information itself.
- communicative evidenceEvidence consisting of what someone says or otherwise expresses, as opposed to physical evidence taken from them.
- communis opinioFormerly, a generally accepted view on a point of law. Where those learned in the law held it unanimously, it had the…
- communis pariesIn civil law, a wall shared between two neighboring properties.
- communis scripturaFormerly, a document drawn up in duplicate so that each party held a matching copy.
- communis stipesFormerly, a common ancestor from whom two or more people descend.
- communitizationIn oil-and-gas law, the joining together of small tracts so that between them they are large enough for a well permit…
- communitizeIn oil-and-gas law, to combine two or more separately owned oil-producing properties into one, worked as a single uni…
- communityA neighborhood or locality; also, a group of people with similar rights or interests, or the common interests arising…
- community accountAn account holding community funds mixed together with other money.
- community debtA debt chargeable to the marital community rather than to either spouse individually.
- community leaseA lease in which several people owning separate tracts grant a single lease to one lessee.
- community of interestParticipation in a joint venture with shared liability and a shared chance of profit; also, the common grievance ever…
- community propertyProperty a married couple own together because it was acquired during the marriage other than by inheritance or a gif…
- community trustA body organized to administer, permanently, funds held on trust for public health, educational, and charitable purpo…
- community-property stateA state in which property a couple acquires during marriage, other than by inheritance or individual gift, belongs to…
- commutationAn exchange or replacement. In criminal law it means the executive substituting a lighter punishment for the heavier…
- commutation of taxesA tax exemption obtained by paying a lump sum or a fixed amount instead of a tax based on value.
- commutative contractA contract in which each side gives and receives something of roughly equal value, as opposed to one where what each…
- commutative justiceJustice concerned with dealings between people, particularly fairness in exchanging goods and in keeping contractual…
- commuted valueIn assessing damages, the present value of a future interest in property; also, the value of future payments discount…
- comp timeTime off work an employee is allowed to take instead of being paid for overtime already worked.
- compactAn agreement between two or more parties, especially between governments or states.
- Compact ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution barring a state from entering into an agreement with another state or a foreign c…
- companionship servicesHelp given to someone who needs assistance with personal matters such as bathing and dressing. Unlike housecleaning,…
- companyA corporation, or less often an association, partnership, or union, carrying on a commercial or industrial business.…
- company unionA union whose members are drawn only from a single company's employees; also, a union under the company's control.
- comparableA piece of property used for comparison in valuing a similar one.
- comparable accommodationA standard for fixing the maximum rent allowed in rent-regulated housing, under which a court looks at the going rent…
- comparable worthThe comparable value two or more employees bring to a business through their work; also, the principle that men and w…
- comparatio literarumIn Roman law, comparing handwriting to establish who wrote a document. Even then, handwriting experts sometimes gave…
- comparative advertisingAdvertising that directly compares the advertised brand with a rival brand of the same product.
- comparative disparityA measure of how far a group is under-represented among potential jurors, expressed as a proportion of its share of t…
- comparative faultA claimant's own negligence, which reduces the damages recoverable from the defendant in proportion to their share of…
- comparative interpretationA way of interpreting a statute by comparing its parts with each other, and the statute as a whole with other documen…
- comparative jurisprudenceThe study of the similarities and differences between the legal systems of different jurisdictions, such as between c…
- comparative lawThe study of the similarities and differences between the legal systems of different jurisdictions.
- comparative negligenceA claimant's own negligence, which reduces the damages recoverable from the defendant in proportion to their share of…
- comparative-impairment testIn the conflict of laws, a test asking which of the competing jurisdictions would have its policies most damaged if i…
- comparative-negligence doctrineIn tort law, the principle that a claimant's damages are reduced in proportion to their own share of the fault, rathe…
- comparative-rectitude doctrineIn family law, the rule applying before no-fault divorce that where both spouses gave grounds for divorce, the one le…
- comparative-sales approachA way of valuing property by surveying the market, comparing it with similar properties recently sold, and adjusting…
- comparatorSomething against which something else is compared.
- compassingContriving or plotting, especially something underhand. The Treason Act of 1351 made it treason to compass the sovere…
- compelTo bring something about by force or overwhelming pressure; also, of a statute or precedent, to leave a court with on…
- compellableCapable of being compelled, especially to give evidence.
- compelling-state-interest testIn constitutional law, a way of testing a law's validity by weighing the government's interest in it against the indi…
- compensableAble or entitled to be compensated.
- compensable deathIn workers' compensation law, a death occurring in the course of employment, which entitles the worker's heirs to com…
- compensable injuryIn workers' compensation law, an injury from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, for which th…
- compensateTo pay someone for services rendered; also, to make a payment to make good an injury.
- compensated suretyA surety paid for undertaking the obligation to the creditor. A bonding company is the typical example.
- compensating balanceThe sum a bank requires a borrower to keep on deposit as a condition of a loan or credit line.
- compensatioA defendant's claim to have the claimant's demand reduced by whatever the claimant owes the defendant.
- compensatio criminisIn church law, a defense in a divorce case that the person bringing it is guilty of the same conduct alleged against…
- compensationPay and other benefits received in return for services, especially salary or wages.
- compensation periodThe period fixed by unemployment or workers' compensation law during which an unemployed or injured worker may receiv…
- compensatory damagesDamages large enough to make good the loss the injured person has actually suffered.
- compensatory timeTime off work an employee is allowed to take instead of being paid for overtime already worked.
- comperendinatioAn adjournment so that the parties or their advocates could be heard a second time, the judge deciding the case at th…
- competenceA basic or minimum ability to do something, especially to give evidence; also, the authority of an official body to act.
- competencyThe mental ability to understand what is happening and make decisions; particularly a criminal defendant's fitness to…
- competency hearingA hearing at which the trial court decides whether a criminal defendant is fit to stand trial.
- competency proceedingA proceeding to assess someone's mental capacity, whether to decide if a criminal defendant is fit to be tried or, in…
- competency to stand trialA criminal defendant's fitness to be tried, measured by their capacity to understand the proceedings, take meaningful…
- competentHaving the ability or legal qualification to do something, such as to give evidence or stand trial.
- competent evidenceEvidence that the law allows to be received, being both relevant and free of any rule excluding it.
- competent witnessA witness legally qualified to give evidence. An ordinary witness with personal knowledge of the subject matter is co…
- competitionThe effort of two or more businesses to win the same custom from third parties.
- competitive advertisingAdvertising carrying little real information about the product, used only to help a producer hold on to its share of…
- competitive bidA bid put in following a public notice of an intended sale or purchase.
- competitive civil-service examinationA test assessing someone's suitability for a civil-service post. It may be open to all applicants or restricted to se…
- compilationIn copyright law, a work formed by gathering and arranging existing materials or data in a way that is original enoug…
- compiled statutesLaws arranged by subject without any change to their substance.
- complainantThe party who brings a legal complaint against another, especially the claimant in a civil suit.
- complaintThe first pleading in a civil action, setting out the basis of the court's jurisdiction, the grounds of the claim, an…
- complete diversityIn a case with several parties, the requirement that every claimant be a citizen of a different state from every defe…
- complete in itself(Of a statute) covering a whole subject on its own, without needing to be read with anything else.
- complete integrationA written agreement the parties adopt as the complete and final expression of their bargain.
- complete interdictionThe complete removal of a person's right to look after themselves and their own affairs or estate, on the ground of m…
- complete preemptionThe rule that a federal statute's displacing force may be so complete that a claim pleaded under state law is treated…
- complete voluntary trustA trust in which the interests in the trust property are fully set out and defined by the instrument creating it, so…
- complete-operation ruleIn insurance, the principle that goods are covered against damage at any point in the shipping process, including whi…
- complete-preemption doctrineThe rule that a federal statute's displacing effect may be so complete that a claim pleaded purely under state common…
- completed giftA gift the giver has parted with entirely, keeping no power to take it back or control it.
- completed-contract accounting methodA way of reporting profit or loss on certain long-term contracts, in which income and expenses are both recognized in…
- completed-operations policyA policy usually taken out by a building contractor, covering accidents arising from work the contractor has already…
- completely integrated contractA written agreement the parties adopt as the full and exclusive statement of their terms, so that neither may vary or…
- completeness doctrineThe rule that where a party puts in part of a document or statement at trial, the other side may require the rest of…
- completion bondA bond guaranteeing that a construction contract will be finished, given by a surety or by a third party undertaking…
- complex trustA trust that may accumulate income, pay out capital, or make charitable gifts, as opposed to a simple trust, which mu…
- compliance auditAn audit by a regulator, an organization, or an outside party to check whether one or more sets of laws and regulatio…
- complicated larcenyLarceny accompanied by aggravating circumstances or by violence to the person.
- compliceAn accomplice or accessory to a crime or to immoral conduct.
- complicitousInvolved in or associated with wrongdoing.
- complicityTaking part in a criminal act; the state of being an accomplice.
- compos mentisOf sound mind, with the use and control of one's mental faculties.
- compos sui(Of a person) having control over their own limbs and the power of bodily movement.
- composite stateA state made up of a group of constituent states.
- composite workIn copyright law, a publication on a variety of subjects containing separate pieces by many authors. The individual p…
- compositionAn agreement between a debtor and two or more creditors under which the creditors accept less than their full claims…
- composition deedA deed recording the terms agreed between a debtor and creditors for discharging or adjusting a debt.
- composition of matterIn patent law, a patentable compound made of two or more different substances, whether combined chemically or merely…
- compossessioIn civil law, possession of the same thing by two or more people in common.
- compoundTo combine or construct; also, to calculate interest on the principal together with the interest already accrued, or…
- compound interestInterest calculated on the principal together with the interest already accumulated.
- compound journal entryA journal entry needing more than one debit and credit, as where revenue comes in partly as cash and partly as securi…
- compound larcenyLarceny accompanied by aggravating circumstances or by violence to the person.
- compounderSomeone who settles a dispute or makes a composition; also, someone who knows of another's crime and agrees, for a re…
- compounding a crimeThe offense of agreeing not to prosecute a crime one knows has been committed, or of agreeing to obstruct the prosecu…
- comprehensive general liability policyAn insurance policy, usually taken out by a business, covering damages it becomes legally liable to pay a third party…
- comprehensive insuranceInsurance combining cover against many kinds of loss that could also be insured separately, as commonly happens in a…
- comprehensive nonliteral similaritySimilarity shown by copying a protected work's general ideas or structure, such as a film's plot, without taking its…
- comprehensive zoning planA general plan controlling and directing the use and development of a large area of land.
- comprintThe secret and unlawful printing of a work another bookseller holds the rights to.
- compromisIn international law, an agreement between two or more countries to submit an existing dispute to an arbitrator, an a…
- compromis properIn international law, an agreement between two or more countries to submit an existing dispute to an arbitrator, an a…
- compromiseAn agreement between two or more people settling a dispute between them; also, a debtor's part payment coupled with t…
- compromise verdictA verdict reached because jurors give way on some issues in order to settle others their own way.
- compromissariusA neutral person who settles disputes between parties, especially by formal arbitration.
- compromissumIn Roman law, an agreement to refer a dispute to arbitration.
- comptrollerAn officer of a business or a public or private corporation responsible for financial matters, including auditing and…
- compulsionThe act of compelling, or the state of being compelled.
- compulsoryCompelled; required by legal process or by statute.
- compulsory appearanceAn appearance by someone who must attend because process has been served on them.
- compulsory arbitrationArbitration that the law requires, rather than one the parties chose.
- compulsory conditionA condition requiring that something positive be done, as opposed to one requiring that something be refrained from.
- compulsory counterclaimA counterclaim a defendant must raise in the same action, because it arises out of the same transaction as the claim…
- compulsory disclosureDisclosure that must be made, as of material falling within the discovery rules.
- compulsory insuranceInsurance the law requires, especially motor liability cover that a state makes a condition of registering a vehicle.
- compulsory joinderThe joining of a party that must take place either because those already in the case cannot obtain complete relief wi…
- compulsory laborIn international law, work exacted from someone under threat of a penalty, which they have not offered to do voluntar…
- compulsory licenseIn copyright law, a licence created by statute allowing certain people to use protected material without the owner's…
- compulsory nonsuitA court's dismissal of a case, or of a defendant, because the claimant has failed to make out a legal case or to prod…
- compulsory pilotA ship's pilot whom the law entitles to take charge of a vessel for a particular purpose, such as bringing her into h…
- compulsory pilotageA requirement in some places that a vessel entering or leaving a harbor take on a licensed pilot to guide it.
- compulsory processA process, which may include a warrant to arrest or attach, compelling someone to appear in court as a witness.
- Compulsory Process ClauseThe clause of the Sixth Amendment giving criminal defendants the power to subpoena witnesses in their favor.
- compulsory saleThe forced sale of land, whether under an eminent-domain order or by court order because taxes have gone unpaid.
- compulsory-attendance lawA statute requiring children of specified ages to attend school.
- compurgationA form of trial in which a defendant who denied the charge on oath could win by producing a set number of supporters,…
- compurgatorSomeone who came to court and swore in support of a defendant in a civil or criminal case.
- compurgatoryRelating to compurgation, the practice by which a defendant who denied a charge on oath could clear himself by produc…
- computer crimeA crime committed by means of a computer, or one in which a computer is the target, such as unauthorized access, data…
- computusAn account or reckoning; in medieval practice, the account a bailiff or steward rendered to their lord.
- Comstock lawA federal statute of 1873 tightening the rules against sending obscene, lewd, or lascivious material through the mail…
- comstockeryCensorship, or attempted censorship, of art or literature said to be immoral or obscene.
- conA way of obtaining money or property by deliberately misrepresenting facts so as to win the victim's trust and persua…
- con gameA way of obtaining money or property by deliberately misrepresenting facts so as to win the victim's trust and persua…
- concealTo hide something, or to take steps intended or likely to keep another from learning a fact they would otherwise have…
- concealed weaponA weapon carried on the person but not visible to ordinary observation.
- concealmentHolding something back from disclosure, especially by acting so as to prevent or hinder its discovery; also, putting…
- concealment in insuranceThe insured's deliberate withholding from the insurer of material facts that increase the risk and that honesty requi…
- concealment ruleThe principle that where a defendant's conduct prevents a claimant from discovering that they have a claim, the limit…
- concedoI grant. The word was formerly used in conveyances.
- concentration accountA single central bank account into which money deposited or collected at outlying locations is periodically transferred.
- conception of inventionThe forming in an inventor's mind of a definite and settled idea of a complete invention, which is afterwards put int…
- conceptumA theft in which the stolen article was searched for and found in someone's possession before witnesses.
- concert of actionAction planned and agreed on by parties acting together, so that each is liable for what the others do.
- concerted actionAction planned, arranged, and agreed on by parties acting together to further some scheme, so that each is liable for…
- concerted activityAction by employees about wages or working conditions. The National Labor Relations Act protects it, so it cannot be…
- concerted refusal to dealIn antitrust law, an agreement between two or more people or firms not to deal with a third party. Those agreeing nee…
- concessiI have granted. The word created a covenant in a lease for years but did not warrant title. It often appeared in the…
- concessimusWe have granted. The word was used in conveyances and created a joint covenant by the grantors.
- concessioA grant, used in conveying rights that have no physical existence.
- concessionA government grant of particular privileges; also, giving way voluntarily to a demand for the sake of settlement, or…
- concession bargainingCollective bargaining in which employees give back gains previously won in pay, benefits, or conditions in exchange f…
- concessit solvereA form of action in debt on a simple contract, in which the claimant alleged that the defendant had agreed to pay the…
- concessorA grantor.
- concessumGranted. The word was used in law reports to note that the whole court agreed on a point.
- concessusA grantee.
- conciliationThe settling of a dispute by agreement; also, a process in which a neutral person meets the parties, often in a labor…
- conciliation courtA court that decides claims below a set money limit informally and quickly, usually claims to recover small accounts…
- conciliumFormerly, a sitting of a court to hear argument in a case, or a motion asking for a day on which to argue it.
- concilium regisThe king's council, the body of advisers attending the sovereign.
- concludeTo settle and formalize a treaty, convention, or contract; also, to bind or estop someone.
- conclusionThe final part of a speech or piece of writing, such as a jury argument or a pleading; also, a judgment reached by re…
- conclusion of factA factual inference drawn from facts observed or proved.
- conclusion of lawAn inference on a question of law drawn from the facts shown, requiring no further evidence.
- conclusion to the countryThe closing part of a pleading asking that the issue be tried by a jury.
- conclusionalStating a factual inference without setting out the facts it rests on.
- conclusionaryStating a factual inference without setting out the facts it rests on.
- conclusiveAuthoritative, decisive, or convincing.
- conclusive evidenceEvidence so strong that it overrides anything to the contrary; evidence which, though not strictly irrebuttable, weig…
- conclusive presumptionA presumption that no further evidence or argument can displace.
- conclusive proofEvidence so strong that it overrides anything to the contrary.
- conclusoryStating a factual inference without setting out the facts it rests on.
- concomitantAccompanying; incidental.
- concomitant evidenceEvidence that the person alleged to have done the act was present at the time and actually did it.
- concordA friendly settlement between parties, especially between peoples or nations; a compact or treaty.
- concordatAn agreement between a government and a church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
- concordatoryTo do with a concordat, especially one between church and state.
- Concordia discordantium canonumThe Harmony of Discordant Canons, the 12th-century compilation of canon law usually known as Gratian's Decretum.
- concourseTwo actions existing at once on the same facts, especially a civil action alongside a criminal one; also, the public…
- Concourse is distinguished from InstanceIn a prosecution brought at a private person's instance, the public prosecutor may either merely concur in it or act…
- concubinageThe relationship of a man and woman living together without marriage; also, the state of being a concubine. It former…
- concubinatusA permanent, monogamous union between a man and a woman who are not legally married. It was not unlawful but carried…
- concubineA woman who lives with a man she is not married to.
