Terms beginning with N
909 headwords
- n.aNational Association; also, not applicable.
- N.BNote well: a phrase used in documents to draw attention to something important.
- N.DNorthern District, in references to United States judicial districts.
- NAFTAA treaty of 1994 among the United States, Canada, and Mexico phasing out tariffs and removing many other barriers to…
- nakedOf a legal act or document, lacking whatever would confirm or validate it.
- naked authorityAuthority given purely for the principal's own benefit, with nothing given to the agent in return. The principal may…
- naked bailmentA bailment for which the bailee gets nothing, as where someone borrows a friend's car. Such a bailee is liable for lo…
- naked confessionA confession with no other evidence that a crime was committed at all, and for that reason usually treated with suspi…
- naked contractA bare promise given without consideration, which the law will not enforce.
- naked debentureA bond backed only by the issuer's general credit and standing, with no lien on any particular assets.
- naked depositA bailment for which the person holding the goods gets nothing, as where one borrows a friend's car. Such a holder is…
- naked expectancyA bare chance that a person will come to own property in future. A conveyance of such a possibility is usually void f…
- naked land trustA trust in which the trustee holds the legal title but has no active duties, and must simply deal with the property a…
- naked licenseA trademark licence that leaves the owner no control over the quality of the licensee's goods or services. Granting o…
- naked licenseeSomeone whose presence on premises the occupier tolerates without necessarily welcoming, such as a person taking a sh…
- naked optionA call option sold by someone who does not own the underlying stock, and so has nothing in hand to meet the obligatio…
- naked ownerA person whose ownership is burdened by someone else's right to use the property and take its fruits.
- naked possessionBare possession of something, above all land, without any apparent right or colorable title to it.
- naked possibilityA bare chance that a person will come to own property in future. A conveyance of such a possibility is usually void f…
- naked powerA power to deal with something, such as a trust, without holding any interest in the thing itself.
- naked promiseA promise given for nothing in return, unsupported by consideration. The law does not ordinarily enforce it.
- naked trustA trust in which the trustee's only duty is to hand the property over to the beneficiary.
- namFormerly, the taking of property as a distress.
- namationThe taking of property as a distress; in Scots law, the impounding of property.
- nameA word or phrase identifying a person or thing and marking them off from others.
- name partnerA partner whose name appears in the firm's name.
- name-and-arms clauseA clause, usually in a will or settlement of property, requiring whoever takes the property to adopt and keep using t…
- named insuredThe person named in a policy as the one it covers.
- named partnerA partner whose name appears in the firm's name.
- named plaintiffA person who sues on behalf of a group in a class action.
- named-insured exclusionA clause limiting liability cover where one person named in the policy is injured by another person named in the same…
- named-perils policyAn insurance policy that covers only the particular kinds of loss it lists, such as fire, theft, and personal injury.
- namelyBy name, or that is to say. The word marks out an exhaustive list, where "including" signals that the list is only pa…
- namiumThe taking of property as a distress.
- namium vetitumA forbidden distress: a wrongful taking of goods, or their removal out of the county so that the owner cannot get the…
- nanny taxThe federal employment tax an employer must pay on a household worker, such as a nanny or housekeeper, once the wages…
- nantissementIn French law, a security or pledge. Where it is given over movable property it is called a gage; over land, an antic…
- Napoleonic CodeThe codification of French law that Napoleon commissioned in the early 19th century: the civil code of 1804, the code…
- NARAn association of real-estate brokers and agents that promotes education, professional standards, and modern practice…
- narcoanalysisQuestioning a person under a drug meant to lower their inhibitions so that they will speak freely. Courts do not acce…
- narcoticAn addictive drug, above all an opiate, that dulls the senses and brings on sleep; also, loosely, any drug the law co…
- narr-and-cognovit lawA law under which a claimant may have judgment entered on a note through a lawyer's confession that the amount shown,…
- narratioA declaration or complaint in which the claimant sets out the facts of the case, or the claimant's spoken account of…
- narrative evidenceTestimony given as a continuous account in the witness's own words, rather than in answer to a series of questions.
- narratorA pleader: someone who drafts pleadings.
- narrow seaA sea running between two coasts that lie close together, such as the English Channel.
- narrow-channel ruleThe navigational rule that a vessel going down a narrow fairway must keep as close to the wall on her starboard side…
- narrowly tailoredOf a content-neutral restriction on the time, place, or manner of speech in a public forum, no broader than is reason…
- nasciturusAn unborn child, treated in Roman law as already born whenever that was to the child's advantage.
- NASDA body of brokers and dealers that the Securities and Exchange Commission empowered to regulate the over-the-counter…
- NASDAQThe electronic quotation system, and now the exchange, on which many over-the-counter and technology shares are traded.
- nataleThe status a person acquired at birth. A child of serfs was generally a serf, and a child born free rarely became one.
- nati et nascituriThose born and those yet to be born: a person's heirs, near and remote.