- concurTo agree or consent; in a judicial opinion, to agree with the judgment, or with another judge's opinion, though often…
- concuratorIn civil law, a joint guardian.
- concurrenceAgreement or assent; also, a judge's vote in favor of the judgment reached, often on grounds different from those giv…
- concurrencyIn older usage, the quality of being concurrent in jurisdiction; a joint right.
- concurrentOperating at the same time, or covering the same matters; also, having authority over the same matters.
- concurrent causeOne of two or more causes that together produce a result neither could have produced alone; also, one of two or more…
- concurrent conditionA condition that must be performed at the same time as the other party's obligation, as where payment and delivery ar…
- concurrent considerationConsideration given by each party at the same time, as where mutual promises are exchanged simultaneously.
- concurrent covenantA covenant requiring both parties to perform at the same time, so that neither can demand performance without being r…
- concurrent estateOwnership or possession of property by two or more people at once. Modern practice recognizes three kinds: tenancy in…
- concurrent findingIdentical findings of fact on the same issue made by two different courts.
- concurrent interestOwnership or possession of property by two or more people at once, whether as tenants in common, joint tenants, or te…
- concurrent jurisdictionJurisdiction over the same subject matter and territory held at once by more than one court, so that the litigant may…
- concurrent leaseA lease beginning before an earlier one ends, entitling the new tenant to the rents falling due under the earlier lea…
- concurrent lienOne of two or more liens of equal priority attaching to the same property.
- concurrent negligenceNegligence by two or more parties acting independently but causing the same damage.
- concurrent policyOne of two or more policies covering the same risk. Such policies are worded almost identically so that liability can…
- concurrent powerA power that both federal and state governments may exercise independently in the same field of legislation.
- concurrent remedyOne of two or more legal remedies available for the same wrong.
- concurrent resolutionA resolution passed by one legislative house and agreed to by the other. It states the legislature's view on a subjec…
- concurrent sentenceOf criminal sentences, running at the same time rather than one after the other.
- concurrent sentencesTwo or more prison sentences served at the same time. Concurrent sentences of 5 and 15 years mean 15 years in all.
- concurrent tortfeasorsTwo or more wrongdoers whose simultaneous acts injure a third party. They are jointly and severally liable.
- concurrent writA duplicate of an original writ, especially a summons, issued either with the original or at any time while it remain…
- concurrent-sentence doctrineThe principle that an appeal court upholding a conviction and sentence need not consider a challenge to another count…
- concurring opinionA separate written opinion by a judge who agrees with the result but reaches it by different reasoning.
- concursoAn action in which a creditor seeks to enforce a claim against an insolvent debtor.
- concussioThe offense of extorting money or gifts by threatening violence, especially under color of official authority.
- concussionarySomeone who extorts from others under the guise of official authority.
- condeditA plea filed in answer to a complaint in a church court challenging the validity of a will.
- condemn, vdTo pronounce someone guilty; also, to declare that property is taken for public use, that a building is unfit to live…
- condemnationPronouncing someone guilty; also, the declaration that particular property, especially land, is taken for public use…
- condemnation moneyDamages the losing party in a lawsuit is ordered to pay; also, the compensation paid to a landowner whose property is…
- condemnatoryCondemning, or expressing censure; also, to do with the use of eminent domain.
- condemneeSomeone whose property is taken for public use or by a public works project.
- condemnorA public or semi-public body that takes property for public use.
- condescendenceIn Scots law, the statement of facts in a civil pleading, set out in numbered paragraphs, on which the claimant relies.
- condictioIn Roman and civil law, a personal action to demand something back; an action of debt, the word debt being understood…
- condictio ex causa furtivaAn action to recover a stolen thing, which could be brought against the thief or the thief's heirs.
- condictio furtivaAn action to recover a stolen thing, which could be brought against the thief or the thief's heirs.
- condictio incertiAn action to recover an uncertain amount.
- condictio indebitiAn action to prevent the unjust enrichment of a defendant who received money or property from the claimant by mistake.
- condictio rei furtivaeAn action to recover a stolen thing, which could be brought against the thief or the thief's heirs.
- condictio sine causaAn action to recover something given without consideration in expectation of an event that never happened, such as a…
- conditionA future and uncertain event on which the existence or extent of an obligation depends; an act or event that brings a…
- condition concurrentA condition that must be performed at the same time as the other party's obligation, as where payment and delivery ar…
- condition implied by lawA term the parties left out of their agreement but which a court supplies as reasonable in the circumstances, or whic…
- condition implied in lawA term the parties left out of their agreement but which a court supplies as reasonable in the circumstances, or whic…
- condition imposed by lawUnder an old statute, failing to pay the duty on an auction sale made the bidding void to all intents, but a buyer wh…
- condition of employmentA qualification or circumstance required to obtain or keep a job.
- condition precedentAn act or event, other than the mere passing of time, that must happen before a promised duty to perform arises. If i…
- condition subsequentA condition which, if it occurs, brings something to an end, discharging a duty of performance that had already arisen.
- conditionalSubject to or dependent on a condition.
- conditional acceptanceAn agreement to pay a draft only if some particular event happens, or fails to happen.
- conditional admissibilityThe rule that evidence which is not admissible on its own may be let in if other facts would make it relevant, on con…
- conditional agreementAn agreement whose operation depends on some condition being satisfied.
- conditional assaultAn assault in which the threat is conditional, as in a demand for money or your life.
- conditional assignmentAn assignment of income such as rents or receivables to a lender as security for a loan. The lender collects it only…
- conditional bequestA gift by will that takes effect, or continues, only if some particular event happens or fails to happen.
- conditional contrabandGoods useful both in war and in peace, which count as contraband only if they are destined for enemy military use.
- conditional contractA contract whose operation depends on some condition being satisfied.
- conditional conveyanceA conveyance that takes effect, or is defeated, on the happening of a condition.
- conditional covenantA covenant whose performance depends on some condition being satisfied.
- conditional creditorA creditor whose claim depends on a condition that has not yet been fulfilled.
- conditional deliveryA delivery that passes possession only when a specified event occurs.
- conditional deviseA gift of land by will that depends on some uncertain event happening.
- conditional guarantyA promise to answer for a debt or duty of another only if some further condition is satisfied, as opposed to an absol…
- conditional indorsementAn indorsement making the indorsee's right to the instrument depend on a stated condition, so that possession passes…
- conditional legacyA legacy that takes effect or fails according to whether some event happens.
- conditional limitationA lease provision automatically ending the lease if a specified event occurs, such as the tenant defaulting.
- conditional obligationAn obligation whose existence depends on an uncertain event.
- conditional pardonA pardon that takes effect only once the wrongdoer meets some requirement, or that is revoked if they do a specified…
- conditional paymentPayment made on condition that something be done, the payer generally keeping the right to demand it back if the cond…
- conditional presumptionAn inference drawn from facts establishing a case at first sight, which contrary evidence may displace.
- conditional privilegeA protection from suit that applies only where the privilege is properly exercised in performing a legal or moral duty.
- conditional promiseA promise conditional on some event occurring. It is not illusory so long as the condition is not entirely within the…
- conditional proofA fact that amounts to proof unless some other fact amounting to disproof appears.
- conditional purposeAn intention to do something if circumstances permit. In criminal law it may afford a defense where the circumstances…
- conditional releaseA discharge from an obligation that fails if a condition is not met; also the early release of a prisoner, who then r…
- conditional rightA right that depends on an uncertain event and may or may not exist. Parents, for instance, have a conditional right…
- conditional saleA sale in which the buyer takes possession at once but the seller keeps title until the buyer performs a condition, u…
- conditional sales contractA contract for the sale of goods under which the buyer pays by installments while the seller keeps title or a securit…
- conditional sentenceA sentence of imprisonment that takes effect only if the defendant fails to comply with the conditions of probation.
- conditional useIn zoning law, a use of property allowed subject to special controls and conditions. Such a use suits the zoning dist…
- conditional willA will that takes effect only if some uncertain event occurs.
- conditional zoningZoning granted on terms, under which a change of classification takes effect only if the owner accepts conditions suc…
- conditional-use permitA zoning board's authorization to use property in a way the zoning ordinance identifies as a special exception. Unlik…
- conditionally privileged communicationA defamatory statement made in good faith by someone with an interest in the subject to another who shares that inter…
- conditioning the marketUnlawfully soliciting the public to buy securities before the SEC has approved the registration statement, or making…
- conditions of saleThe terms on which an auction is to be conducted, usually displayed in the auction room for the public to read before…
- condominiaCo-ownerships or limited ownerships treated as part of the ownership of the property itself rather than as mere right…
- condominiumOwnership shared with others; also, a single unit in a multi-unit development, where the owner holds their own unit o…
- condonationA victim's implied forgiveness of an offense, shown by treating the offender as though nothing had happened. Before n…
- condoneTo pardon or overlook something voluntarily, especially an act of adultery.
- conductPersonal behavior, whether by acting or by failing to act; the way a person behaves.
- conductioThe hiring or leasing of property or services.
- conductorSomeone who leases property or hires another's services; also, someone who undertakes to carry out a particular piece…
- conductor operarumIn Roman law, someone who engages another to do specified work at a stated price; a contractor.
- conduit taxationTaxing an entity's owners on its income without taxing the entity itself. Partnerships and S corporations are taxed t…
- confarreatioA religious ceremony by which patricians married. It brought the wife into the husband's family and placed her under…
- confectioThe making or executing of a written instrument.
- confederacyA league of states or countries joined for mutual support or joint action; also, an association of two or more people…
- confederacy clauseA clause in a complaint alleging that the defendants have combined with others, who may yet be named as defendants, t…
- confederateAn ally, especially a co-conspirator or accomplice.
- confederationA league of states or nations, each keeping its sovereignty while delegating certain powers to a central authority.
- confederation of statesA confederation with a central government that exercises certain powers but does not control all the member states' e…
- confereeSomeone taking part in a conference, especially a member of a conference committee reconciling two versions of a bill.
- conference committeeA joint legislative committee that meets to reconcile the differences between versions of a bill passed by each house.
- confessTo admit an allegation as true; to make a confession.
- confessed judgmentA judgment entered against a debtor on the debtor's own written consent, without a trial.
- confessing errorA plea admitting an assignment of error.
- confessionA criminal suspect's acknowledgment of guilt, usually in writing and often giving details of the offense.
- confession and avoidanceA plea admitting what is alleged but adding facts that rob the admission of its legal effect, as a plea of contributo…
- confession of judgmentA person's agreement that judgment may be entered against them if some event occurs, such as a failure to pay; also,…
- confidenceAssured expectation or firm trust; also, reliance on another's discretion, and a communication made in trust and not…
- confidence gameA way of obtaining money or property by deliberately misrepresenting facts so as to win the victim's trust and persua…
- confidential(Of information) meant to be kept secret; (of a relationship) marked by trust and a willingness to confide.
- confidential communicationA communication made within a protected relationship, such as husband and wife, lawyer and client, or priest and peni…
- confidential relationshipA relationship in which one person must act for the other's benefit in matters within its scope. Fiduciary relationsh…
- confidential sourceSomeone who gives information to a law-enforcement agency or a journalist on an express or implied promise of anonymi…
- confidentialitySecrecy; the restriction of who may learn certain information. It also describes the trust placed in one person by an…
- confinementImprisoning or restraining someone; the state of being imprisoned or restrained.
- confirmTo give formal approval to something; also, to verify or corroborate it, or to make it certain.
- Confirmatio ChartarumA declaration first made by Henry III in 1225 confirming the guarantees of Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest.…
- confirmatio crescensA confirmation that enlarges an estate.
- confirmationGiving formal approval; also, verifying something, or the statement that verifies it. It further means ratifying a vo…
- confirmation of saleA court's approval, usually by docket entry or order, of the terms of a sale it ordered.
- confirmation slipThe form confirming a purchase or sale of a security, usually sent by the broker to the investor.
- confirmatoryServing to confirm something, particularly an act already done, so as to make it valid from the moment it was done.
- confirmaviI have confirmed. It was the operative word in a deed of confirmation.
- confirmed letter of creditA letter of credit under which a second bank, usually in the seller's own country, adds its own undertaking to pay al…
- confirmeeThe person to whom a deed of confirmation is granted.
- confirming bankA bank that adds its own undertaking to pay to a letter of credit issued by another bank, so that the seller may look…
- confirmorThe person who grants a deed of confirmation.
- confiscable(Of property) liable to be confiscated or forfeited.
- confiscareTo seize property for the government.
- confiscateTo take property as forfeited to the government; also, to seize property under authority of law.
- confiscationThe seizure of property for the public treasury; also, seizure under actual or supposed authority.
- confiscatory rateA utility rate set so low that the company cannot earn a reasonable return on its investment.
- conflict of authorityA disagreement between two or more courts, often of equal standing, on a point of law; also, disagreement between wri…
- conflict of interestA real or apparent clash between someone's private interests and their public or fiduciary duties; also, a clash betw…
- conflict of lawsA difference between the laws of different states or countries in a case whose central transaction or events touch mo…
- conflict of personal lawsA difference between a jurisdiction's general law and the law of a racial or religious group within it, such as a con…
- conflict outTo disqualify a lawyer or judge because of a conflict of interest.
- conflicting evidenceEvidence from different sources that cannot be reconciled.
- conflicting presumptionOne of two or more presumptions that would lead to opposite results.
- conformed copyA copy made to match the original exactly, with signatures and other handwritten matter typed in.
- conformingIn accordance with what the contract requires.
- conforming useIn zoning law, use of a building or land in line with what the zoning classification for the area permits, such as bu…
- Conformity ActA federal statute of 1872 providing that practice and procedure in the federal district courts, outside equity and ad…
- conformity hearingA hearing to decide whether a judgment or decree drafted by the winning party matches what the court decided; also, a…
- Confrontation ClauseThe Sixth Amendment provision guaranteeing a criminal defendant the right to face an accusing witness and cross-exami…
- confusioThe mixing together of liquids belonging to different owners, so that they can no longer be separated.
- confusion of boundariesThe branch of equity dealing with the settling of disputed or uncertain boundaries.
- confusion of debtsThe ending of a debt because the same person becomes both creditor and debtor, as where a creditor inherits the debto…
- confusion of goodsThe mixing of goods of the same kind belonging to different owners so that they can no longer be told apart. If done…
- confusion of rightsThe ending of a right because the same person comes to hold both the right and the corresponding liability.
- confusion of titlesThe merging of two titles to the same land in one person.
- congeableLawful or permissible.
- congeriesA collection or aggregation of things.
- conglomerateA company owning unrelated businesses across a wide range of industries.
- conglomerate mergerA merger between businesses with no relationship to each other: they are not rivals, and neither buys from or sells t…
- congressA formal meeting of delegates or representatives; also, the legislative body of the federal government, created by Ar…
- congressional committeeA committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or a joint committee formed for a particular purpose.
- congressional districtA geographical division of a state from which one member of the House of Representatives is elected.
- Congressional GlobeA privately published record of proceedings in Congress, the only record of congressional speeches from 1833 until th…
- congressional immunityEither of two protections given to members of Congress: freedom from arrest while attending a session of their house,…
- congressional intentWhat the legislature was aiming at when it passed a statute.
- congressional powerThe authority the Constitution vests in the Senate and House of Representatives to make laws and take other permitted…
- Congressional RecordThe published record of daily proceedings in the Senate and House of Representatives. Members may edit their speeches…
- congressional surveyA government survey of tracts of land, such as townships, sections, and quarter-sections.
- conjectioA conclusion drawn from the evidence; an inference of fact.
- conjectio causaeA short summary of the facts of a case, given by counsel before argument.
- conjectural choice, rule ofThe principle that there is no basis for recovery where every theory of causation rests on nothing but guesswork.
- conjectureA guess or supposition.
- conjointSomeone joined with another in a shared interest or obligation, such as a co-tenant or a spouse.
- conjoint robberyA robbery committed by two or more people together.
- conjoint willA single will made by two or more testators, usually disposing of property they own together by passing their separat…
- conjugalTo do with the married state, often with an implied reference to sexual relations between spouses.
- conjugal rightsThe rights arising from marriage, including mutual companionship, support, and sexual relations. Losing them amounts…
- conjunctaThings, usually words or phrases, that are joined together.
- conjunctimJointly. Heirs appointed in this way became co-heirs with equal shares.
- conjunctim et divisimFormerly, jointly and severally.
- conjunctive denialA response denying all the material facts alleged in a complaint.
- conjurationA plot by people who swear to each other to do something harmful to the public; also, the offense of seeking a meetin…
- conjuratorSomeone who swears an oath together with others; a fellow conspirator.
- connecting factorsIn the conflict of laws, the facts or legal circumstances that link a person or an action to a particular state, and…
- connecting-up doctrineThe rule allowing evidence to be admitted on condition that the party offering it will later produce other evidence e…
- connexityConnectedness. In some states it describes the link that must exist between an out-of-state party, such as a company,…
- connivanceTurning a blind eye to another's unlawful conduct, especially by secretly condoning it. In a divorce action it was a…
- conniveTo knowingly overlook another's wrongdoing; loosely, to conspire.
- connubiumIn Roman law, the legal capacity to contract a valid marriage.
- conquerorThe first person to acquire land by purchase; the person who first brought an estate into a family.
- conquestIn international law, one belligerent's occupation of territory inside an enemy country during a war, with the intent…
- conquisitioAnother term for conquest in the sense of acquiring land by purchase.
- conquisitorThe first person to acquire land by purchase; the person who first brought an estate into a family.
- consanguine brotherA brother by the same father but a different mother.
- consanguine brothersBrothers by the same father but different mothers.
- consanguineoA writ by which an heir claimed land held by a great-great-grandfather or by certain collateral relatives.
- consanguineousRelated by blood, that is descended from a common ancestor.
- consanguineusSomeone related to another by blood.
- consanguineus fraterFormerly, a half-brother by the same father.
- consanguineus uterinusFormerly, a half-brother by the same mother.
- consanguinitasThe relationship between siblings who share the same father.
- consanguinityThe relationship between people of the same blood or origin.
- conscienceThe moral sense of right and wrong, especially as applied to one's own conduct; in law, the moral rule requiring just…
- conscience of the courtA court's equitable power to decide matters according to fairness and justice; also, the standard by which a court ju…
- conscientious objectorSomeone who on moral or religious grounds opposes taking part in any war, and who is therefore excused military consc…
- conscionableIn keeping with good conscience; just and reasonable.
- conscious parallelismIn antitrust law, similar conduct by competitors that follows from each watching the others rather than from any agre…
- consciously parallelIn antitrust law, describing a party who knows what a competitor has done, such as raising prices, and independently…
- conscriptionCompulsory enrollment of people into military service.
- consecutive sentencesTwo or more prison sentences served one after the other. Consecutive sentences of 20 years and 5 years mean 25 years…
- consecutive tortfeasorsTwo or more wrongdoers whose acts, though happening at different times, combine to cause a single injury. They are jo…
- consensualDone with full consent.
- consensual contractA contract formed by the parties' agreement alone, needing no writing, formality, or delivery of anything to make it…
- consensual crimeA crime regarded as having no direct victim, usually because only consenting adults are involved.
- consensual marriageA marriage created by the parties' consent alone, without any formal process.
- consensus ad idemAgreement by the parties to the same thing; a meeting of minds.
- consentAgreement, approval, or permission for something, given voluntarily. Consent is a defense to assault, battery, and re…
- consent calendarA list of informal hearings concerning a child, used where the child's interests are better served by an informal hea…
- consent decreeA court order made on terms that all the parties have agreed to.
- consent dividendA dividend not actually paid out, but taxed to the shareholders and added to the basis of their shareholding. A compa…
- consent judgmentA settlement that becomes a judgment of the court once the judge approves it.
- consent jurisdictionJurisdiction the parties have accepted, whether by agreement, by contract, or by appearing generally. Parties cannot…
- consent searchA search without a warrant, carried out after the person to be searched, or someone with authority over the property,…
- consent to be suedAn agreement made in advance to be sued in a particular place.
- consent to noticeA provision allowing notice required by a document to be given in advance or to a nominated person.
- consentaneousDone with full consent.
- consentientDone with full consent.
- consequential contemptContempt committed outside the court's presence, such as disobeying an order made elsewhere, which the court punishes…
- consequential damagesLosses that do not follow directly and at once from a wrongful act but come about indirectly as a result of it.
- consequential economic lossPurely financial loss following from another's conduct, with no accompanying physical injury or damage to property.
- consequential lossA loss flowing from the effects of damage rather than from the damage itself. It is proximate where the wrongful cond…
- conservationIn environmental law, the management and maintenance of natural resources, and their protection, improvement, and use…
- conservatorSomeone a court appoints to manage the property or personal affairs of a person unable to manage them alone.
- considerationSomething of value, such as an act, a forbearance, or a promise in return, given by one party to another. A contract…
- consideration, failure ofThe failure of the promised consideration to materialize, which discharges the other party's obligation.
- consideration, want ofThe absence of any consideration for a contract, which prevents it from being binding.
- consideratum est per curiamIt is considered by the court: the formal words that introduced the judgment of a common-law court.
- consignTo hand something over to another's custody or charge; also, to give goods to a carrier for delivery to a named recip…
- consigneeThe person to whom goods are consigned.
- consignmentThe consigning of goods for safekeeping or sale; also, the goods so delivered, especially in a single shipment. Under…
- consignment saleA sale of an owner's property, such as clothing or furniture, by a third party entrusted with selling it.
- consignorSomeone who sends goods to another on consignment.
- consiliariusIn Roman law, someone who advised a magistrate and sat with the judge to help decide cases; later, a counsellor learn…
- consimili casuFormerly, a writ of entry allowing the holder of a reversion to recover land disposed of by a life tenant or a tenant…
- ConsistoriumAn imperial council serving both as a general council of state and as a supreme court of law.
- consistory courtIn England, a diocesan court with jurisdiction over church property, such as burial grounds, and other ecclesiastical…
- consobriniIn Roman law, first cousins, being the children of brothers or sisters.
- consolA bond with no maturity date, which goes on paying interest indefinitely.
- consolidateTo combine into one. In company law it means uniting two or more companies to create a single new one; in civil proce…
- consolidated appealAn appeal in which two or more parties with interests close enough to be joined proceed together as a single appellant.
- consolidated bondA railroad bond secured by a mortgage over the whole line formed by several amalgamated railroads; also, a single bon…
- consolidated financial statementThe financial report of a company and all its subsidiaries presented together as though they were one entity.
- consolidated lawsThe statutes of a jurisdiction gathered together and arranged by subject in a single official compilation.
- consolidated mortgageA mortgage created by combining two or more existing mortgages.
- Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985A federal statute requiring employers who provide group health cover to keep it available for a set period after empl…
- consolidated returnA tax return giving the combined financial information of a group of affiliated companies.
- consolidated school districtA school district formed by combining two or more existing districts into one.
- consolidated securityA security issued in a large enough amount to raise the funds needed to pay off two or more outstanding issues of debt.
- consolidating statuteA statute that gathers the legislative provisions on a subject into a single act, often with minor amendments and imp…
- consolidationThe uniting of things into one. In company law it means combining two or more companies by dissolving them and creati…
- consolidation loanA loan whose proceeds pay off several individual loans, leaving one more manageable debt.
- consolidation of actionsThe court-ordered combining of two or more actions involving the same parties and issues into a single action, ending…
- consolidation of corporationsThe combining of two or more companies by dissolving the existing ones and creating a single new company in their place.
- consonant statementAn earlier statement by a witness, given in evidence by the person it was made to, and admissible only after the witn…
- consortiumThe benefits one person, especially a spouse, is entitled to receive from another, including companionship, cooperati…
- consortshipAn agreement among salvors to work together on a wreck and share what is recovered. Such agreements reduce interferen…
- conspicuous(Of a term or clause) clearly visible or obvious. Whether printed wording is conspicuous as a matter of law usually t…
- conspicuous placeFor the purpose of posting notices, a place where the notice is reasonably likely to be seen.
- conspiracyAn agreement between two or more people to commit an unlawful act, or to achieve an unlawful purpose. In criminal law…
- conspiracy in restraint of tradeIn antitrust law, an agreement or combination between businesses intended to stifle competition, create a monopoly, f…
- conspiratorSomeone who takes part in a conspiracy.
- conspiratorialTo do with a conspiracy.
- conspireTo take part in a conspiracy.
- constableA peace officer with minor judicial duties such as serving writs and warrants, having less authority and a smaller ar…
- constablewickIn the United Kingdom, the area over which a constable has jurisdiction.
- constant dollarsThe value of today's money expressed in terms of its buying power in an earlier year, worked out from the consumer pr…
- constatA certificate made by officers of the Exchequer, at the request of someone about to plead there, certifying what the…
- constateTo establish or constitute something. The word is used chiefly of corporate documents: a company's constating instrum…
- constituent(Of a component) forming part of a whole; (of an assembly) able to frame or amend a constitution.
- constituent elementAn essential component of a crime or of a cause of action.
- constituereTo appoint someone. The word was used chiefly in powers of attorney, in the phrase meaning I have attorned and put in…
- constituted authorityThe people or bodies lawfully holding public power in a place, taken collectively.
- constitutioIn Roman law, an imperial decree, and later a collection of such decrees. They took several forms: laws submitted to…
- constitutionThe fundamental law of a nation or state, setting out the character and organization of its government and the extent…
- constitutionalTo do with a constitution; also, permitted under a constitution.
- constitutional challengeA claim that a law or an act of government is unconstitutional.
- constitutional conventionAn assembly of state or national delegates meeting to frame, amend, or revise a constitution.
- constitutional courtA court created by a constitution rather than by statute, particularly one whose function is to rule on constitutiona…
- constitutional freedomA basic liberty guaranteed by a constitution or bill of rights, such as freedom of speech.
- constitutional homesteadA homestead exemption created by a state constitution, protecting a family home from forced sale to meet debts up to…
- constitutional immunityImmunity created by a constitution.
- constitutional lawThe body of law derived from the Constitution, dealing chiefly with the powers of government, civil rights, and civil…
- constitutional limitationA constitutional provision restricting the powers of a branch, department, agency, or officer of government.
- constitutional monarchyA monarchy in which the sovereign's powers are defined and limited by a constitution, with government carried on by m…
- constitutional officeA public position created by a constitution rather than by statute.
- constitutional officerAn official whose office is created by a constitution rather than by statute, and whose term is fixed and defined by it.
- constitutional protectionA basic liberty guaranteed by a constitution or bill of rights, such as freedom of speech.
- constitutional questionA legal issue answered by interpreting a constitution rather than a statute.
- constitutional rightA right guaranteed by a constitution, especially by the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution.
- constitutional takingA government's taking of private property for public use, for which the Constitution requires that just compensation…
- constitutional tortA violation of someone's constitutional rights by a government officer, which the injured person can sue over directly.
- constitutional-fact doctrineThe rule that federal courts need not accept an agency's findings of fact where those facts decide whether the agency…
- constitutionalityThe quality of being in keeping with a constitution.
- constitutionalizeTo give something a constitution; to bring something into line with a constitution; or to turn an ordinary legal ques…
- constitutionesImperial decrees taken collectively; the body of law made by the emperor's own enactments.
- constitutiones principumIn Roman law, enactments made by the emperor, which by the third century A.D. were the only form of legislation.
- Constitutions of ClarendonStatutes passed in 1164, under Henry II, that cut back the jurisdiction of the church courts and sharply narrowed the…
- constructionThe act of building something by putting parts together, or the thing built; also, the act of working out the meaning…
- construction actA direction written into a statute to guide the courts in interpreting it, for instance requiring that words be read…
- construction bondA bond a government body issues to fund a building project.
- construction contractAn agreement to carry out building work, setting out what is to be built, for what price, and by when; also, the docu…
- construction financingA short-term loan taken out to cover building costs until long-term financing is arranged.
- construction lienA claim against real property held by someone who supplied labor or materials to improve it, securing payment for tha…
- construction mortgageA mortgage taken out to finance a building project.
- construction warrantyA promise from the seller or builder of a new home that it has no structural, electrical, plumbing, or other defects…
- constructiveTreated by law as existing, even though it does not exist in fact. Courts give something constructive effect when fai…
- constructive adverse possessionAdverse possession based on the claimant's having paid taxes on the land under a claim of right, rather than on actua…
- constructive assentAgreement attributed to someone because of the way they behaved, rather than anything they said.
- constructive authorityAuthority inferred from an earlier grant of authority.
- constructive bailmentA bailment arising where the law imposes a duty on someone in possession of another's goods to return them, as with g…
- constructive breachA breach that occurs when a party makes clear in advance that they will not perform when the time comes. The other pa…
- constructive breaking into a houseA breaking treated as such by law, as where a burglar gets inside by threat or trickery rather than by force.
- constructive conditionA condition the parties left out of their contract but that a court reads in as reasonable in the circumstances, or i…
- constructive contemptContempt committed outside the court's presence, such as disobeying an order made elsewhere.
- constructive contractAn obligation the law imposes because of how the parties behaved, because of a special relationship between them, or…
- constructive conversionConduct showing an intention to treat someone else's goods as one's own, which the law treats as a conversion even th…
- constructive custodyLegal control over a person who is not actually locked up, such as someone on parole, on probation, or released on bail.
- constructive deliveryAn act the law treats as a transfer of title where actual handing over is impractical or impossible. Handing over the…
- constructive desertionMisconduct by one spouse that leaves the other with no reasonable choice but to move out of the family home.
- constructive dischargeThe ending of a job brought about by making working conditions so unbearable that the employee feels forced to resign.
- constructive dividendA benefit a shareholder receives from the company that is taxed as a dividend even though it was never called one. Ex…
- constructive escapeA prisoner's gaining more freedom than the law allows without actually getting away.
- constructive evictionA landlord's making the premises unfit to live in, so that the tenant is driven out. It also covers a buyer's inabili…
- constructive forceThreats or intimidation used to gain control or stop resistance, especially threatening words or gestures aimed at a…
- constructive fraudDeception or misrepresentation that injures someone even though it was not meant to deceive.
- constructive intentThe rule that a person is presumed to have intended a result that their act could reasonably have been expected to br…
- constructive knowledgeKnowledge a person would have had by taking reasonable care, and which the law therefore treats them as having.
- constructive larcenyLarceny where the intent to steal is inferred from how the defendant behaved when carrying the goods away, even thoug…
- constructive lossDamage to insured property so serious that repairing it would cost more than the property is worth.
- constructive maliceMalice inferred from a person's conduct rather than proved directly.
- constructive murderMurder that happens in the course of committing another crime, especially a serious felony.
- constructive noticeNotice the law presumes a person to have because of facts and circumstances they had a duty to look into, such as a r…
- constructive paymentA payment the payer has made but the recipient has not yet credited. A rent check mailed on the first of the month co…
- constructive possessionControl over property without actually holding or keeping it.
- constructive reduction to practiceFiling a patent application for an invention or design, which the law treats as putting it into practice.
- constructive searchA search the law treats as having taken place even though nothing was physically searched, as where an officer gets a…
- constructive seisinThe right to take immediate possession of a freehold estate, as where an heir inherits land but has not yet entered it.
- constructive serviceService of process carried out by a method that does not actually bring the papers to the person's attention, such as…
- constructive takingConduct falling short of actually taking an article but showing an intention to treat it as one's own, as where someo…
- constructive total lossDamage to insured property so serious that repairing it would cost more than the property is worth, so the insurer tr…
- constructive transferDelivery of something, especially a controlled substance, by someone other than the owner but at the owner's direction.
- constructive trustA trust a court imposes on someone who obtained property by wrongdoing, to stop them profiting from it. It creates no…
- constructive-receipt doctrineThe rule that income a taxpayer could have taken but did not, such as interest left to accumulate in an account, stil…
- consuetudinary lawFormerly, ancient customary law passed down by word of mouth.
- consulA government's representative posted in another country to look after trade and other matters affecting the home coun…
- consul generalA senior consul posted to a region of particular importance, often supervising other consuls or other regions.
- consular courtA court held by a consul in a foreign country, with power to decide cases involving the consul's own nationals there.
- consular invoiceAn invoice signed by the destination country's consul, confirming that the shipment's quantity and value have been ch…
- consular jurisdictionA consul's exercise of judicial powers in a foreign country, such as performing a marriage between nationals of the c…
- consular lawThe law governing consuls, built up from custom and from the many agreements countries make with each other.
- consular marriageA marriage performed abroad by a U.S. consul or diplomat. Some jurisdictions recognize these marriages.
- consular relationsIn international law, the relations between two countries carried on through consuls acting for the sending country i…
- consulateA consul's office and the area it covers; also, the building where the consul works or lives.
- consultationThe act of seeking advice or an opinion from someone such as a lawyer; also, a meeting at which people confer. In int…
- consulting expertAn expert hired by a party but not expected to testify. What such an expert says is generally protected from discover…
- consumableA thing, such as food, that cannot be used without using it up.
- consumerSomeone who buys goods or services for personal, family, or household use rather than for resale.
- consumer boycottA refusal by consumers to buy particular products or services, to show disapproval of the maker, seller, or provider.
- consumer creditCredit extended to an individual to buy goods or services for personal, family, or household use.
- Consumer Credit CodeA uniform law meant to simplify and modernize the rules on consumer credit and usury, make credit terms easier to und…
- Consumer Credit Protection ActA federal statute protecting people who borrow money, by requiring full disclosure of loan terms including finance ch…
- consumer debtA debt taken on mainly for personal, family, or household purposes.
- consumer finance companyA finance company that lends directly to consumers.
- consumer goodsGoods bought or used mainly for personal, family, or household purposes.
- consumer lawThe branch of law covering consumer dealings, that is, a person's getting credit, goods, land, or services for person…
- consumer leaseA lease of goods granted by someone in the business of selling or leasing that product to a person who takes it mainl…
- consumer loanA loan made to an individual for family, household, personal, or farming purposes, usually governed by truth-in-lendi…
- consumer price indexA measure published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that tracks the prices of the goods and services a…
- consumer productAn item of personal property sold in commerce and normally used for personal, family, or household purposes.
- consumer transactionA deal in which someone acquires property or services mainly for personal, family, or household purposes.
- consumer-contemplation testA way of holding a manufacturer liable for a product if the evidence shows the product was more dangerous than an ord…
- consumer-credit saleA sale in which the seller lets the buyer pay over time. It includes a lease where the rental payments come to as muc…
- consumer-credit transactionA deal in which a person borrows money to buy consumer goods or services. Such deals are usually subject to rules pro…
- consumer-expectation testAnother name for the consumer-contemplation test.
- consumer-goods transactionIn secured-transactions law, a deal in which someone takes on a debt mainly for personal, family, or household purpos…
- consumer-protection lawA state or federal statute protecting consumers against unfair trade and credit practices and against defective or da…
- consumer-transactions lawThe branch of law covering consumer dealings, that is, a person's getting credit, goods, land, or services for person…
- consumer-user-contemplation testA way of holding a manufacturer liable for a product if the evidence shows the product was more dangerous than an ord…
- consummateCompleted or fully carried out. At common law the word often described the stage a contract or an estate had reached,…
- consummate dowerA widow's interest in her late husband's estate before her share has been formally set aside for her.
- consummate lienA judgment lien that takes effect once a motion for a new trial has been refused.
- consumptionThe using up of a thing, so that using it destroys it.
- consumption taxA tax on the sale of goods and services to the people who use them.
- containmentIn international law, a policy of holding back an enemy's spread of territory and ideas. It was the guiding idea behi…
- contangoA market in which longer-dated futures or options sell at a premium over shorter-dated ones; also, the premium itself…
- contemnTo treat laws or court orders with open disregard.