- natioA nation; also a body of students, or a person's native place.
- nationA large group of people sharing an origin, a language, and traditions, usually forming a political community. Where a…
- nationalHaving to do with a nation; also nationwide in scope.
- National Aeronautics and Space ActA federal statute of 1958 creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a civilian agency charged with…
- national associationA bank chartered by the federal government, which must carry the words "National Association" or the letters N.A. in…
- National Association of RealtorsAn association of real-estate brokers and agents that promotes education, professional standards, and modern practice…
- National Association of Securities DealersA body of brokers and dealers that the Securities and Exchange Commission empowered to regulate the over-the-counter…
- national bankA bank chartered and supervised by the federal government rather than by a state, and required to belong to the Feder…
- National Bar AssociationAn organization made up chiefly of Black members of the legal profession, founded in 1925, which works to promote edu…
- national currencyNotes and coins a national government approves and puts into circulation as a medium of exchange.
- National Daily Quotation ServiceA daily list of over-the-counter stocks with their market-makers and prices, printed on pink paper and long known as…
- national debtThe total amount the federal government owes, including Treasury bills, notes, and bonds, as well as debt held abroad.
- national defenseEverything a nation does to protect itself against its enemies, including the defense of its shared ideals and values…
- national domicileA domicile considered by reference to a particular nation rather than to a locality within it.
- national emergencyA national crisis, or a situation calling for immediate and extraordinary action by the government.
- National Environmental Policy ActA federal statute of 1969 setting United States environmental policy. It requires federal agencies to file an environ…
- national governmentThe government of a whole country, as distinct from that of a province, state, or territory within it, and from an in…
- National GuardThe militia of the United States, held in reserve for the Army and Air Force. Its members are volunteers recruited an…
- National Labor Relations ActA federal statute governing relations between employers and employees, which created the National Labor Relations Board.
- National Labor Relations BoardThe federal agency created by the National Labor Relations Act to oversee employer-employee relations by supervising…
- National Lawyers GuildAn association of lawyers, law students, and legal workers founded in 1937 to advance a left-wing political and socia…
- National Mediation BoardThe federal agency that mediates disputes between rail and air carriers and their employees over pay and working cond…
- National Motor Vehicle Theft ActA federal law of 1919 making it an offense to drive a stolen motor vehicle across state lines knowing it to be stolen…
- national of the United StatesA citizen of the United States, or a non-citizen who owes it permanent allegiance.
- national originThe country a person was born in, or that their ancestors came from. Several antidiscrimination statutes use the term…
- National Priorities ListThe Environmental Protection Agency's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites, marke…
- National Quotation BureauA company that publishes daily price quotations for over-the-counter securities, long known as the pink sheets.
- National Reporter SystemA series of law reports, published by West, containing the published decisions of the federal and state courts. The f…
- National Response CenterThe nationwide communications center in Washington that receives reports of oil spills and other releases of hazardou…
- national synodA synod made up of clergy from a single nation.
- National Transportation Safety BoardAn independent federal agency that investigates certain transportation accidents, carries out safety studies, hears l…
- national unionA parent union with local branches across the country.
- national-security privilegeThe government's right to withhold information from disclosure where releasing it would harm national security or for…
- national-service life insuranceA policy available to anyone in active United States military service on or after 8 October 1940, giving life cover a…
- national-treatment clauseA clause in a treaty, usually a commercial one, giving foreigners the same rights in certain respects as the country'…
- nationalityThe bond between a person and the country they belong to, involving allegiance on one side and protection on the othe…
- Nationality ActA comprehensive federal law governing immigration, naturalization, and the exclusion of foreigners.
- nationalizationBringing an industry under government control or ownership; also the granting of citizenship to a person.
- nationalizeTo bring an industry under government control or ownership; also to make someone a citizen.
- nations, law ofThe body of rules governing relations between states, and increasingly between states and individuals, drawn from tre…
- nativeA person who is a citizen of a place by having been born there; also someone whose national origin comes from birth i…
- native-bornBorn within the country named.
- nativi conventionariiFormerly, villeins who became so by contract rather than by birth.
- nativi de stipiteFormerly, villeins by birth.
- nativo habendoFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff to seize a runaway serf and return them to their lord. A trial on the writ settle…
- nativusFormerly, a person born a villein or serf.
- naturalFollowing the ordinary course of things, without accident or deliberate interference; also normal, inherent rather th…
- natural affectionThe affection that naturally exists between close relatives, such as parent and child. It counts as good consideratio…
- natural allegianceThe allegiance that citizens or subjects owe their country by birth.
- natural and probable consequenceSomething that predictably follows from an act.
- Natural Born Citizen ClauseThe clause of the Constitution requiring that the President be a natural-born citizen, thereby barring anyone who bec…
- natural boundaryAny natural feature, such as a river or an ocean, forming the boundary of a country, a political subdivision, or a pi…
- natural channelThe bed and banks a stream has formed for itself.
- natural childA child by birth, as opposed to an adopted child; the phrase is also used of a child born outside marriage.
- natural cognationA blood relationship, usually one arising outside marriage.
- natural consequenceSomething that predictably follows from an act.
- natural dayThe 24 hours from midnight to midnight; also, the hours between sunrise and sunset.
- natural deathBodily death, as opposed to civil death; also, death from causes other than accident or violence.
- natural domicileA person's domicile at birth, taken from the parent with custody or fixed by law.
- natural dutyA duty whose breach would be a moral wrong.
- natural equityFairness and even-handed dealing; also the body of principles making up what is fair and right.
- natural fatherThe man who fathered the child biologically.
- natural flood channelA channel along which floodwaters naturally gather and run downstream.
- natural fruitWhat land or property yields of itself, such as crops, timber, or the young of animals, without any reduction in the…
- natural guardianA child's parent, who is the child's guardian by law without any need for a court appointment.
- natural heirA person entitled by law to inherit from someone who dies without a will.
- natural infancyAt common law, the period up to age seven, during which a child was conclusively presumed incapable of committing a c…
- natural justiceJustice as defined in a moral rather than a legal sense.
- natural lawA body of legal and moral principles said to flow from human nature or divine justice rather than from any legislatur…
- natural libertyThe power to act as one pleases, subject to no restraint but that of nature itself.
- natural monopolyA monopoly arising from circumstances outside anyone's control, as where demand is so small that a single plant can s…
- natural monumentA permanent natural feature on land, such as a tree, a river, or a beach, used to mark a boundary.
- natural objectA person who, given the relationship between them, would naturally be expected to share in someone's estate, such as…
- natural obligationA moral duty that no court will enforce, recognized in civil-law systems. Though it cannot be enforced, what has been…
- natural personA human being, as opposed to an artificial person created by law.
- natural possessionActual physical control of a thing, as by living in a building or farming land. It may exist without title, and may f…
- natural premiumThe true cost of life insurance worked out from mortality rates alone. It is less than the net premium.
- natural presumptionAn inference of one fact from another, drawn from common experience.
- natural resourceAnything from nature with economic value or that sustains life, such as timber, minerals, oil, water, and wildlife; a…
- natural rightA right thought to belong to people by nature, independently of anything government or society grants, such as the ri…
- natural servitudeA servitude that belongs to land by nature and needs no special act to create it, such as the right of unbuilt land t…
- natural successionSuccession between human beings, as where property descends on an ancestor's death.
- natural watercourseA stream flowing in a settled direction within a reasonably definite natural bed with banks. It does not include surf…
- natural wear and tearThe loss of value in property from ordinary and reasonable use.
- natural wrongAn act contrary to natural justice.
- natural yearTwelve calendar months, whether running from 1 January to 31 December or from any other starting point.
- natural-accumulation doctrineThe rule that a government body or other landowner need not clear naturally fallen ice or snow from public property s…
- natural-born citizenSomeone who is a citizen from birth by being born within the country's jurisdiction.
- natural-born subjectA person born within the dominions of a monarch, above all of England.
- natural-death actA statute letting a person direct in writing that life-sustaining treatment be withheld if they become terminally ill.
- naturalis possessioBare physical holding of a thing, where the holder recognizes that someone else has the better right, as with a tenan…
- naturalizationThe granting of citizenship to a foreign-born person under statute.
- Naturalization ClauseThe constitutional provision that everyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen both of the United S…
- naturalization courtA court with power to grant citizenship to foreign-born applicants.
- naturalizeTo grant citizenship to a foreign-born person under statute.
- naturalized citizenA foreign-born person who has become a citizen under the law.
- natureThe essential quality that marks one thing off from another; also a wild state untouched by civilization, a person's…
- naulageThe fare charged for carrying passengers or goods by ship.
- naulumThe fare or freight a shipowner charges for carrying people or goods. The word recalls the coin placed in the mouths…
- nauticalHaving to do with ships, carriage by sea, or navigation.
- nautical assessorA person skilled in maritime matters who is called in to advise the court in an admiralty case.
- nautical mileA distance used in air and sea navigation, one minute of arc of a great circle of the earth. Countries once measured…
- nauticum fenusIn Roman and civil law, a loan on the security of a ship or her cargo. Because it need not be repaid unless the ship…
- NAVThe value of one share in a mutual fund, worked out by taking the fund's assets, subtracting its liabilities, and div…
- navagiumA tenant's duty to carry the lord's goods by boat.
- navalHaving to do with ships or shipping, or with a navy.
- naval lawThe body of regulations governing naval forces.
- navarchThe master of an armed ship.
- naviculariusA person engaged in the shipping business.
- navigableAble to carry vessels or vehicles, and so usable for travel or trade.