- contemnerSomeone found guilty of contempt before a body such as a court or a legislature.
- contemplation of bankruptcyThe intention of filing for bankruptcy because the debtor cannot carry on financially, often together with steps desi…
- contemplation of deathThe thought of dying, not necessarily from any immediate danger, as the reason for transferring property to someone e…
- contemplation of insolvencyThe expectation of being unable to pay debts as they fall due, often accompanied by steps favoring some creditors ove…
- contemporaneous constructionAn interpretation given at or near the time a document was drawn up, usually by someone who helped prepare it.
- contemporaneous-construction doctrineThe rule that where an agency or a lower court first interprets an unclear statute, and that reading has been followe…
- contemporaneous-objection ruleThe rule that an objection to evidence must be raised at trial, when the evidence is offered, if the point is to be a…
- contemporary community standardThe yardstick a fact-finder uses to decide whether material is obscene, measuring how offensive and how sexually prov…
- contemptScorn or disregard for something; in law, conduct that defies the authority or dignity of a court or legislature. Bec…
- contempt of CongressDeliberate interference with the duties and powers of Congress, such as a witness refusing to answer a congressional…
- contempt powerThe power of a court or legislature to punish someone who defies its orders, processes, or proceedings.
- contempt proceedingA hearing held to decide whether someone has committed contempt.
- contemptuousShowing contempt; scornful or defiant.
- contenementFreehold land held by a feudal tenant, especially the land that supported the tenant. Magna Carta protected it from s…
- content-based restrictionA limit on what a particular kind of speech may say. It survives challenge only if it serves a compelling state inter…
- content-valid testA test for job applicants that closely matches the skills the job actually requires. Studies establishing that match…
- contentious jurisdictionA court's power to decide matters that are actually in dispute between parties. In church law it refers to the side o…
- contentious possessionPossession claimed against everyone else, including the person named as owner on the record.
- contents unknownWords written on a bill of lading to show that the carrier does not know what is inside the containers shipped. Carri…
- conterminousSharing a common boundary; also, lying within a common boundary.
- contestTo fight to win or hold something; also, to dispute or challenge something, or to deny an opposing claim and put up a…
- contestability clauseA clause in an insurance policy saying when and on what grounds the insurer may dispute a claim or cancel the policy…
- contestantSomeone who challenges the validity of a will.
- contestatio litisIn Roman law, a statement of each side's position in a case, put to the praetor for approval and then sent to a judge…
- contextThe words surrounding a word or passage, used to work out what it means; also, the setting in which something happens.
- contiguityThe state of touching or adjoining.
- contiguousTouching at a point or along a boundary; adjoining. Also, following one after another in time.
- contiguous zoneIn international law, a strip of sea just beyond a country's territorial waters, where that country has limited power…
- Continental CongressThe first national assembly in the United States, formed in 1774 to protest British treatment of the colonies. The Se…
- contingencyAn event that may or may not happen; also, the state of depending on chance.
- contingency feeA fee a lawyer charges only if the case is won or settled on favorable terms. It is usually a percentage of what the…
- contingency reserveMoney a city or town sets aside for expenses that are bound to come up during the year but do not fit any of the spec…
- contingency with a double aspectA contingent remainder paired with a second one, the second taking effect only if the first fails. A gift to A's chil…
- contingentPossible or uncertain; also, depending on something else happening.
- contingent annuityAn annuity that starts paying when some future event occurs, such as the death of someone other than the annuitant; a…
- contingent beneficiaryThe person named in a life policy to take the proceeds if the main beneficiary cannot.
- contingent claimA claim that has not yet arisen and will do so only if some future event happens.
- contingent debtA debt that is not owed yet but will become owed if a particular event occurs.
- contingent estateAn estate that comes into being only if a certain event does or does not happen.
- contingent feeA fee a lawyer charges only if the case is won or settled on favorable terms. It is usually a percentage of what the…
- contingent fundMoney a city or town sets aside for expenses that are bound to come up during the year but do not fit any of the spec…
- contingent guarantyA guarantee that takes effect only if a particular event happens, rather than on the debtor's simple failure to pay.
- contingent interestAn interest the holder can enjoy only if a stated condition is met first.
- contingent legacyA gift under a will that depends on an uncertain event and so has not yet vested, such as a gift to a granddaughter i…
- contingent liabilityA liability that arises only if a particular event happens. Financial statements usually record these in footnotes ra…
- contingent ownershipOwnership where the title is incomplete but will become complete if a stated condition is met.
- contingent remainderA remainder given to someone not yet identified, or one that takes effect only if a stated condition is met first.
- contingent trustAn express trust that takes effect only if a future event happens.
- contingent useA use that would count as a contingent remainder if it had not been created by way of use.
- contingent willA will that takes effect only if a specified event happens.
- contingent-interest mortgageA mortgage whose interest rate rises and falls with how well the mortgaged property performs financially.
- continual claimA formal claim to land made by an owner who is out of possession and kept out by some threat. It was called continual…
- continual injuryAn injury that keeps happening at intervals.
- continuanceThe keeping up or prolonging of something; also, in civil procedure, the postponement of a trial or other proceeding…
- continuandoAn allegation that the trespass or other wrong complained of is an ongoing one against the claimant's property.
- continuation agreementAn agreement among partners that if the partnership dissolves, the business may carry on rather than be wound up.
- continuation in partA patent application filed while an earlier application by the same applicant is still alive, repeating much of the e…
- continueTo postpone a hearing, trial, or other proceeding to a later date.
- continued bondA bond with no maturity date, which goes on paying interest indefinitely.
- continuingUninterrupted; or, of a status or power, lasting without needing to be renewed.
- continuing breachA breach of contract that persists over a considerable time or recurs at short intervals.
- continuing considerationConsideration consisting of an act or performance spread out over time.
- continuing contractA contract calling for performance stretched over time or in a series of acts, rather than all at once.
- continuing covenantA promise in a contract that must be kept continuously or repeatedly, rather than satisfied by a single act.
- continuing damagesDamages that keep accruing from a single injury, or that come from similar acts repeated over a set period.
- continuing guarantyA guarantee covering a series of future dealings between the parties, rather than one transaction, and lasting until…
- continuing injuryAn injury still in the course of being inflicted, such as the constant smoke or noise from a factory.
- continuing judicial educationContinuing legal education for judges, usually run by a publicly funded body, covering topics such as judicial writin…
- continuing jurisdictionA court's power to keep control of a matter after giving judgment, so that it can change its earlier orders.
- continuing legal educationThe system by which lawyers keep learning after law school, usually through seminars sharpening their skills or updat…
- continuing nuisanceA nuisance that is either unbroken or comes back frequently. It need not be constant, but it must recur often enough…
- continuing objectionA single objection covering a whole line of questioning. A judge may allow one where an objection has been overruled…
- continuing offenseA crime committed over a stretch of time, such as conspiracy, so that the limitation period runs from the last act ra…
- continuing part-time judgeA judge who sits part-time on a regular basis, either by election or under a standing appointment.
- continuing trespassA trespass amounting to a lasting intrusion on someone else's rights, such as a sign that hangs over a neighbor's land.
- continuing warrantyA warranty that the stated facts will remain true throughout the policy period, so that if they stop being true the i…
- continuing wrongA wrong that goes on and can be put right by ordering the wrongdoer to act, such as an unpaid debt.
- continuing-jurisdiction doctrineThe rule that a court keeps the power to give and enforce judgment against a party even after that party could no lon…
- continuityIn international law, the principle that upheavals, revolutions, changes of government, shifts in territory, or measu…
- continuity of business enterpriseA rule for company takeovers that treats the exchange as tax-deferred only if the acquiring company carries on the ta…
- continuity of existenceAnother name for the continuity-of-life doctrine.
- continuity of interestA rule for company takeovers that treats the exchange as tax-deferred only if the target's shareholders keep a stake…
- continuity-of-enterprise doctrineA rule holding a successor company liable for what its predecessor did, where the successor carries on the same busin…
- continuity-of-entity doctrineA rule holding a successor company liable for what its predecessor did, where only one company is left after the asse…
- continuity-of-life doctrineThe principle that an entity, especially a company, carries on existing even though its owner withdraws, loses capaci…
- continuous easementAn easement that can be enjoyed without the claimant having to do anything, such as one for drains, sewer pipes, supp…
- continuous injuryAn injury that keeps happening at intervals.
- continuous triggerIn insurance law, a theory that every insurer on the risk from the claimant's first exposure to a harmful product suc…
- continuous-adverse-use principleThe rule that using land without interruption, together with the other requirements of adverse possession, will win t…
- continuous-representation doctrineThe rule that time does not run against a legal-malpractice claim for as long as the lawyer keeps acting in the matte…
- continuous-treatment doctrineThe rule that time does not run against a medical-malpractice claim for as long as the doctor keeps treating the pati…
- contortThe area where contract law and tort law overlap.
- contraAgainst, or contrary to. Used as a citation signal, it marks authority supporting the opposite view.
- contra accountAn account whose purpose is to reduce the gross book value of an asset.
- contra formam collationisFormerly, a writ to recover land given to a religious house in return for perpetual alms. It was usually brought by a…
- contra formam feoffmentiFormerly, a writ ordering a landowner to stop demanding more services from a tenant than the tenant's deed required.
- contra non valentemThe rule that a limitation period does not start running against a claimant who is unable to act, usually because of…
- contra proferentemThe rule that where a document is unclear, the doubt is resolved against the party who drafted it.
- contra tabulaAn order allowing the applicant to take an estate against the terms of the will. Magistrates granted these in certain…
- contrabandIllegal trade or smuggling; also, goods it is unlawful to import, export, or possess.
- contraband per seProperty that it is against the law to have at all, no matter what it is used for.
- contracausatorSomeone being prosecuted for a crime; a criminal.
- contraceptivismThe offense, now obsolete, of handing out or prescribing contraceptives.
- contractAn agreement between two or more parties that creates obligations the law will enforce or otherwise recognize; also,…
- contract bondA bond given by a surety guaranteeing that a contract will be carried out on time. In large international deals these…
- contract carrierA carrier that need not take business from the public at large, and so is not a common carrier.
- Contract ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution, in article I, section 10, that forbids states to pass laws impairing private con…
- contract demurrageA charge the charterer of a ship pays the owner if unloading at port takes longer than their contract allows.
- contract for deedA contract to sell land in which the buyer takes possession and pays by installments, with the deed handed over only…
- contract for saleA contract transferring property now for a price; the term also covers an agreement to sell goods at a later date.
- contract implied in factAnother name for an implied-in-fact contract.
- contract implied in lawAnother name for an implied-in-law contract.
- contract loanA loan on which interest is worked out at the stated rate on the whole principal for the whole term and then added to…
- contract not to competeA clause, usually in an employment, partnership, or business-sale agreement, by which one party promises not to run a…
- contract not to sueA promise by someone with a right to sue not to bring that claim in court.
- contract of adhesionA standard-form contract drawn up by one party and put to the other, usually a consumer in a weaker position, on a ta…
- contract of affreightmentAn agreement to carry goods by water, usually taking the form of a bill of lading or a charterparty.
- contract of beneficenceA contract made for the benefit of a promisee who gives the promisor nothing in return.
- contract of benevolenceA contract made for the benefit of a promisee who gives the promisor nothing in return.
- contract of insuranceAn agreement by which one party undertakes, for a premium, to compensate the other against a specified loss; also, th…
- contract of recordA contract established by a court and entered on the court's record. Judgments, recognizances, and, in England, statu…
- contract of saleA contract transferring property now in return for a price.
- contract rateThe interest rate printed on the face of a bond certificate.
- contract systemThe practice of hiring prisoners out to private individuals for their labor.
- contract to satisfactionA contract in which one party promises to perform to the other's reasonable satisfaction.
- contract to sellAn agreement to sell goods at a later date.
- contract uberrimae fideiA contract in which each party owes the other the utmost good faith, such as a contract of insurance.
- contract under sealA formal contract that needs no consideration and carries the signer's seal. It must be written or printed on paper o…
- contract wberrimae fideiA contract in which each party owes the other the utmost good faith.
- contract zoningRezoning granted by a local authority in return for the landowner's promise to use or develop the land only in agreed…
- contract, freedom ofThe principle that people may bind themselves legally as they choose, and that contracts rest on mutual agreement and…
- contracteeRarely, the person with whom a contract is made.
- contractorA party to a contract; more particularly, someone who agrees to do work or supply materials for another.
- Contracts ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution, in article I, section 10, that forbids states to pass laws impairing private con…
- contractual dutyA duty arising out of a particular contract, or one that the law of contracts imposes.
- contractusA contract; an agreement between two or more parties, usually meant to create a bond the law will enforce.
- contradictory motionA motion likely to be opposed, or one the other side should have a chance to answer.
- contrafactioThe act of counterfeiting, most often used of counterfeiting the king's seal.
- contrahereTo enter into a formal relationship by agreement, as between spouses or between creditor and debtor; also, to commit…
- contrarotulatorFormerly, an officer who collected and managed money for the Crown or a government department. England had several, i…
- contrary to lawIllegal; or, of a jury's verdict, at odds with settled law.
- contraveneTo break or infringe something; also, to conflict with or run counter to it.
- contravening equityA right or interest that conflicts with the right someone is trying to enforce.
- contraventionAn act breaking a legal condition or obligation, especially an act by an heir under an entail that conflicts with the…
- contrectatioIn Roman law, the handling or meddling with another's property, which was an element of theft.
- contributing causeA factor that helps bring about a result without being its main cause.
- contributionThe right of one of several people liable on a common debt to recover a fair share from each of the others once one o…
- contribution barA rule stopping a defendant from claiming contribution from co-defendants who have settled with the claimant. It is u…
- contribution clauseA clause in an insurance policy requiring the property owner to carry separate cover up to a stated amount before the…
- contribution marginThe gap between what a product sells for and what it costs to make. It shows how much is left to cover fixed costs an…
- contributoryHelping to bring about a result; also, of a pension fund, one paid into by both employer and employees.
- contributory copyright infringementActively causing or materially helping someone else to infringe a copyright, or supplying the means to do it, as by p…
- contributory infringementTaking part in, or helping along, someone else's infringement, for which the law makes the helper liable. In patent l…
- contributory negligenceThe claimant's own carelessness, which helped cause their injury and which, in a few states, bars any recovery at all…
- contributory pension planA pension plan paid into by both the employer and the employee.
- contributory-negligence doctrineThe rule that a claimant who was partly at fault recovers nothing. Most states have abandoned it in favor of comparat…
- controlThe power, direct or indirect, to steer the management and policies of a person or organization, whether through owni…
- control groupThe people with authority to make decisions on a company's behalf.
- control personIn securities law, someone who actually controls or strongly influences the company issuing securities, for instance…
- control premiumThe extra price paid for shares that carry control of a company. It is usually measured by comparing what the control…
- control stockStock held by someone who controls the company at the time of the transaction in question.
- control testA test for insanity under which a person is not criminally responsible if mental illness left them unable to control…
- control-group testA now-rejected way of deciding whether the attorney-client privilege covers what a company's employees said, under wh…
- control-your-kid lawA law that fines or otherwise punishes parents whose children commit crimes because the parents failed to keep suffic…
- controlled companyA company controlled by a person, group, or other company that owns most of its voting stock.
- controlled corporate groupsIn tax law, two or more companies whose stock is largely held by five or fewer people. The tax code applies special r…
- controlled corporationA company whose voting stock is mostly held by another company or by a small group, so that they control what it does.
- controlled foreign corporationA foreign company more than half of whose voting power or share value is held by U.S. shareholders who each own at le…
- controlled groupIn tax law, two or more companies whose stock is largely held by five or fewer people. The tax code applies special r…
- controlled substanceA drug whose possession and use the law regulates, such as a narcotic, a stimulant, or a hallucinogen.
- controlled-substance actA federal or state statute controlling how certain drugs are classified, sold, distributed, and used. Most states hav…
- controllerAn officer of a business or of a private, state, or city body who looks after its finances, checking and auditing the…
- controlling interestEnough stock in a company to control its policy and management, especially more than half the shares.
- controlling personIn securities law, someone who actually controls or strongly influences the company issuing securities, for instance…
- controlling shareholderA shareholder able to sway what the company does, either by owning most of the shares or by owning a smaller but stil…
- controversyA disagreement or dispute; in constitutional law, a real dispute between parties that calls for a definite ruling on…
- controvertTo dispute or contest something, especially to deny an allegation in a pleading or argue against it.
- contuberniumIn Roman law, a marriage-like union between slaves, which the law did not recognize as a marriage.
- contumace capiendoAnother name for the writ de contumace capiendo.
- contumaciousStubbornly refusing to obey a court's authority.
- contumacious conductWillful disobedience of a court's order or process.
- contumacyContempt of court; a person's refusal to obey a court's order or direction.
- contumaxSomeone found to be in contempt of court; also, someone accused of a crime who refuses to appear and answer the charge.
- contumelyInsulting language or treatment; scornful rudeness.
- contutorIn Roman law, one of two or more guardians of the same ward. A co-guardian could be named by will or appointed by a c…
- conusanceJurisdiction or cognizance; an old spelling of cognizance. It also covers a court's taking a well-known and undispute…
- conusantHaving knowledge or awareness of something.
- conuseeThe person to whom land is granted in a conveyance by fine.
- conusorThe person who grants land in a conveyance by fine.
- conveneTo call together or bring into assembly. In church law it means summoning someone to answer an action; in civil law,…
- convening authorityIn military law, an officer, usually a commanding officer, with power to call a court-martial into being.