- navigable airspaceThe air above the minimum flight altitudes the law sets, together with the space needed for aircraft to take off and…
- navigable in factNaturally usable for travel or trade. A stream is navigable in fact if, in its ordinary natural state, boats can use…
- navigable seaIn international law, the sea divided into zones of control: inland waters near a country's shores, over which it has…
- navigable waterAt early common law, any water affected by the ebb and flow of the tide, a test that suited England, where the usable…
- navigable water of the United StatesNavigable water that on its own, or joined with other waters, forms a continuous highway for commerce with other stat…
- navigateTo travel by water in a vessel; also to steer one, or to make one's way through or about something.
- navigationThe sailing of vessels on water; also the business and practice of directing a vessel from one place to another.
- navigation easementAn easement giving the federal government the right to regulate navigable waters, even where doing so interferes with…
- navigation servitudeThe federal government's right to regulate commerce on navigable water without paying compensation for the interferen…
- navyA fleet of ships; also a country's sea forces, taken together with their officers and enlisted personnel. The Constit…
- Navy DepartmentThe division of the Department of Defense that runs the Navy, including the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard when it…
- nazerannaA payment made to the government in acknowledgment of an appointment to public office or a grant of public land.
- NBAAn organization made up chiefly of Black members of the legal profession, founded in 1925, which works to promote edu…
- ne admittasA writ forbidding a bishop to admit the other side's candidate as parson of a church while a dispute over the right o…
- ne disturba pasA defendant's general denial in an action over the right to present a clerk to a church.
- ne dona pasA defendant's general denial in a formedon action, denying that the claimant was given the land by a gift in tail.
- ne exeat republicaA writ forbidding a person to leave the jurisdiction of the court or the state, used to keep a defendant from putting…
- ne injuste vexesA writ forbidding a lord to demand more services or rent from a tenant than the tenure actually required.
- ne relessa pasA claimant's answer to a defendant's plea that the claim has been released, denying that any release was given.
- ne unques executorIn a dower action, the tenant's general denial that the widow's husband ever held an estate of inheritance out of whi…
- ne unques son receiverIn an action for an account, the defendant's plea that they never received anything from the claimant.
- neap tideThe tide of smallest range, occurring twice a month when the sun and moon pull at right angles to each other, so that…
- nearClose by; also almost, closely related by blood, or intimate.
- near moneyAn asset readily turned into cash, such as a marketable security, a note, or a receivable.
- neatClean or pure; free of anything extraneous.
- neat weightThe weight of goods themselves, once the container, wrapping, and anything else extraneous is deducted.
- necessariesThings a person cannot do without, and things needed to maintain the manner of life they are used to. The term takes…
- necessarily included offenseA crime made up of some but not all of the elements of a graver one, and necessarily committed in the course of commi…
- necessariusNecessary or essential; also unavoidable or compelling.
- necessary and properAppropriate and well suited to achieving an object.
- Necessary and Proper ClauseThe clause of the Constitution giving Congress power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying its other pow…
- necessary damagesDamages the law presumes to follow from the kind of wrong complained of, which need not be specifically pleaded or pr…
- necessary depositA bailment made out of emergency or necessity, where the depositor has no free choice of who to entrust the goods to,…
- necessary diligenceThe degree of care a person must show to have the law's protection.
- necessary domicileA domicile fixed by law rather than chosen, such as the domicile a person has at birth.
- necessary implicationAn implication so strong that any other reading would be unreasonable.
- necessary improvementAn improvement made to stop property from deteriorating.
- necessary inferenceA conclusion that cannot be avoided once the premise it rests on is taken as true.
- necessary intromissionThe handling of a dead spouse's goods by the surviving spouse who stays in possession, done to preserve them.
- necessary partyA party so closely connected with a lawsuit that they should be joined if that is feasible, but whose absence will no…
- necessary repairWork on property both needed to prevent deterioration and proper in the circumstances.
- necessary wayAn easement the law creates because it is indispensable to the reasonable use of nearby land, such as a right of way…
- necessitasNecessity: a force that compels an unwilling person to act, so that they lack the free will the law otherwise assumes.
- necessitiesThings a person cannot do without, and things needed to maintain the manner of life they are used to. The term takes…
- necessities of lifeThings a person cannot do without.
- necessitousLiving in extreme want.
- necessitous circumstancesThe position of someone in extreme poverty.
- necessitudoAn obligation; also a close connection between people, such as a family tie.
- necessityIn criminal law, a defense for someone who acts in an emergency they did not create and does a lesser harm than the o…
- necessity defenseThe defense that the accused acted out of necessity: that they faced an emergency they did not create and chose the l…
- neck verseA verse, usually the opening of Psalm 51, which a prisoner claiming benefit of clergy had to read to prove literacy a…
- necropsyAn examination of a dead body to find the cause of death, above all in a criminal investigation.
- neeBorn: used after a married woman's name to give the name she was born with.
- needThe lack of something important, or a requirement; also poverty.
- needyNeedful or necessary; also very poor. The word suggests a more lasting and less urgent condition than "necessitous."
- nefasIn Roman law, something the gods forbid, or something contrary to law or custom; in older English usage, something wi…
- nefastusA day on which it was unlawful to open the courts, administer justice, or hold public assemblies. The priests who ove…
- negateTo deny; also to nullify or render ineffective.
- negativeHaving to do with something bad rather than good; also expressing refusal rather than assent.
- negative actFailing to do something the law requires: a breach of a legal duty to act, taking the form either of holding back or…
- negative amortizationA rise in a loan's outstanding principal because the monthly payments are too small to cover the interest accruing.
- negative avermentAn allegation negative in form but positive in substance, which the party making it must prove. It amounts to more th…
- negative cash flowA position in which more money is going out than coming in.
- negative causationIn securities law, the defense that part of the claimant's loss came from something other than the fall in value caus…
- Negative Commerce ClauseThe rule, drawn from the Commerce Clause by implication, that a state may not discriminate against or unduly burden i…
- negative conditionA condition forbidding a party to do something, such as a clause stopping a tenant from subletting; a promise not to…
- negative contingent feeA fee under which a defense lawyer's pay depends on how much money they save the client against the client's possible…
- negative covenantA covenant requiring a party not to do something, as where a borrower promises the lender not to mortgage or sell the…
- negative dutyA duty forbidding someone to do something; a duty to refrain rather than to act.
- negative easementAn easement forbidding the owner of the burdened land to do something, such as putting up a building that blocks a view.
- negative evidenceEvidence suggesting that an alleged fact did not happen, such as a witness saying they did not see an event. It is ge…
- negative externalityA side effect of someone's activity that harms another without compensation, such as water pollution from a nearby fa…
- negative misprisionWrongfully concealing something that ought to be disclosed.
- negative pleaA plea that traverses one or more material facts stated in the bill.
- negative pregnantA denial framed so that it seems to deny only a detail of the allegation while leaving the substance admitted, as in…
- negative proofProof of a fact established by showing that the opposite is not, or cannot be, true.
- negative reprisalA reprisal in which one nation simply refuses to perform an obligation it owes another, such as a treaty commitment.
- negative rightA right that someone else refrain from doing something harmful to the holder.
- negative servitudeA servitude entitling one landowner to forbid the owner of the burdened land from exercising a right, as where a neig…
- negative statuteA law forbidding something: one framed in negative terms.
- negative testimonyEvidence tending to show that an alleged fact did not happen, such as a witness saying they did not see an event. It…
- negative vetoA veto that stands unless an extraordinary majority of the legislature overrides it. The President of the United Stat…
- negative-pledge clauseA term requiring a borrower who gives no security to refrain from giving security to any later lender without the fir…
- neglectA failure to give proper attention to a person or thing, whether through inadvertence, carelessness, or deliberate di…
- neglect hearingA hearing about alleged child abuse or some other failure to care for a child properly. Depending on the place it may…
- neglected childA child whose parents or guardians are unfit to care for them through cruelty, immorality, or incapacity, or who refu…
- negligenceA failure to take the care a reasonably prudent person would take in the same situation: conduct falling below the st…
- negligence in lawA failure to observe a duty the law itself imposes.
- negligence per seNegligence established as a matter of law, so that whether the duty was broken is not left to the jury. It usually ar…
- negligence ruleIn commercial law, the rule that a party whose carelessness helps bring about a forged signature or a material altera…
- negligentFailing to take the care that an ordinarily prudent person would take in the same circumstances.
- negligent entrustmentLeaving something dangerous, such as a gun or a car, with a person the lender knows or should know is likely to use i…
- negligent escapeA prisoner's getting out of lawful custody through an officer's carelessness.
- negligent homicideA killing caused by criminal negligence: conduct so careless that the law punishes it, even though the killer meant n…
- negligent manslaughterA killing without any intent to kill or do serious harm, committed either through criminal negligence or while commit…
- negligent misrepresentationA false statement made carelessly, in circumstances where the speaker owed a duty to take care.
- negligent offenseAn offense committed through criminal negligence rather than intent.
- negligent tortA tort committed by failing to take the care the law requires in the circumstances.
- negligentiaCarelessness or inattentive omission. It may be of varying degrees, some but not all of which give rise to liability.
- negoceTrade or business.
- negotiabilityThe quality that lets commercial paper pass to a new holder by indorsement and delivery, or by delivery alone, so tha…
- negotiableOf a written instrument, able to pass by delivery or indorsement to someone who takes it for value, in good faith, an…
- negotiable bill of ladingA bill of lading requiring delivery of the goods to the bearer or to the order of a named person.
- negotiable bondA bond that can be transferred from the original holder to somebody else.