- convening orderIn military law, the document creating a court-martial. It states what kind of court-martial it is and when and where…
- conventicleA secret or unlawful gathering, especially a meeting for religious worship that the law does not permit; also, the pl…
- conventioIn church law, the calling of the parties before the court by summoning the defendant. In older usage it also meant a…
- conventionAn agreement, especially one between nations, or a multilateral treaty; also, a meeting of the members of an organiza…
- conventionalCustomary or traditional; also, arising from the parties' own agreement rather than from the law.
- conventional customA practice so widely adopted and so long unchanged that it has come to carry the force of law.
- conventional interestInterest at a rate the parties have agreed on, as opposed to a rate fixed by law.
- conventional lawRules people agree on to govern their dealings with one another, which then bind them as a special law, either fillin…
- conventional lienA lien created by the parties' express agreement, in circumstances where the law would not create one by itself.
- conventional loanA mortgage carrying no government insurance, under which the borrower gives the lender a lien on or title to the prop…
- conventional mortgageA mortgage carrying no government insurance, under which the borrower gives the lender a lien on or title to the prop…
- conventional obligationAn obligation arising from what the parties actually agreed, that is, a contractual obligation.
- conventional remissionA release of a debt expressly granted by a creditor who has the power to give property away.
- conventional sequestrationThe parties' voluntary handing over of the disputed property for safekeeping while the lawsuit runs.
- conventional subrogationSubrogation arising from a contract or from an express act of the parties, rather than by operation of law.
- conventionalismA view of law holding that legal practice comes down to respecting and enforcing the legal and social rules a communi…
- conventioneA writ for breach of a written covenant. It was often used where the parties wished to transfer land by fine.
- conventusAn assembly or gathering, as in the assembly of the nobles.
- conversionDealing with someone else's goods as if they were one's own, so seriously that the owner is deprived of them. The wor…
- conversion by detentionConversion by holding on to goods against the rights of the owner or other lawful possessor. Merely having goods with…
- conversion by estoppelA finding that conversion has taken place, though in truth it has not, because the defendant is barred from raising a…
- conversion by takingConversion by taking goods out of another's possession, meaning to exercise control over them permanently or for a ti…
- conversion by wrongful deliveryConversion by handing an owner's goods to someone else, so that possession changes.
- conversion by wrongful destructionConversion by deliberately using up or destroying goods belonging to someone else.
- conversion by wrongful dispositionConversion by depriving an owner of goods through giving someone else a lawful title to them.
- conversion premiumIn securities law, the amount by which a convertible security sells above its conversion price.
- conversion priceIn securities law, the price per share fixed by the contract at which a convertible security can be turned into commo…
- conversion ratioThe number of common shares a convertible security can be turned into; also, the face amount of the convertible secur…
- conversion securityThe security a convertible security can be turned into, usually common stock.
- conversion valueWhat a convertible security is worth measured as common stock. A bond convertible into ten shares worth $40 each has…
- convertible arbitrageBuying a security that can be exchanged for another within a reasonable time on payment of money, while at the same t…
- convertible bondA bond that can be exchanged for shares in the company that issued it.
- convertible collision insuranceCollision insurance carrying a low premium until the first claim is made, after which the premium rises.
- convertible debentureA debenture the holder can exchange for another security, such as stock.
- convertible debtA debt whose security the creditor may exchange for security in another form.
- convertible insuranceInsurance that can be changed to another form without fresh proof of insurability, usually a term life policy that ca…
- convertible securityA security, usually a bond or preferred stock, that the owner may exchange for another security, especially common st…
- convertible stockPreferred stock the holder may exchange for common stock in the same company, usually at a fixed price and on or afte…
- convertible subordinated debentureA debenture that ranks behind another debt for repayment but can be exchanged for a different security.
- conveyTo transfer or hand over something, such as a right or property, to someone else, especially by deed or other document.
- conveyanceThe voluntary transfer of a right or of property from one person to another.
- conveyancerA lawyer specializing in property transactions. In England the work is done by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, w…
- conveyancingThe work of drawing up legal documents, especially deeds and leases that transfer an interest in land.
- conveyancing counselThree to six lawyers appointed by the Lord Chancellor to advise the High Court of Justice on questions of title and c…
- conveyeeThe person to whom property is conveyed.
- conveyorThe person who transfers title to another.
- conviciumIn Roman law, reproach, abuse, or public insult.
- convictSomeone found guilty of a crime and serving a sentence of imprisonment for it.
- convictionThe finding by a court that someone is guilty of a crime, and the state of having been found guilty; also, the judgme…
- conviction rateFor a given place and period, the number of convictions, including guilty pleas from plea bargains, as a percentage o…
- conviviumA tenure requiring the tenant to provide the lord with food and drink at least once a year.
- convocationA synod made up of the clergy of a single province.
- convoyA protective escort, especially for ships travelling together.
- cool bloodIn the law of homicide, a finding that the defendant's feelings were not so stirred up as to interfere with their rea…
- cool state of bloodIn the law of homicide, a finding that the defendant's feelings were not so stirred up as to interfere with their rea…
- Cooley doctrineThe principle that Congress alone may regulate matters of commerce needing a single national rule, while the states m…
- cooling timeThe time needed to cool off after great excitement, stress, or provocation, so that a person can again think, underst…
- cooling-off periodA stretch of time during which neither side to a dispute may act; also, a period in which a buyer may cancel a purcha…
- cooperationWorking together toward a shared end; in insurance, the insured's duty to help the insurer look into and defend a claim.
- cooperation clauseA clause in an insurance policy requiring the insured to help the insurer investigate and defend a claim.
- cooperativeA business, such as a store, owned by the people who use it; also, a building whose residents own it collectively and…
- cooperative causeA cause that works together with another to bring about a result.
- cooperative corporationA company owned by the people who use its services, which shares its earnings among them in proportion to their deali…
- cooperative federalismA division of power in which the federal government and the states each recognize the other's authority but share it,…
- coordinate jurisdictionJurisdiction held at the same time by more than one court over the same subject matter in the same area, leaving the…
- coordination-of-benefits clauseA clause in a health-insurance policy providing that the total paid for medical and hospital care will not exceed the…
- coownerSomeone who owns, holds, and enjoys property at the same time as one or more others, whether as a tenant in common, a…
- cop a pleaInformally, of a defendant, to plead guilty to a lesser charge so as to avoid trial on a more serious one.
- coparcenaryAn estate arising where two or more people inherit together from one ancestor and share the title and the right to po…
- coparcenerOne of the people to whom an estate descends jointly, holding it as a single whole with the others.
- coparticepsOne of the people to whom an estate descends jointly, holding it as a single whole with the others.
- copartnershipAnother name for a partnership. Both words are equally old, each first appearing in the 1570s.
- copartyA party on the same side of a lawsuit or transaction as another, holding the same position.
- copaymentA set amount a patient pays the healthcare provider under the terms of their health plan.
- copia libelli deliberandaFormerly, a writ ordering that a copy of the complaint be given to the defendant in an ecclesiastical court.
- coplaintiffOne of two or more claimants in the same lawsuit.
- coprincipalOne of two or more people who take part in a crime, either committing it or helping the person who does; also, one of…
- copulative conditionA condition requiring more than one act to be performed.
- copyA reproduction of an original. In the law of evidence a copy is generally allowed as proof of what a document says.
- copycat drugA drug containing the same active ingredient as a brand-name original, though not necessarily the same fillers, binde…
- copyholdA lowly form of tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, recorded on the manor's court…
- copyhold tenureA base tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, as the manor's court rolls recorded th…
- copyholderA tenant holding land by copyhold tenure.
- CopyrightA test for deciding whether the non-literal parts of two computer programs are substantially similar. The program is…
- Copyright ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution, in article I, section 8, giving Congress power to secure to authors the exclusiv…
- copyright infringementUsing a copyrighted work in a way reserved to the owner. The owner alone may copy the work, make new works based on i…
- copyright noticeA statement that a work is protected by copyright, usually printed in each published copy. Since March 1, 1989, a cop…
- copyright ownerSomeone holding the exclusive rights in copyrighted material.
- copyrightedProtected by copyright.
- coramBefore, or in the presence of.
- coram nobisA writ used to correct a judgment of the same court, based on a mistake of fact that was never put before it and that…
- coram non judiceNot before a judge; heard by a judge or court that is the wrong one, or that has no power to deal with the matter.
- Coram Rege CourtAnother name for the King's Bench.
- coram sectatoribusFormerly, before the suitors, that is, in the presence of those attending the court.
- core proceedingIn bankruptcy law, a matter that goes to the heart of the relationship between debtor and creditors, such as an actio…
- corespondentA party who answers a petition alongside another, such as a petition for certiorari, and in some states a party answe…
- Corn Products doctrineIn tax law, the rule that a capital asset should be defined narrowly, leaving out inventory-related property closely…
- cornageA form of grand serjeanty under which the tenant had to blow a horn to warn others when an enemy came near, a duty es…
- Cornelian lawAnother name for the lex cornelia.
- cornerThe point where two survey lines meet; the angle formed by two boundary lines.
- cornering the marketBuying up so much of the available supply of a commodity or security that the buyer can dictate its price.
- corodyAn allowance of money, lodging, food, or clothing that a religious house gave to a royal servant. The Crown could cla…
- corollaryA proposition that follows from one already proved with little or no further argument; something that follows naturally.
- coronaThe Crown. The word once appeared in criminal pleadings, as in pleas of the Crown.
- coronation caseAny of the many breach-of-contract suits that followed the postponement of Edward VII's coronation because of his ill…
- coronatorA coroner.
- coronatore eligendoAnother name for the writ de coronatore eligendo.
- coronatore exonerandoAnother name for the writ de coronatore exonerando.
- coronerA public official who investigates how and why someone died suddenly, suspiciously, or violently. Formerly the corone…
- coroner's juryA jury a coroner summons to inquire into the cause of a death.
- corporaThe plural of corpus.
- corporal oathAn oath made solemn by touching something sacred, especially the Bible.
- corporal punishmentPunishment inflicted on the body.
- corporale sacramentumA corporal oath.
- corporateTo do with a corporation, especially a business corporation.
- corporate acquisitionOne company's takeover of another where both keep their separate legal existence afterwards.
- corporate agentAn agent authorized to act for a company; broadly, any employee or officer with power to bind it.
- corporate authorityThe power properly held by a company's officers. In some places it also means a municipal officer, especially one emp…
- corporate bodyA body that the law treats as a single person, separate from the people who make it up, able to hold property, sue an…
- corporate bondAn interest-bearing instrument by which a company promises to pay a fixed sum at a future date. It may be secured or…
- corporate booksThe written records of a company's activities and business dealings.
- corporate charterThe document a state authority, usually the secretary of state, issues giving a company its legal existence and the r…
- corporate citizenshipA company's standing as a resident of the state where it was incorporated. A company is not a citizen for the purpose…
- corporate counselA lawyer employed by a company to handle its legal work from inside the business.
- corporate crimeA crime committed by a company, or by its officers acting for it, such as fraud, price-fixing, or breaking environmen…
- corporate distributionA company's payment of money or property to its shareholders, or taking on debt for their benefit, such as a dividend…
- corporate domicileThe place the law treats as a company's home, usually the state where it was incorporated or where its main office is…
- corporate entityA company's standing as an organization existing apart from its shareholders. Because it is separate, it can sue and…
- corporate franchiseA right granted by government to carry on a particular business or to exercise the powers of a company.
- corporate immunityA company officer's protection from being personally liable for a wrong committed in good faith while doing the compa…
- corporate indentureThe document setting out the terms on which debt securities such as bonds or debentures are issued.
- corporate nameThe registered name under which a company sues, is sued, and pays its taxes, filed with the state authority when it i…
- corporate officerAn officer of a company, such as the chief executive, president, secretary, or treasurer.
- corporate purposeThe general line of business a company was set up to carry on. The articles of incorporation usually have to state it.
- corporate raiderA person or business trying to take control of a company against its wishes, by buying up its shares and replacing it…
- corporate sealA seal a company adopts for signing and authenticating its documents.
- corporate speechSpeech coming from a company, which the First Amendment protects. It does not lose that protection merely because a c…
- corporate stockA share issued by a company representing an ownership stake in it.
- corporate trusteeA company whose charter allows it to act as a trustee, such as a bank or trust company.
- corporate veilThe legal assumption that what a company does is not done by its shareholders, so that they are not liable for its acts.
- corporate welfareGovernment financial help given to a large company, usually as a subsidy.
- corporate-mortgage trustA financing arrangement in which debentures are issued and backed by property held in trust, with an independent trus…
- corporate-opportunity doctrineThe rule that a company's directors, officers, and employees may not use what they learn in that role to take for the…
- corporationA body the law treats as a single person, separate from the shareholders who own it, able to issue stock, hold proper…
- Corporation ActAn English statute of 1661 barring anyone from holding public office unless they took the Anglican sacrament and swor…
- corporation aggregateA corporation made up of a number of people.
- corporation by estoppelA business the law treats as a company because someone dealt with it as one, which stops that person from holding a s…
- corporation by prescriptionA body that has no charter but has gained the standing of a company by operating as one for a long time. It may carry…
- corporation counselThe lawyer who represents a city or other municipal corporation.
- corporation courtFormerly, in Virginia and a few other states, a court sitting for an incorporated city.
- corporation de factoA company that was never properly formed but whose apparent existence protects the directors, officers, and sharehold…
- corporation de jureA company formed in full compliance with the law and recognized as a company for the purpose of limiting liability.
- corporation for profitA company set up to make a profit; a business corporation.
- corporation soleAn office held by one person after another, treated by law as a single continuing legal person. Kings, bishops, recto…
- corporatorA member of a corporation; also, someone who helps set one up, usually by signing the articles of incorporation.
- corporealHaving a physical, material existence; tangible.
- corporeal hereditamentA physical thing that can be inherited, such as land, a building, or trees growing on land.
- corporeal ownershipActual ownership of land or goods.
- corporeal possessionPossession of a physical thing, such as a farm or a coin.
- corporeal propertyProperty that can be seen and touched, as opposed to rights and other property that cannot.
- corporeal thingThe thing owned in corporeal ownership; a physical object.
- corporealityThe state of having a physical, material existence.
- corpusA body or collection of something; in trust law, the property a trustee holds, that is, the principal of the trust as…
- corpus comitatusThe body of a county, meaning the land lying within a county's boundaries, as opposed to waters and other places outs…
- corpus delicti ruleThe rule that a prosecutor cannot prove that a crime was committed on the strength of the defendant's out-of-court st…
- corpus juris AngliaeThe whole body of English law, taking in the common law, statute law, equity, and the various special bodies of law.
- corpus pro corporeBody for body: the phrase describing a surety's liability in a civil action, where the surety stood answerable in pla…
- correalTo do with liability that is joint and several. Under Roman law a debtor who paid the whole debt could not then sue a…
- correal obligationAn obligation binding several debtors so that any one of them can be made to pay it in full, and payment by one frees…
- correalityThe relationship between parties to an obligation which ends when one of several debtors pays the creditor in full, o…
- correctTo put right what is wrong; also, to punish or discipline someone.
- corrected policyA policy issued after the risk has been reassessed, to put right a misstatement in the original.
- correctionThe putting right of something wrong; also, a swing in business activity or market prices that reverses an earlier ri…
- correction, house ofA place of confinement for people convicted of lesser offenses, where they are held for short terms and set to work.
- correctional institutionA state or federal place of confinement for convicted criminals, especially those convicted of serious crimes.
- correctional systemThe network of government agencies running a jurisdiction's prisons and parole system.
- corrective advertisingAdvertising telling consumers that earlier advertisements made a misleading claim, and giving them the correct inform…
- corrector of the stapleA clerk who recorded merchants' dealings at a staple town.
- correi stipulandiIn Roman law, joint creditors, each of whom could demand the whole debt.
- correlativeRelated or corresponding; also, involving a two-way relationship where each side depends on the other.
- correlative-rights doctrineIn water law, the rule that landowners sharing a source of water must each keep their use of it to a reasonable amount.
- correspondence auditAn IRS audit of a return carried out by mail or telephone rather than in person.
- correspondentSomeone who writes letters; also, a reporter employed by the media. In finance it means a securities firm or bank tha…
- correspondent bankA bank acting as agent for another, or exchanging services with it, in an area the other bank cannot reach directly.
- correusOne of two or more people who owe the same debt under a contract.
- corrigendumA mistake in a printed work found after it has gone to press.
- corroborateTo strengthen or confirm something; to make it more certain.
- corroborating evidenceEvidence that comes from a different source but backs up other evidence, especially evidence that needs support.
- corroborating witnessA witness whose testimony backs up what someone else has said.
- corroborationSupport or confirmation from further evidence or authority; also, formal confirmation of something.
- corroborative evidenceEvidence that comes from a different source but backs up other evidence, especially evidence that needs support.
- corruptDishonest, especially in the exercise of public duty. In older usage it described a person subject to corruption of b…
- corrupt-motive doctrineThe rule that conspiracy is punishable only where the parties agreed with an evil purpose, not merely with the intent…
- corrupt-practices actA federal or state statute regulating campaign contributions and spending and requiring them to be disclosed.
- corruptionDishonesty that spoils integrity or moral principle, especially a public official's taking of bribes; also, acting so…
- corruption in officeA public officer's dishonest breach of assigned duties, whether by doing something unlawful, doing a lawful thing imp…
- corruption of bloodA defunct rule, now regarded as unconstitutional, under which a person convicted of a serious crime or declared civil…
- corruptlyDishonestly, or by bribery. In criminal statutes the word usually signals a wrongful desire for money or some other a…
- cosen, ubTo cheat or defraud someone.
- cosignTo sign a document alongside another person, usually taking on the same obligations and lending that person creditwor…
- cosignerSomeone who borrows jointly with another on a promissory note, especially a person who stands as surety if the maker…
- cosinageA writ by which an heir claimed land held by a great-great-grandfather or by certain collateral relatives.
- costThe amount paid or charged for something; the price or outlay.
- cost accountingThe practice of tracking and recording what it costs a business to make its products, so that prices, budgets, and pr…
- cost accounting methodThe practice of recording assets in the books at what they cost.