- negotiable certificate of depositA security a financial institution issues to raise short-term funds, usually at a fixed rate and maturing within a ye…
- negotiable document of titleA document of title that stands in place of the goods it covers, so that the goods can be transferred only by handing…
- negotiable instrumentA written instrument signed by its maker or drawer, containing an unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed sum o…
- negotiable noteA promissory note meeting the requirements of a negotiable instrument, so that it can pass to a new holder free of mo…
- negotiable order of withdrawalA negotiable instrument, much like a check, drawn on funds held at a financial institution and payable on demand.
- negotiable paperA written instrument signed by its maker or drawer, containing an unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed sum o…
- negotiable wordsThe words and phrases that make a document a negotiable instrument.
- negotiable-order-of-withdrawal accountAn interest-bearing savings account on which the holder may write checks.
- negotiateTo deal with another party in order to reach an understanding, or to bring something about by bargaining; also to tra…
- negotiated marketA market, such as an over-the-counter securities market, in which buyers and sellers find each other and haggle over…
- negotiated offeringA securities offering whose terms, including what the underwriters are paid, have been settled by bargaining between…
- negotiated pleaThe plea a criminal defendant and the prosecutor agree on in a plea bargain.
- negotiating bankA bank that buys or discounts drafts drawn under a letter of credit issued by another bank.
- negotiationA bargaining process in which the parties try to reach agreement on a matter in dispute. The parties keep full contro…
- negotiation letter of creditA letter of credit under which the issuer's undertaking runs to the drawers and indorsers of drafts drawn under it, a…
- negotiorum gestioIn Roman and civil law, the situation where someone steps in to manage another person's affairs in their absence, wit…
- negotiorum gestorA person who volunteers to do something necessary for another's property or business while the owner is away. They ma…
- negotiumA matter or affair; also a transaction or agreement, a trade or business, or a trial, civil or criminal.
- neifeFormerly, a person born into bondage; in particular, a female serf.
- neighborA person who lives nearby; also a person or thing situated close to another.
- neighbor principleThe rule that a person must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions they can reasonably foresee are likely to…
- neighborhoodThe area immediately around a place; also the people living there, usually forming a community of similar means and i…
- neighborhood effectA cost or benefit an activity imposes on people outside it, which the person acting neither pays for nor is paid for.
- neighboring rightsIn copyright law, the rights of performers, of makers of sound recordings, and of broadcasters. Each creates somethin…
- neither partyA docket entry recording the parties' agreement to stop prosecuting and defending the case. It amounts to a dismissal.
- nemine contradicenteWithout opposition or dissent: a phrase recording that no member of a court or assembly opposed a resolution or vote.
- nemoNo one. The word opens many Latin maxims, such as the one saying that no one is above the law.
- neonaticideThe killing of a newborn child, above all by the parents or with their consent; also the practice of doing so, or the…
- NEPAA federal statute of 1969 setting United States environmental policy. It requires federal agencies to file an environ…
- nephewThe son of a person's brother or sister, and sometimes of a brother-in-law or sister-in-law. Some wills stretch the w…
- neposIn Roman law, a grandson; in later usage, a nephew, from which the English word comes.
- nepotismHanding out official favors, above all jobs, to one's own relatives.
- neptisA granddaughter, or a female descendant.
- nerve-center testA test courts sometimes use to find a company's principal place of business, locating it where the officers and direc…
- netWhat is left of a sum after deducting expenses, commissions, and taxes; also the gain or loss on a sale of stock.
- net asset valueThe value of one share in a mutual fund, worked out by taking the fund's assets, subtracting its liabilities, and div…
- net assetsA measure of wealth, usually total assets less total liabilities.
- net balanceWhat is received in a transaction after the costs of it, such as expenses and commissions, are deducted.
- net book valueAn asset's value as shown in the accounts, less the depreciation charged since it was last valued.
- net cash flowThe movement of cash through a business, used to gauge profitability or liquidity: cash received less cash paid out o…
- net costWhat an item costs after subtracting any financial gain it brings in.
- net earningsTotal income from all sources less deductions, exemptions, and other reductions. Income tax is worked out on it.
- net estateWhat is left of an estate after state and federal estate taxes have been paid.
- net incomeTotal income from every source, less deductions, exemptions, and other reductions. Income tax is worked out on this f…
- net investmentThe cash a new project needs to get going; also gross spending on capital goods less depreciation, and the asset acqu…
- net leaseA lease under which the tenant pays rent plus the property expenses, such as taxes and insurance.
- net level annual premiumA net premium fixed at the same figure for every year of the policy.
- net listingA listing under which the agent agrees to sell the property for a set minimum price, keeping anything above that as c…
- net lossThe amount by which total expenses and losses exceed total revenues and gains.
- net national productThe total value of goods and services a country produces in a period, less what it costs to replace worn-out capital.
- net operating assetAn asset used in running a business, as opposed to one held for investment, valued after subtracting the liabilities…
- net operating incomeIncome from running a business, after operating costs are taken off.
- net operating lossThe amount by which a business's operating expenses exceed its revenues, deductible against gross income where other…
- net positionThe difference between a trader's long and short contracts; also the gain or loss caused by a change in the value of…
- net premiumThe premium on an insurance policy after deducting the agent's commission; more precisely, the part of the premium co…
- net present valueThe present value of a project's net cash flow, discounted at the cost of capital. It is used to judge whether the pr…
- net priceThe price of something after cash discounts are deducted.
- net proceedsWhat is received in a transaction after the costs of it, such as expenses and commissions, are deducted.
- net profitTotal sales revenue less the cost of goods sold and all other expenses.
- net quick assetsQuick assets less current liabilities.
- net realizable valueFor a receivable, the cash expected to be collected from present customer balances; for inventory, the selling price…
- net rentThe rent from property once expenses such as repairs, utilities, and taxes are paid.
- net returnThe profit on an investment after every expense of the investment is deducted.
- net revenueTotal sales revenue less the cost of goods sold and all other expenses.
- net saleWhat is left of a sale after deducting returns, allowances, rebates, discounts, and other expenses.
- net sale contractA listing under which the agent agrees to sell the property for a set minimum price, keeping anything above that as c…
- net single premiumThe single sum a policyholder must pay at the outset to fund all claims expected under the policy, worked out on assu…
- net valuation premiumThe premium on an insurance policy after deducting the agent's commission.
- net valueIn insurance law, the excess of a policyholder's payments over the yearly cost of the insurance: the part of each ann…
- net weightThe weight of goods themselves, once the container, wrapping, and anything else extraneous is deducted.
- net worthA measure of wealth: total assets less total liabilities.
- net yieldProfit stated as a percentage of the sum invested.
- net-capital rulesIn securities law, the financial-soundness standards the Securities and Exchange Commission set under the Securities…
- net-net-net leaseA lease under which the tenant pays every expense, mortgage interest and amortization included, so that the rent reac…
- net-worth methodThe method the Internal Revenue Service uses to work out the taxable income of a taxpayer who keeps no adequate recor…
- nether house of ParliamentThe lower house of Parliament: the House of Commons.
- network elementA facility or piece of equipment used to provide telecommunications service, such as part of a local exchange network…
- neutralIndifferent; of a judge, mediator, arbitrator, or state, taking no side in a dispute.
- neutral principlesRules grounded in law rather than in the decider's own interests or beliefs, and applied the same way whoever the par…
- neutral propertyGoods belonging to citizens of a country taking no part in a war, so long as they are properly used and marked. Harml…
- neutralityThe position of a country that takes no part in a war but keeps up peaceful dealings with both sides.
- neutrality lawIn international law, a law forbidding a country to give military help to either side in a war between powers with wh…
- neutrality proclamationAn announcement by the President, at the outbreak of a war between other nations, that the United States is neutral a…
- neutralizationMaking something ineffective. The word also names the process by which a country's integrity is guaranteed by treaty…
- never indebted, plea ofA common-law denial by which a defendant sued on a contract debt denies that any contract, express or implied, ever e…
- newRecently come into being; also recently discovered, changed from a former state, unfamiliar, or beginning afresh.
- new acquisitionAn estate that did not come by descent, will, or gift from either side of the owner's family, such as one acquired fr…
- new and usefulIn patent law, two of the requirements for a patentable invention: that it be novel and that it have practical use.
- new assetIn administering a deceased person's estate, property the executor or administrator receives after the time for filin…
- new assignmentA claimant's restatement of a claim because the original complaint lacked detail. It let a claimant answer a plea tha…
- new cause of actionA claim that does not arise out of the conduct, event, or transaction set out in the original pleading. An amended pl…
- new debtorIn secured-transactions law, someone who becomes bound as debtor under a security agreement that another person enter…
- new drugA drug that experts have not yet accepted as safe and effective for the use proposed. The Food and Drug Administratio…
- New InnIn England, one of the Inns of Chancery where law students were placed before entering the Inns of Court. The practic…
- new issueA stock or bond a company sells for the first time, often to raise working capital.
- new matterA matter neither party has raised in the pleadings, usually involving fresh issues and new facts to be proved.
- new promiseA promise that could not be enforced, which the promisor revives and undertakes to keep, as where a debtor agrees to…
- new rulingIn criminal procedure, a Supreme Court ruling that existing precedent did not dictate when the defendant's conviction…
- new seriesA fresh sequence of volume numbers begun in a series of law reports, so that citation must say which series is meant.
- new styleThe modern way of reckoning dates by the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and adopted in E…
- new trialA fresh trial, after judgment, of some or all of the issues already decided. The trial court may order one on a party…
- new valueValue newly given, such as money; also the value obtained by taking security for a debt other than one already owed.
- new worksIn civil law, new building work on land, which a neighbor whose rights it threatens may go to court to stop before it…
- New York interestInterest reckoned on the exact number of days elapsed, using a 365-day year, as opposed to the 30-day-month method.