- cost and freightA term in a quoted price meaning that it covers the goods and the freight to the named destination, but not insurance…
- cost approachA way of valuing land and buildings by asking what it would cost to put up an equally useful new property, on the foo…
- cost basisIn tax law, the value put on a taxpayer's investment in property, used mainly to work out the gain or loss when the p…
- cost bondA bond a litigant gives to secure payment of the court costs.
- cost depletionIn oil-and-gas law, the way a producer recovers what was invested in a well, by deducting a portion of that investmen…
- cost justificationUnder the Robinson-Patman Act, a defense to a price-discrimination charge in which the seller shows that it genuinely…
- cost of carryingThe cost of holding an asset over time, including interest on the money tied up, storage, and insurance.
- cost of completionIn contract law, a way of measuring damages by what it costs the innocent party to get the promised work finished.
- cost-benefit analysisA way of weighing what a proposed decision or project will cost against the benefits, economic or otherwise, expected…
- cost-book mining companyAn association formed to work mines or lodes, whose shares can be transferred without the other members' consent. A m…
- cost-of-capital methodA way of measuring what it costs a utility to raise money through debt and shares. Regulators often use it to set a f…
- cost-of-living clauseA clause in a contract or lease that raises wages, rent, or benefits automatically in step with rises in the cost of…
- cost-of-living indexA measure published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracking the prices of the goods and services an a…
- cost-plus contractA contract under which the buyer pays what the work actually costs plus either a fixed fee or a percentage on top.
- cost-push inflationInflation brought on by a rise in the cost of producing goods.
- cost, insurance, and freightA term in a quoted price meaning it covers the goods, the freight, and the insurance to the named destination. The bu…
- costs de incrementoAnother name for costs of increase.
- costs of collectionThe expenses of getting a note paid, especially the lawyer's fees run up in trying to collect it.
- costs of increaseExtra costs a court allows above the ordinary taxed costs, to cover what the litigation actually cost the winning party.
- costs of the dayThe costs of getting ready for trial.
- costs to abide eventCosts a winning party is entitled to have paid once the case is over.
- cosuretyA surety who shares with another the burden of meeting the guaranteed obligation.
- cotariusA serf holding land in socage by paying rent and doing some personal service for the lord of the manor. Both cotarius…
- cotenancyA tenancy shared by two or more owners who each have the right to possess the whole. Joint tenancy and tenancy in com…
- coterellusA serf living in a cottage, whose person, children, and goods were all at the lord's disposal.
- coterminousSharing a common boundary; also, of ideas or events, covering the same ground or the same stretch of time.
- cotlandLand held by a cottager, whether in socage or in villeinage.
- cotortfeasorSomeone who has committed a tort together with another person.
- cotrusteeOne of two or more people in charge of running a trust. They act as a single trustee and exercise their powers together.
- cotsetA villein who worked for a lord in return for a cottage and a plot of land.
- cottierFormerly, a serf living in a cottage; the word later came to mean a day laborer or country dweller. In Irish law it m…
- couchant and levantFormerly, of cattle and other animals, trespassing on land long enough to have lain down to rest and got up to feed,…
- councilA body that meets to discuss and decide matters.
- Council of Economic AdvisorsA small group of economists who advise the U.S. President on economic matters.
- Council of the NorthA body the Tudors used to govern the north of England, especially Yorkshire, in the 16th and 17th centuries. It proba…
- councillorSomeone who sits on a council, especially a local one.
- councilorSomeone who sits on a council, especially a local one.
- counselAdvice or assistance; also, the lawyer or lawyers acting for a client. In English law it means a member of the bar, t…
- counsel and procureTo help bring about a crime or encourage its commission. Doing so is itself an offense in most places.
- counsel of recordThe lawyer who appears for a party in a lawsuit and who receives, on that party's behalf, all pleadings and other for…
- counsel, assistance ofBeing represented by a lawyer, especially in a criminal case.
- counsel, right toA defendant's right under the Sixth Amendment to be represented by a lawyer, appointed and paid for by the state if t…
- counselorA lawyer who advises and represents a client.
- countThe part of an indictment charging a separate offense; in a complaint or similar pleading, the statement of a separat…
- counterAn advocate or professional pleader, so called because they counted, that is, recited aloud, for a client. By the sta…
- counter willA will one spouse makes to match the other's, as part of an agreement between them about how their property is to pass.
- counter-rollA record one officer kept as a check on another's, especially the parallel rolls kept by a sheriff and a coroner.
- counteractionAnother name for a counterclaim.
- counteraffidavitAn affidavit made to contradict and answer another affidavit.
- counterbondA bond given to protect someone who has already given a bond, indemnifying them against loss under it.
- counterclaimA claim a defendant makes back against the claimant in the same lawsuit.
- counterclaimantA party who brings a counterclaim.
- counterdeedA secret deed, made before a notary or under private seal, that cancels or alters a public deed.
- counterfeitTo copy or imitate something without the right to do so, meaning to deceive or defraud, especially by making fake mon…
- counterfeiterSomeone who makes an unauthorized copy of something, especially a document, currency, or another person's signature,…
- counterfoilA detachable part of a document summarizing the main part's details. A check stub is the commonest example, noting th…
- counterletterIn civil law, a document in which the person recorded as owner of land admits that someone else really owns it.
- countermandAn act that cancels something ordered earlier; a revocation.
- counterofferIn contract law, a new offer made in reply that changes the terms of the original, and so rejects it.
- counterofferorThe party who makes a counteroffer.
- counterpartIn conveyancing, the matching part of a document; also, one of two or more copies of a legal document.
- counterpart writA copy of an original writ, sent to a court in another county where the defendant lives or is found.
- counterpromiseA promise given in exchange for the other party's promise.
- countersignTo sign next to another person's signature, confirming who they are or approving what they have signed.
- countersuitAnother name for a counterclaim.
- countertradeInternational trade in which what an importing country buys is tied to matching purchases by the exporting country.
- countervailing dutyA duty that shields home industry by cancelling out subsidies foreign governments give to the makers of imported goods.
- countervailing equityAn opposing equity of equal weight, deserving just as much consideration.
- countezA direction a court clerk gave the crier, once the jury had been sworn, to count the jurors.
- countryA nation or state; also, the territory it covers.
- countyThe largest unit of local government within a state, treated as a political subdivision with some of the character of…
- county attorneyA lawyer who acts for a county in civil matters. In some places county attorneys also prosecute crimes.
- county auditorAn official who examines a county's accounts and financial records.
- county bondA bond a county issues, repaid out of a levy on a special taxing district, whether or not that district covers the wh…
- county commissionerA county officer who usually looks after the county's finances, its policing rules, and its business affairs.
- county courtA court sitting for a county, usually with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction over local matters.
- county judgeA local judge with criminal or civil jurisdiction, or sometimes both, within a county.
- county officerAn officer whose powers reach no further than the county they serve.
- county palatineA county in which the lord held certain royal privileges, such as the power to pardon a felon or to have indictments…
- county propertyProperty a county is allowed to acquire, hold, or sell.
- county purposeAn aim a county pursues, especially one it may levy taxes for.
- county seatThe town where a county's main offices are.
- county supervisorA county officer who usually looks after the county's finances, its policing rules, and its business affairs.
- county townThe town where a county's main offices are.
- county warrantAn order drawn on a county treasury directing that money be paid out.
- couponAn interest or dividend certificate attached to another document, such as a bond, which can be detached and handed in…
- coupon bondA bond with interest coupons attached, which the holder detaches and presents to collect the interest.
- coupon interest rateThe interest rate a coupon bond carries.
- coupon noteA note with interest coupons attached, which the holder hands in for payment as each falls due.
- coupon rateThe interest rate a coupon bond carries.
- coupon securityA security with detachable interest coupons that the holder hands in for payment as they fall due. They usually come…
- coupon yieldThe interest a bond pays each year, expressed as a percentage of its face value.
- Cour de CassationThe highest court in France. Its name comes from its power to quash the decisions of the lower courts.
- courierA messenger, especially someone delivering parcels and packages. In international law it means a messenger a country…
- course of businessThe ordinary way a trade or business is run day to day.
- course of dealingA settled pattern of behavior between parties who have dealt with each other before. If a dispute arises, it can be u…
- course of employmentThe things that happen and the circumstances that exist as part of a person's job, especially the time when an employ…
- course of performanceHow the parties have actually behaved under a contract that calls for repeated performance, where both know what is b…
- course of tradeA practice followed so regularly in a place, occupation, or trade that people can fairly expect it to be followed in…
- courtA body of one or more judges who sit to decide disputes and administer justice.
- court a quoThe lower court a case has been appealed from.
- court aboveThe court a case is appealed to.
- court administratorAn official who runs the non-judicial side of a court, including its calendar, judicial assignments, budget, and non-…
- court baronA manorial court dealing with disputes worth 40 shillings or less. On some accounts it split into two: the customary…
- court belowThe trial court or intermediate appeal court a case is appealed from.
- court calendarA list of the cases a court is due to hear, with the dates set for them.
- court christianA religious court hearing matters concerning a particular faith. In England it meant a court dealing with matters con…
- court commissionerAn officer the court appoints, especially to find and report facts or to conduct judicial sales.
- court costsThe fees and charges a court makes for handling a case, which the winning party can often recover from the loser.
- court dayA day on which a particular court is open for business.
- Court for Divorce and Matrimonial CausesA court set up in 1857 to deal with family matters such as divorce and legitimacy, taking over the matrimonial jurisd…
- Court for the Correction of ErrorsA court with power to review the decisions of a lower court.
- Court for the Relief of Insolvent DebtorsA London court dealing with bankruptcy matters, abolished by the Bankruptcy Act of 1861.
- court for the trial of impeachmentsA body with power to try a government officer or other person brought before it by impeachment. The U.S. Senate and t…
- court handA style of handwriting used by English court clerks, with words shortened and contracted according to settled rules t…
- court landsThe part of a manor used to support the lord's household.
- Court of AdmiraltyIn England, the court dealing with shipping, collisions, and salvage. It dates from the 14th century, and much of its…
- court of ancient demesneA court made up of the freeholders of land held by the Crown, who acted as judges much as the freeholders of an ordin…
- Court of AppealThe English court hearing civil and criminal appeals, set up by the Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875. Its formal memb…
- Court of Appeal in ChanceryAn English court that heard intermediate appeals in equity cases, set up in 1851 and abolished between 1873 and 1875,…
- court of appealsAn intermediate appeal court; in New York and Maryland, the name of the highest court.
- Court of Appeals for the Armed ForcesAnother name for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
- Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitAnother name for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
- Court of Appeals for the Sixth CircuitA brief filed in provisional form for the court to check before the final version is accepted. If it complies it is f…
- Court of Appeals in Cases of CaptureA court that reviewed state-court decisions about British ships captured by American privateers during the War of Ind…
- Court of ArchdeaconIn church law, a lower ecclesiastical court dealing with cases arising in the archdeaconry and with probate. Appeals…
- Court of ArchesThe church court of the province of Canterbury, hearing appeals from the diocesan courts. It handled probate cases un…
- Court of AssistantsA colonial body set up in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 to serve as both legislature and court.
- Court of AttachmentsA lower forest court dealing with trespasses in the royal forests. Its judges, the verderers, met every 40 days to he…
- Court of AudienceIn church law, a court in which the two archbishops exercised jurisdiction personally. It was abolished in 1963.
- Court of AugmentationsA court Henry VIII set up in 1536 to settle disputes arising from the Crown's seizure of monastic property. It was me…
- Court of CanterburyThe church court of the province of Canterbury, hearing appeals from the diocesan courts. It handled probate cases un…
- Court of CassationThe highest court in France. Its name comes from its power to quash the decisions of the lower courts.
- court of chanceryA court of equity; taken together, the courts of equity.
- court of chivalryA court of honor dealing with matters of arms and war, coats of arms, and questions of precedence.
- Court of Civil AppealsAn intermediate appeal court in some states, such as Alabama and formerly Texas.
- court of claimsA court that hears claims against a state or one of its subdivisions in cases where the state has given up its immuni…
- Court of Common PleasFormerly, a senior English court hearing all real actions and pleas between subjects. A chief justice and four, later…
- court of competent jurisdictionA court with the power and authority to do the particular thing in question, and recognized by law as entitled to dec…
- court of conscienceA local English court dealing with small debts. It was so named because its judgments were meant to follow fairness a…
- Court of ConvocationAn assembly of senior provincial churchmen and lesser clergy with power to hear cases of heresy, schism, and other pu…
- Court of Criminal AppealsFor each branch of the armed services, an intermediate appeal court that reviews the decisions of courts-martial.
- Court of Customs and Patent AppealsA federal court created in 1929 to hear appeals in customs and patent cases. It was abolished in 1982 and replaced by…
- Court of DelegatesThe final court of appeal for admiralty and church matters, set up in 1534 to take the place of the papal court when…
- court of domestic relationsA court dealing with divorce, custody and support of children, paternity, domestic violence, and other family matters.
- Court of Earl MarshalA court of honor dealing with matters of arms and war, coats of arms, and questions of precedence.
- court of equityA court that has jurisdiction in equity, decides disputes by the rules and precedents of equity, and follows the form…
- court of errorFormerly, the Court of Exchequer Chamber and the House of Lords. Appeals from the common-law courts went first to the…
- Court of Errors and AppealsFormerly, the highest court in New Jersey and New York.
- Court of ExchequerA former English superior court dealing mainly with disputes over the collection of public revenue. In 1873 it became…
- Court of Exchequer ChamberAn informal gathering of common-law judges, sometimes joined by the Lord Chancellor, to talk over important cases tha…
- Court of FacultiesAn archbishop's tribunal that grants special dispensations, such as marriage licenses, and decides questions about mo…
- court of first instanceThe court where a case starts and where the evidence is first heard and weighed.
- court of general jurisdictionA court with unlimited or almost unlimited power to try both civil and criminal cases.
- Court of Great Sessions in WalesA common-law court set up in Wales in 1543 with jurisdiction like that of the English assizes. It had to follow Engli…
- Court of High CommissionA tribunal that investigated religious offenses such as adultery, holding heretical opinions, and staying away from c…
- Court of HonorIn English law, a court hearing complaints about insults to honor or about encroachments on rights of precedence, her…
- Court of HustingsA local London court dealing with real and mixed actions, held in the Guildhall before the Recorder, with the Lord Ma…
- court of impeachmentAnother name for a court for the trial of impeachments.
- court of inquiryFormerly, in English law, a court the monarch appointed to decide whether it was proper to take severe measures again…
- Court of International TradeThe federal court with jurisdiction over civil actions against the United States arising out of the laws governing im…
- Court of Justice SeatAn eyre court that tried offenses against the forest laws, with jurisdiction much like that of the Court of Sweinmote.
- Court of Justiciary, HighScotland's senior criminal court, sitting both as a trial court and as the court of criminal appeal.
- court of last resortThe court that hears the final appeal in a case, such as the U.S. Supreme Court.
- court of lawBroadly, any court that administers the law of a state or nation; more narrowly, a court that proceeds according to t…
- court of limited jurisdictionA court that may hear only certain kinds of cases, or only cases below a set money value.
- Court of Magistrates and FreeholdersA South Carolina court that tried offenses said to have been committed by slaves and free people of color.
- Court of Military AppealsAnother name for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
- Court of Military ReviewFor each branch of the armed services, an intermediate appeal court that reviewed the decisions of courts-martial.
- court of nisi priusA civil trial court where issues are tried before a jury, as opposed to an appeal court. The term has died out in the…
- Court of Official PrincipalThe church court of the province of Canterbury, hearing appeals from the diocesan courts. It handled probate cases un…
- court of ordinaryA court with power to rule on whether wills are valid, to oversee the administration of estates, and in some states t…
- court of original jurisdictionThe court where a case is begun and first heard.
- Court of OrphansIn Maryland and Pennsylvania, a court with probate jurisdiction.
- Court of Oyer and TerminerFormerly, an assize court commissioned by the Crown to travel the counties two or more times a year to hear felony an…
- court of petty sessionsA magistrates' court sitting without a jury to deal with minor offenses and small civil matters.
- court of piepowderFormerly, in medieval England, a court with jurisdiction over a fair or market, presided over by the organizer's stew…
- Court of PleasA court of the county palatine of Durham with local common-law jurisdiction. It was abolished in 1873 and its work pa…
- Court of Policies of InsuranceA court that decided disputes between merchants over insurance policies in a summary way. Its reach covered only Lond…
- Court of Private Land ClaimsA federal court that existed from 1891 to 1895 to hear private claims to public land in the southwestern United State…
- Court of ProbateA court set up in 1857 to take over the probate jurisdiction the church courts had held. It merged into the High Cour…
- Court of Quarter Sessions of the PeaceAnother name for the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace.
- court of recordA court that must keep a record of its proceedings and may fine and imprison for contempt. Its records are presumed a…
- Court of RegardA forest court that looked into waste and encroachment on forest land. It also saw that the claws of all mastiffs kep…
- Court of RequestsA royal court dealing mainly with civil matters, though it also handled offenses such as riot and forgery. Dating fro…
- court of reviewA court with power to review the decisions of lower courts or of administrative agencies.
- Court of SessionIn Scots law, the supreme civil court of Scotland, with divisions for trials and for appeals, corresponding broadly t…
- Court of ShepwayThe court of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, dealing with civil matters. The Cinque Ports' civil jurisdiction wa…
- court of special sessionA court with no fixed term and no continuous existence, convened only to hear a particular case.
- Court of Star ChamberFormerly, an English court with wide civil and criminal powers exercised at the king's pleasure, notorious for secret…
- court of summary jurisdictionA court that tries minor offenses quickly and without a jury.
- Court of SwanimoteA medieval forest court dealing with a range of matters, especially rights to graze animals in summer while the deer…
- Court of SweinmoteA medieval forest court dealing with a range of matters, especially rights to graze animals in summer while the deer…
- Court of the Chief Justice in EyreAn eyre court that tried offenses against the forest laws, with jurisdiction much like that of the Court of Sweinmote.
- Court of the Earl MarshalA court of honor dealing with matters of arms and war, coats of arms, and questions of precedence.
- Court of the Lord High AdmiralIn England, the court dealing with shipping, collisions, and salvage. It dates from the 14th century, and much of its…
- Court of the Lord High StewardA court commissioned to try a peer charged with treason or a serious crime. It sat only when the House of Lords was n…
- Court of the MarshalseaA court that travelled with the king, hearing certain cases arising within 12 miles of wherever he was staying, an ar…
- Court of the Official PrincipalThe church court of the province of Canterbury, hearing appeals from the diocesan courts. It handled probate cases un…
- Court of VergeAnother name for the Court of the Marshalsea, which sat within the verge, the area around the king's residence.
- Court of Wards and LiveriesA court created in 1540 to press the Crown's right to income from various feudal tenures. It was so unpopular that it…
- court officerSomeone charged with upholding the law and running the judicial system, typically a judge, clerk, bailiff, or sheriff…
- court orderA written direction or command issued by a court or judge.
- court papersEverything a party files with the court, including pleadings, motions, and notices.
- court recorderA court official who records what happens in court using electronic equipment, usually so that a word-for-word transc…
- court reporterSomeone who takes down testimony, by shorthand or by electronic or other means, and prepares a transcript when asked.…
- court rollA record of a manor's tenures, especially the terms on which each tenant held their land. Copyhold tenure grew out of…
- court rulesRules with the force of law governing practice and procedure in the courts, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Proced…
- court systemThe network of courts in a jurisdiction.
- court-appointed attorneyA lawyer the court appoints to represent someone, usually a person who cannot afford to pay.
- court-appointed expertAn expert the court appoints to give an impartial opinion.
- court-martialA military court convened for a particular case to try and punish breaches of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, c…
- court-martial deliberationThe part of a court-martial in which the members, or the judge sitting alone, retire to consider their decision.
- court-martial orderA written order setting out the result of a court-martial.
- Court-Martial ReportsA series published from 1951 to 1975 containing the opinions of the U.S. Court of Military Appeals and selected decis…
- court-packing planPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt's unsuccessful proposal of 1937 to raise the number of Supreme Court justices from ni…
- courtesy supervisionSupervision of a parolee by a correctional agency in a place other than where the parolee was sentenced. It is usuall…
- courthouseThe building where a court sits.
- courtmartialCourts-martial sit outside the federal court system, and their procedure is set by military law, army regulations, pr…
- courtoisie internationaleCourtesy between nations, states, or courts of different jurisdictions, especially in recognizing each other's laws,…
- courtroomThe room in a courthouse where trials and hearings are held.
- courts of the franchiseA privately held court, usually existing under a royal grant, whose reach depended on the grant and on whatever power…
- cousinA child of one's aunt or uncle; more broadly, a relative descended from a shared ancestor such as a grandparent throu…
- cousin once removedA child of one's cousin; also, a cousin of one's parent.
- cousin twice removedA grandchild of one's cousin; also, a cousin of one's grandparent.
- cousin-germanA first cousin, that is, the child of one's aunt or uncle.
- cousin-in-lawThe husband or wife of one's cousin; also, a cousin of one's husband or wife.
- covenantA formal promise in a deed or contract to do, or not to do, something.
- covenant against encumbrancesA promise by the seller that the property carries no burdens on it, visible or hidden. In a special warranty deed the…
- covenant appurtenantA covenant tied to the grantor's land, which passes with it to later owners.
- covenant for further assurancesA promise by the seller to do whatever is reasonably needed later to perfect the title conveyed, should it turn out t…
- covenant for possessionA promise giving a buyer or tenant possession of the land.
- covenant for quiet enjoymentA promise protecting the buyer against the consequences of a faulty title or any other disturbance of it; in a lease,…
- covenant for titleA promise binding the seller to make good the completeness, security, and continuance of the title transferred. It us…
- covenant in deedA covenant created by the parties' own words.
- covenant in grossA covenant that does not pass with the land to later owners.
- covenant in lawA covenant the law reads into an agreement from its terms as a whole and from how the parties behaved.
- covenant marriageA marriage entered into under a law that sets stricter requirements for marrying and divorcing, in a state that other…
- covenant not to competeA clause, usually in an employment, partnership, or business-sale agreement, by which one party promises not to run a…
- covenant not to sueA promise by someone with a right to sue not to bring that claim in court.
- covenant of good right to conveyA promise, usually in a warranty deed, that the seller holds an estate of the kind and size being conveyed, or has th…
- covenant of habitabilityIn a residential lease, the landlord's promise that the property is fit to live in and will stay that way for the len…
- covenant of nonclaimA promise barring the seller and the seller's heirs from later claiming title to the land conveyed.
- covenant of quiet enjoymentA promise protecting the buyer against the consequences of a faulty title or any other disturbance of it; in a lease,…
- covenant of seisinA promise, usually in a warranty deed, that the seller holds an estate of the kind and size being conveyed, or has th…
- covenant of warrantyA promise by the seller to defend the buyer against any lawful claim of better title by a third party, and to make go…
- covenant running with the landA covenant that, because it concerns the land itself, binds every later owner indefinitely. The land cannot be convey…
- covenant running with the titleA covenant limited to the particular transfer of title between one seller and one buyer.
- covenant to conveyA promise by which one party agrees to transfer title to an estate to the other.
- covenant to renewAn agreement giving a tenant the right to renew the lease.
- covenant to stand seizedFormerly, a promise to convey land to a relative. It could not be used to convey land to a stranger, since the only c…
- covenanteeThe person to whom a covenant is made, and who gets its benefit.
- covenantorThe person who makes a covenant, and who carries its burden.
- Coventry ActAn English statute of 1670 making it a capital offense to lie in wait deliberately and cut, maim, or disfigure someon…
- coventurerSomeone who takes part in a joint venture with one or more others.
- coverA buyer's purchase of substitute goods on the open market after the seller has failed to deliver what was promised, t…
- cover letterA short letter accompanying a document, which serves mainly as a record that the document was sent, such as a letter…
- cover noteA written statement from an insurance agent confirming that cover is in force. It differs from a binder, which the in…
- cover-all clauseIn oil-and-gas law, a clause in a lease or mineral deed that also conveys small strips or oddly shaped parcels lying…
- coverageThe inclusion of a risk within an insurance policy; the range of risks the policy takes in.
- coverage opinionA lawyer's opinion on whether a particular event falls within a given insurance policy.
- coverage ratioA measure of how well a business can meet the cost of servicing its debt.
- covered wagesWages on which a person must pay social-security taxes.
- covertureThe state of being a married woman, which at common law limited her ability to own property and contract in her own n…
- covinA secret agreement between two or more people to injure or defraud another.
- cozenTo cheat or defraud someone.
- cozeningCheating; the offense of dealing dishonestly with someone.
- CPAAn accountant who has met the statutory and administrative requirements to be licensed as a public accountant.
- CPIA measure published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracking the prices of the goods and services an a…
- crackingA gerrymandering technique in which a political or racial group large enough to dominate a district is split up by th…
- craft unionA union made up of workers in the same trade, such as carpentry or plumbing, whatever industry they work in.
- cram downTo force a bankruptcy reorganization plan on creditors who have voted against it.
- cramdownA court's approval of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan over the objections of some creditors. The Bankruptcy Code all…
- crashworthiness doctrineIn products-liability law, the rule that a maker is strictly liable for injuries suffered in a collision, even one ca…
- crastinoTomorrow, or on the morrow. Writs were returnable on this day because court terms always began on a saint's day, so t…
- creativityIn copyright law, how far a work shows imagination going beyond what a person of very ordinary ability would produce.
- creatorSomeone who settles property on others, especially someone who sets up a trust.
- creature of statuteA doctrine, agency, or body that exists only because a legislature passed an act bringing it into being.
- credibilityThe quality that makes a witness or a piece of evidence worth believing.
- credible evidenceEvidence worth believing; trustworthy evidence.
- credible witnessA witness whose testimony can be believed.
- creditTrust or belief; also, a person's ability to borrow money, resting on others' confidence that they will pay their deb…
- credit balanceIn accounting, the state of an account where the credit entries add up to more than the debit entries.
- credit bureauAn organization that gathers information about people's creditworthiness and issues it in reports, used mainly by mer…
- credit cardA card used to buy goods and services on credit, usually on a revolving account.
- credit freezeA period during which the government restricts bank lending.
- credit insuranceAn agreement to cover a lender against loss if the person given credit dies, becomes disabled, or goes insolvent. The…
- credit life insuranceLife insurance on a borrower, usually under a consumer installment loan, which pays off what is owed if the borrower…
- credit lineThe most a particular lender will let a borrower have, to be drawn on as the borrower needs it.
- credit memorandumA document a seller gives a buyer confirming that the buyer's account has been reduced because of an error, a return,…
- credit mobilierA company that carries on a banking business by lending against the security of personal property.
- credit ratingAn assessment of how likely a would-be borrower is to repay, prepared by a credit bureau at a lender's request.
- credit reportA credit bureau's report on someone's financial position, usually covering the rough size and location of their bank…
- credit saleA sale of goods where the buyer is allowed to pay later.
- credit service chargeA charge made for providing a service, such as a bank's charge for running a customer's checking account; in consumer…
- credit slipA document allowing a store customer who has returned goods to buy something else, or to take cash or credit instead.
- credit unionA cooperative that offers low-interest loans and other consumer banking services to people with something in common,…
- credit-card crimeThe offense of buying something with a credit card knowing that the card is stolen or forged, that it has been cancel…
- credit-reporting bureauAn organization that prepares reports on request covering not just creditworthiness but personal information gathered…
- credit-shelter trustA trust into which a deceased person's estate passes, so that the surviving family take a life interest in the trust…
- creditorSomeone who is owed a debt, or who gives credit for money or goods; more broadly, anyone with a definite claim agains…
- creditor at largeA creditor who has not turned the debt into a judgment and holds no lien on any of the debtor's property.
- creditor beneficiaryA third party to whom a debt is owed which performing the contract will discharge.
- creditors' meetingIn bankruptcy, the first meeting of the debtor’s creditors and equity security holders, held before the U.S. Trustee,…
- creditrixIn civil law, a female creditor.
- creditworthyOf a borrower, financially sound enough that a lender will advance money believing there is little risk of default.
- creeping tender offerThe gradual buying-up of a company's shares at varying prices on the open market. It is not a formal tender offer, th…
- cretionA way of accepting an inheritance used by an heir named in a will. The acceptance usually had to be declared within 1…
- CRFA form required from 1988 to 1996 for reporting every case where a bank employee or affiliate committed or helped com…
- crierAn officer of the court who makes the announcements the court requires; also, an auctioneer.
- CrimAn unsworn statement a convicted defendant may make to the sentencing judge or jury, asking for mercy, explaining the…
- crimeAn act that harms society and that the law punishes; a breach of legal duty dealt with in a criminal prosecution.
- crime against humanityIn international law, a brutal crime that is not a one-off but part of large-scale, systematic action, often carried…
- crime against international lawA crime punishable under international law or defined by an international convention that member states must make pun…
- crime against natureOral or anal sex between people, especially of the same sex; also, sexual contact between a human and an animal.
- crime against peaceIn international law, the crime of planning, preparing, starting, or waging a war of aggression, or a war that breaks…
- crime against the law of nationsA crime punishable under international law or defined by an international convention that member states must make pun…
- crime against the personA group of offenses in which the offender uses or threatens force against someone, such as murder, rape, aggravated a…
- crime insuranceInsurance covering losses caused by a crime committed by someone other than the insured.
- crime malum in seAn act that is wrong in itself, quite apart from any statute forbidding it, such as murder or theft.
- crime malum prohibitumAn act that is an offense only because a statute forbids it, though it is not necessarily immoral in itself. Jaywalki…
- crime of omissionAn offense whose essential element is a failure to act.
- crime of passionA crime committed in the heat of an emotionally charged moment, with no chance to reflect on what is happening.
- crime of violenceA crime that involves using physical force against another person or their property, attempting or threatening to use…
- crime statisticsFigures a government agency compiles showing how often various crimes occur in a given area over a given period.
- crime without victimsA crime treated as having no direct victim, usually because only consenting adults are involved, such as drug possess…
- crime-fraud exceptionThe rule that neither the attorney-client privilege nor work-product protection covers communications made to further…
- crimen incendiiThe crime of burning; arson.
- crimen majestatisFormerly, high treason, or any crime against the king's person or dignity. Under Roman law it covered any undertaking…
- crimen roberiaeThe unlawful taking of property from another person, or in their presence, by violence or intimidation; robbery.
- crimes against personsA group of offenses in which the offender uses or threatens force against someone, such as murder, rape, aggravated a…
- crimes against propertyA group of offenses in which the offender seeks an unlawful gain from someone else's property, or damages it, without…
- crimes against the personA group of offenses in which the offender uses or threatens force against someone, such as murder, rape, aggravated a…
- criminalHaving the character of a crime; also, connected with the administration of criminal justice.
- criminal actionA case the government brings to punish an offense against the public.
- criminal anarchyThe doctrine that government should be overthrown by force. Promoting it is itself an offense.
- criminal anthropologyThe study of crime and punishment as social phenomena and of what causes crime. It has two halves: criminal biology,…
- criminal assaultAn assault treated as a crime rather than a tort. The term picks out the elements giving rise to criminal liability,…
- criminal attemptAn overt act done meaning to commit a crime but falling short of completing it. Attempt is an offense in its own righ…
- criminal batteryIn criminal law, the use of force on another that results in harmful or offensive contact. Most modern statutes treat…
- criminal behaviorConduct that harms society and that the law defines and punishes.
- criminal capacityThe mental ability a person must have to be held responsible for a crime, in particular the ability to tell right fro…
- criminal chargeA formal accusation of a crime, made as the first step toward prosecution.
- criminal codeA code, usually passed by a legislature, setting out what makes up each crime and what punishment it carries.
- criminal coercionCoercion meant to restrict someone's freedom of action by threatening to commit a crime against them, threatening to…
- criminal conspiracyAn agreement between two or more people to do something unlawful, or to combine for an unlawful purpose. It is an off…
- criminal contemptAn act that obstructs justice or attacks the standing of the court. Proceedings for it are punitive rather than merel…
- criminal conversationA now largely abolished tort claim a husband could bring against a man who had sex with his wife.
- criminal damage to propertyDamaging, destroying, or seriously interfering with the use of property, otherwise than by fire or explosion, without…
- criminal defendantThe person accused in a criminal case.
- criminal desertionOne spouse's deliberate failure, without good reason, to care for, protect, or support the other when that spouse is…
- criminal forfeitureA proceeding by which the government takes a person's property as punishment for their criminal conduct.
- criminal fraudIn tax law, the deliberate evasion of tax by filing a false return, which exposes the offender to criminal penalties…
- criminal homicideThe killing of one person by another where the law treats the killing as a crime, whether done intentionally, reckles…
- criminal infringementThe offense of willfully infringing a copyright for commercial advantage or financial gain, or of trafficking in coun…
- criminal intentThe state of mind the prosecution must prove a defendant had when committing a crime, whether that means intention or…
- criminal jurisdictionA court's power to hear criminal cases.
- criminal justiceThe system by which a society deals with people accused of crimes, from investigation through trial to punishment.
- criminal lawThe body of law defining offenses against the community at large, governing how suspects are investigated, charged, a…
- criminal lawyerA lawyer whose main work is defending people accused of crimes. The term is rarely used of prosecutors, though they a…
- criminal libelAt common law, a malicious libel meant to expose someone to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, for which the writer could…
- criminal mischiefThe common-law misdemeanor of deliberately destroying or damaging someone else's property. Modern statutes mostly kee…
- criminal negligenceCarelessness so extreme that it is punished as a crime. Involuntary manslaughter can rest on it, as where a grossly c…
- criminal policyThe branch of criminal science concerned with cutting down harmful conduct in society. Drawing on criminology, it ask…
- criminal procedureThe rules governing how crimes are investigated, prosecuted, tried, and punished, including the constitutional protec…
- criminal proceedingA proceeding brought to decide whether someone is guilty, or to fix the punishment of someone already convicted.
- criminal processProcess, such as an arrest warrant, issued to compel someone to answer a criminal charge.
- criminal prosecutionA criminal case in which the accused is brought to trial.
- criminal protectorSomeone who helps or shelters a wrongdoer after a crime has been committed; an accessory after the fact.
- criminal registrationA requirement in some places that any convicted felon spending time in the community register their name with the pol…
- criminal responsibilityAnswerability in the criminal courts for one's conduct; the state of being liable to punishment for a crime.
- criminal sanctionA penalty attached to a criminal conviction, such as a fine or an order to make restitution.
- criminal scienceThe study of crime aimed at finding out what causes it, working out the most effective ways of reducing it, and impro…
- criminal solicitationThe offense of urging, advising, commanding, or otherwise inciting someone else to commit a crime. It is an offense i…
- criminal statuteA law that defines particular crimes, classifies them, and sets out their punishments.
- criminal syndicalismAny doctrine advocating or teaching the use of unlawful methods to change who controls industry or government.
- criminal trespassTrespass on property clearly marked against it by signs or fences; also, staying on property after being told to leav…
- criminal wrongAn act that harms society and that the law punishes; a breach of legal duty dealt with in a criminal prosecution.
- criminal-instrumentality ruleThe rule that where a crime has been committed, the crime itself, rather than any carelessness by the victim that mad…
- criminal-justice studiesThe field of study followed by those preparing for a career in law enforcement. Many colleges offer degrees in it, us…
- criminal-justice systemThe institutions an accused person passes through until the charges are disposed of or the punishment served. It has…
- criminal-referral formA form required from 1988 to 1996 for reporting every case where a bank employee or affiliate committed or helped com…
- criminalismA settled tendency toward crime. In older usage it meant the branch of psychiatry dealing with habitual criminals.
- criminalistSomeone who practices criminalistics as a profession. In older usage the word also meant a specialist in criminal law…
- criminalisticsThe science of detecting crime, usually by subjecting physical evidence to laboratory analysis, including ballistics,…
- criminaliterCriminally.
- criminalityThe state of being criminal; also, an act or practice that amounts to a crime.
- criminalizationThe making of something criminal that was lawful before, usually by passing a statute.
- criminally negligent homicideA killing caused by carelessness so extreme that the law punishes it as a crime, short of intentional or reckless kil…
- criminationThe charging of someone with a crime; also, the drawing of someone into a crime, or an accusation or strong reproach.
- criminativeTo do with accusing someone of a crime or implicating them in one.
- criminogenesisThe bringing about of crime; the process by which criminal behavior develops.
- criminogenicTending to cause crime.
- criminologyThe study of crime and punishment as social phenomena and of what causes crime. It has two halves: criminal biology,…
- crimpingThe offense of luring and confining people in order to force them into military service.
- critA follower of the critical legal studies school of thought.
- critical evidenceEvidence strong enough that having it could sway a juror's mind. Under the Due Process Clause a defendant who cannot…
- Critical Legal StudiesA school of thought holding that the legal system's capacity to be manipulated hides what it really does, which, on t…
- critical limitationIn patent law, a limitation essential either to making an invention work or to making a claim for it patentable.
- Critical Race TheoryA reform movement within the legal profession, especially in the universities, whose adherents hold that the legal sy…
- critical stageA point in a prosecution where the accused's rights could be damaged if they had no lawyer, such as trial or a prelim…
- critterA follower of the critical legal studies school of thought.
- crop insuranceInsurance protecting growing crops against natural hazards such as hail and fire.
- cropsThings grown, raised, and harvested. They usually come from the soil, but fruit grown on trees counts too.
- crossThe questioning of a witness by the party who did not call them. The aim is to weaken the witness's credit before the…
- cross-actionAnother name for a cross-claim.
- cross-appealAn appeal brought by the respondent to an appeal, usually heard at the same time as the original appeal.
- cross-billA bill the defendant brings against the claimant in the same suit, or against other defendants in it, concerning the…
- cross-claimA claim one party brings against another on the same side of a lawsuit, arising out of the same matter.
- cross-claimantA party who brings a cross-claim.
- cross-collateralSecurity given by all parties to a contract. In bankruptcy it means security bargained for that covers not only a cre…
- cross-collateral clauseA clause in an installment contract letting the seller, if the buyer defaults, repossess not just the item in questio…
- cross-complaintA claim a defendant makes against another party to the case, or against someone outside it on a matter connected with…
- cross-defaultA clause under which defaulting on one debt automatically puts the borrower in default on another.
- cross-demandA demand one party makes to counter the demand of the opposing party.
- cross-elasticity of demandIn antitrust law, the relationship between two products that can stand in for each other, where a change in the price…
- cross-errorAn error assigned by the party answering a writ of error.
- cross-examinationThe questioning of a witness by the party who did not call them. The aim is to weaken the witness's credit before the…
- cross-examineTo question a witness called by the opposing party.
- cross-interrogatoryA written question put by a party who has received a set of written questions from the other side.
- cross-licensingIn patent law, an exchange of licenses between two or more patent holders so that each may use the other's patent.
- cross-marriageA marriage in which a brother and sister marry a sister and brother of another family.
- cross-offerIn contract law, an offer made to someone without knowing that they have made the identical offer in return.
- cross-purchase buy-sell agreementAn agreement, often backed by insurance, under which each partner or shareholder buys and keeps up enough cover on th…
- cross-questionA question put to a witness during cross-examination.
- cross-rateThe exchange rate between two currencies worked out from the rate each bears to a common third currency, usually the…
- cross-remainderA future interest arising where separate estates are given to two or more people, in different parcels of land or in…
- CrownAnother name for the sovereign, and for the state as represented by the sovereign.
- Crown CourtThe English court dealing with serious criminal cases. Crown Courts date from 1971, when they took over the criminal…
- crown jewelA company's most valuable asset, especially when the company is facing a hostile takeover. A common defense is to sel…
- Crown landLand belonging to the sovereign personally or to the government, especially in England and Canada, as opposed to priv…
- Crown loanIn tax law, an interest-free loan repayable on demand, usually from parent to child, where the money is invested and…
- CRTA reform movement within the legal profession, especially in the universities, whose adherents hold that the legal sy…
- cruel and inhumane treatmentA ground for divorce consisting of abusive behavior by one spouse toward the other for which there is no justification.
- cruel and unusual punishmentPunishment that is torturous, degrading, inhuman, wildly out of proportion to the crime, or otherwise shocking to the…
- crueltyThe deliberate infliction of mental or physical suffering on a living creature, especially a person.
- cruelty to a childA deliberate or neglectful physical or emotional injury done to a child, including sexual abuse.
- cruelty to animalsA malicious or criminally careless act that causes an animal pain or death.
- cruelty to childrenA deliberate or neglectful physical or emotional injury done to a child, including sexual abuse.
- cryerAnother name for a crier.
- CSVThe cash a life-insurance policyholder receives on surrendering the policy before it matures.
- cucking stoolA device for punishing scolds by ducking them in water again and again.
- cui ante divortiumFormerly, a writ of entry by which a divorced woman recovered land she had held in fee but that her husband had sold…
- cui in vitaFormerly, a writ of entry by which a widow recovered land she had held in fee but that her late husband had sold with…
- culpaIn Roman and civil law, fault or negligence; an unintentional wrong.
- culpa lataIn Roman and civil law, gross negligence: a failure to take even the care that the most careless person would take.
- culpa levisIn Roman and civil law, ordinary negligence: a failure to take the care a reasonably prudent person would take.
- culpa levissimaIn Roman and civil law, the slightest negligence: a failure to take the extraordinary care that only a very careful p…
- culpa-in-contrahendo doctrineThe principle that parties must deal in good faith while negotiating a contract, and in particular that an offeror wh…
- culpabilityBlameworthiness. Except where liability is absolute, criminal culpability requires proof that the person acted purpos…
- culpableGuilty or blameworthy; also, involving a breach of duty.
- culpable accidentAn accident caused by negligence. Unlike an unavoidable accident it is no defense, except in the few cases where liab…
- culpable intoxicationDeliberately drinking or taking drugs to the point of impairment, knowing that this will weaken one's physical and me…
- culpable neglectBlameworthy neglect: worse than a simple failure to take ordinary care, but short of gross carelessness.
- culpable negligenceCareless conduct that, though not deliberate, shows disregard for the consequences likely to follow from it.
- culpritSomeone accused of a crime, or someone guilty of one. The word probably runs together cul, short for the Latin for gu…
- cultural agreementIn international law, an agreement between two or more countries to foster cultural or intellectual ties.
- cultural propertyIn international law, movable and immovable property of cultural significance, whether antiquities and monuments of t…
- cum dividendWith dividend: stock bought on these terms carries the right to any dividend already declared but not yet paid.
- cum grano salisWith a grain of salt; with allowance for exaggeration or with reservations.
- cum rightsWith rights: a buyer of stock on these terms gets rights that have been declared but not yet handed out, such as the…
- cum testamento annexoWith the will annexed: describing a grant of administration where the will names no executor, or where the executor c…
- cumulative dividendA dividend on preferred stock that, if not paid in a given year, carries forward and must be paid before common share…
- cumulative evidenceFurther evidence of the same sort as evidence already given, supporting a fact that has already been established.
- cumulative legaciesTwo or more gifts made in the same will to the same person, often in similar words, which are treated as additional t…
- cumulative offenseAn offense made up of the same act repeated at different times.
- cumulative preference sharePreferred stock whose dividends must be paid in full before common shareholders get anything. If the company misses a…
- cumulative preferred stockPreferred stock whose dividends must be paid in full before common shareholders get anything. If the company misses a…
- cumulative punishmentPunishment that grows heavier each time a person is convicted of the same offense.
- cumulative remedyA remedy a party may use in addition to another that remains available.
- cumulative sentencesTwo or more prison sentences served one after the other. Consecutive terms of 20 years and 5 years mean 25 years in all.
- cumulative stockPreferred stock whose dividends must be paid in full before common shareholders get anything. If the company misses a…
- cumulative testimonyThe same or similar testimony from several witnesses, usually offered to impress a jury with the apparent weight of p…
- cumulative traverseA traverse that breaks a proposition into its parts and denies each of them. It comes to the same thing as denying th…
- cumulative votingA way of electing company directors in which a shareholder multiplies their shares by the number of seats to be fille…
- cumulative zoningZoning in which each district allows everything permitted in the more restricted districts as well as its own uses, s…
- cumulative-effects doctrineThe rule that a transaction affecting interstate commerce only slightly may be taken together with other similar tran…
- cumulative-to-the-extent-earned dividendA dividend on preferred stock that carries forward to later years only so far as the company actually earned enough t…
- CUPOSCohabiting unmarried person of the opposite sex. It is meant to mean the same as posslq, a person of the opposite sex…
- curaA guardianship protecting the interests of young people between puberty and the age of 25, or of people unable to man…
- cura furiosiA guardianship over someone who is insane and so incapable of acting for themselves at all.
- cura minorumA guardianship over a minor past the age of puberty, whose capacity to act was recognized but incomplete.
- cura prodigiA guardianship over a spendthrift, whose capacity to act was restricted to stop them wasting their property.
- curateA member of the clergy in charge of a parish; also, a clergyman paid to assist a vicar, rector, or pastor.
- curatioThe power and duty of managing the property of a young or incapable person; also, the office of curator.
- curative admissibilityThe rule that otherwise inadmissible evidence may be let in to counteract similar evidence from the other side that s…
- curative instructionA direction from the judge meant to put right an earlier mistaken direction.
- curative-admissibility doctrineThe rule that inadmissible evidence will be allowed in to answer inadmissible evidence the other side has already put…
- curatorIn Roman law, someone who manages another's affairs; a guardian.
- curator ad hocA curator a court appoints to handle a single matter or transaction; a special guardian.
- curator ad litemA curator a court appoints to represent the interests of a young person or someone incapable of acting during proceed…
- curator bonorumSomeone a court appoints to administer the estate of an insolvent person.
- cureTo put right a legal defect or error. Curing title, for instance, means clearing defects from the title to land so th…
- cure by verdictThe curing of a defect in a pleading by the verdict at trial, on the presumption that the record holds enough proof o…
- curfewFormerly, a law requiring all fires to be put out at a set hour in the evening, announced by the ringing of a bell. N…
- curiaIn Roman law, one of the 30 divisions into which the Roman people were said to have been split by Romulus; also, a le…
- curia admiralitatisIn England, the court dealing with shipping, collisions, and salvage. It dates from the 14th century, and much of its…
- curia advisari vultThe court will consider: words marking a decision to hold judgment over for further thought. In England the phrase is…
- curia cancellariaAnother name for the Court of Chancery.
- curia claudendaAnother name for the writ de curia claudenda, which required a neighbor to keep up a fence or enclosure.
- curia regisThe chief court of early Norman England, set up by William the Conqueror. It was a body of advisers who travelled wit…
- curing titleThe clearing of defects from a title to land so that it becomes marketable.
- currencySomething, such as a coin or banknote, that circulates as a means of exchange.
- currency swapAn agreement to exchange payment obligations in one currency for payment obligations in another.
- current accountAn unsettled account; also, an account left open for continuing debits and credits, with a shifting balance, until th…
- current assetAn asset readily turned into cash, such as a marketable security, a note, or a receivable.
- current expenseAn expense incurred in running a business and producing its output.
- current fundsAssets that can readily be turned into cash.
- current incomeIncome falling due within the present accounting period.
- current liabilitiesAll debts and other liabilities payable within a year.
- current liabilityA business liability that will be met out of current assets, or by taking on other current liabilities, within the co…
- current market valueThe price an asset would fetch if sold within the present accounting period.
- current moneyMoney circulating throughout a country as its currency.
- current obligationAn obligation that can be enforced now but is not yet overdue.
- current revenueIncome falling due within the present accounting period.
- current wagesWages for the current period, which are not yet overdue.
- current yieldA bond's annual interest payment expressed as a percentage of what it currently costs to buy.
- current-cost accountingA way of valuing assets by what it would cost to replace them. It allows for inflation by recognizing price changes a…
- currit quattuor pedibusIt runs on four feet: the phrase for a precedent that matches the case at hand in every material respect.
- cursitorA chancery clerk responsible for drawing up original writs, named after the writs of course that the clerks wrote out.
- cursitor baronAn officer of the Court of Exchequer with administrative but not judicial duties. As the Barons of the Exchequer took…
- cursorA junior officer of the papal court.
- curtesyAt common law, a husband's right on his wife's death to a life interest in land she had owned during the marriage, pr…
- curtesy consummateThe interest a husband held in his wife's land once she had died, his earlier expectant interest having taken full ef…
- curtesy initiateThe interest a husband held in his wife's land once a child capable of inheriting had been born, but while she was st…
- curtilageThe land or yard around a house, usually within a fence or wall. Under the Fourth Amendment it is generally protected…
- cushionA margin of safety, such as the earnings a company has over and above what it needs to cover its interest payments.
- cushion bondA bond paying an unusually high rate of interest.
- custode admittendoFormerly, a writ for admitting a guardian.
- custode amovendoFormerly, a writ for removing a guardian.
- custodia legisIn the custody of the law: said of property held by a court or an officer of the law, such as goods seized under a writ.
- custodia terrae et haeredisAnother name for the writ de custodia terrae et haeredis, by which a guardian claimed the wardship of an heir's land.
- custodial accountAn account one person opens and holds for another, such as one a parent opens for a child.
- custodial interrogationSustained police questioning of someone who is being held and is not free to leave.
- custodial trustA revocable trust in which the trustee manages the property if the main beneficiary becomes unable to do so, usually…
- custodianA person or institution holding property, papers, or other valuables in charge for someone else. In bankruptcy law it…
- custodian bankA bank or trust company that holds securities for a clearing corporation and is supervised and examined by a state or…
- custodyThe care and control of a thing or a person, whether for inspection, safekeeping, or security.
- custody hearingA hearing to examine the facts bearing on who should have custody of a child in a divorce or separation case.
- custody of the lawThe state of property or a person being under the control of a court or a law officer.
- customA practice so widely followed and so long unchanged that it has come to carry the force of law.
- custom and usageGeneral rules and practices that have become settled through unvarying habit and common use.
- custom of YorkA local custom in York governing how a dead person's personal property was divided among the widow and children.
- customaryA record of all the settled legal and quasi-legal practices of a community.
- customary court baronA manorial court dealing with disputes worth 40 shillings or less involving copyholders, as distinct from the freehol…
- customary dispatchUnloading carried out according to the rules, customs, and practice of the port where the cargo is discharged.
- customary estateA lowly tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, as recorded on the manor's court rolls.
- customary freeholdA tenure held by the custom of the manor but with the standing of a freehold, so that the tenant's rights went beyond…
- customary international lawInternational law that grows out of the settled practice of states, filling out the rules set down in treaties and co…
- customary interpretationInterpretation based on how the same words have been read in earlier rulings.
- customary lawLaw made up of customs accepted as binding rules of conduct; practices and beliefs so deeply woven into a society's l…
- customary seisinPossession of a freehold estate in land held by the custom of the manor.
- customary tenantA tenant holding land by the custom of the manor rather than by a formal grant.
- customhouseA building or office, especially at a port, where customs duties are collected and ships are cleared to enter or leave.
- customhouse brokerA broker who prepares the paperwork for ships entering or clearing port and for importing or exporting goods.
- Customs and Patent Appeals, Court ofA federal court created in 1929 to hear appeals in customs and patent cases. It was abolished in 1982 and replaced by…
- customs areaThe area within a country's borders in which its customs laws apply, which may differ from its political boundaries.
- customs brokerA broker who prepares the paperwork for ships entering or clearing port and for goods being imported or exported.
- Customs Cooperation CouncilAn international body set up in 1952 to study customs questions, with its headquarters in Brussels.
- customs dutyA duty charged on goods brought into or sent out of a country, especially the federal tax on goods shipped into the U…
- customs frontierIn international law, the border at which a country charges customs duties on goods coming in.
- customs unionIn international law, an arrangement joining two or more countries in a single customs area behind a common external…
- custos marisA senior naval officer; an admiral.
- custos morumGuardian of morals: a name sometimes given to the Court of King's Bench.
- Custos SigilliIn England and Scotland, the officer who keeps the Great Seal and authenticates the most important state documents. I…
- cutpurseSomeone who steals by cutting purses; a pickpocket.
- CVAA federal appeal court with sole power to review decisions of the Board of Veterans Appeals. It was created in 1988,…
- CVSGA call for the views of the Solicitor General: an invitation from the U.S. Supreme Court for the government's opinion…
- CwthAnother name for a commonwealth.
- cy presThe equitable rule under which a court redirects a gift to charity to a purpose as close as possible to what the dono…
- cyberlawThe field of law dealing with computers and the Internet, covering matters such as intellectual-property rights, free…
- cybersquattingRegistering an Internet domain name, especially one matching a company's trademark, in order to profit by selling or…
- cyberstalkingThreatening, harassing, or tormenting someone through repeated electronic messages, especially with the aim of making…
- cybertheftUsing an online service to steal someone's property or interfere with their use of it. Examples include hacking into…
- cyclicalOf a stock or an industry, given to large price swings caused by government policy, the state of the economy, or the…
- cyrographariusAn officer who kept the record copies of chirographs, the indented documents cut into matching parts so that each sid…
- cyrographumA deed written in two matching parts cut from a single sheet along an indented line, so that fitting the halves toget…