- New York standard clauseA clause providing that title insurance is not destroyed by anything the borrower does. An act that would otherwise v…
- New York Stock ExchangeThe dominant securities exchange in the United States, where member firms buy and sell securities for themselves and…
- New York SupplementA set of law reports in West's National Reporter System containing every published decision of New York's intermediat…
- New York Times ruleA commonsense rule of conduct: do nothing, in public or in private, that you would mind seeing reported on the front…
- new-business ruleThe rule barring damages for lost profits to a business with no track record of profit, on the ground that the loss w…
- new-contract disputeUnder the Railway Labor Act, a disagreement over basic working conditions, which usually ends in a new collective agr…
- new-debtor syndromeConduct showing that a debtor filed for bankruptcy in bad faith, which may lead the court to dismiss the petition. Fo…
- new-for-oldIn marine insurance, the rule for adjusting a partial loss when old materials are replaced with new: the value of the…
- new-loan feeA charge a lender makes for arranging a new loan, usually payable at closing.
- new-rule principleIn criminal procedure, the rule barring a federal court from granting habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner on the…
- newly discovered evidenceEvidence that existed at the time of a motion or trial but was then unknown to a party, who on later finding it may r…
- newsman's privilegeA reporter’s right, recognized in many states, to refuse to disclose confidential sources or unpublished material.
- newspaperA publication for general circulation, usually issued daily or weekly, carrying matters of general public interest su…
- newspaper of general circulationA newspaper carrying news of interest to the public at large rather than to one particular group, and available throu…
- newspaper prospectusA shortened prospectus that the Securities and Exchange Commission allows to be circulated as an advertisement in new…
- next deviseeThe person who takes what remains of an estate in tail, as distinguished from the first devisee.
- next eventual estateAn estate taking effect on the event that ends the accumulation of undisposed rents and profits; an estate that begin…
- next friendA person who comes forward to act in a lawsuit for the benefit of a claimant who is a minor or lacks capacity, withou…
- next of kinThe people most closely related by blood to someone who has died; also those entitled to take their personal property…
- next presentationIn church law, the right to present to the bishop a clerk to fill the next vacancy in a parish.
- next-in, first-outA way of valuing inventory, not accepted as a general accounting principle, that costs goods at what it would take to…
- nexumIn early Roman law, a transaction under which a debtor who failed to repay could be seized and held in bondage until…
- nexusA connection or link, often a causal one.
- nexus testThe test for treating a private person's act as state action, and so as capable of violating constitutional rights: t…
- NGOIn international law, a scientific, professional, business, or public-interest organization that is neither part of a…
- NGRINot guilty by reason of insanity: a verdict acquitting the defendant because a mental disease or defect relieved them…
- nichilIn England, a debt owed to the Exchequer that sheriffs returned as impossible to levy. An officer enrolled these once…
- nicknameA familiar or descriptive name used in place of, or along with, a person's real name.
- nieceThe daughter of a person's brother or sister, and sometimes of a brother-in-law or sister-in-law. Some wills stretch…
- nient culpableA general plea of not guilty in a tort or criminal case.
- nient dedireTo deny nothing, and so to let judgment go by default.
- NIFONext-in, first-out: a way of costing goods at their replacement cost.
- nightThe time from sunset to sunrise; also the darkness in which a person's face cannot be made out, the sense used in the…
- night-search authorizationA statement in a search warrant expressly allowing the search to be carried out at night, which is required in many p…
- nightwalkerFormerly, a person who wandered about after dark in a way that raised suspicion and might disturb the peace. Nightwal…
- nihilA sheriff's or constable's return that a writ could not be executed because there was nothing to levy on.
- nihil capiat per breveA judgment that the claimant take nothing by their writ: a judgment against the claimant, whether on the merits or in…
- nihil estA sheriff's or constable's return that a writ could not be executed because there was nothing to levy on.
- nihil habetA sheriff's or constable's return that the defendant had nothing in the district by which they could be served or war…
- nihil-dicit default judgmentA judgment entered against a defendant who has appeared but has put in no plea or defense, so that there is nothing b…
- nihilismThe doctrine that moral principles have no rational basis and that there is no objective truth; also the view that tr…
- nihilistA person who advocates nihilism.
- nil debetA general denial in an action of debt on a simple contract.
- nil habuit in tenementisFormerly, in a claim for rent under a lease, the defendant's plea that the landlord had no title or interest in the p…
- nil-dicit default judgmentA judgment entered against a defendant who has appeared but has put in no plea or defense, so that there is nothing b…
- nimble dividendA dividend paid out of the current year's earnings even though the account dividends may be drawn from is in deficit.…
- Nineteenth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1920, providing that the right to vote may not be denied or abridged by the…
- ninety-day letterA statutory notice of a tax deficiency the IRS sends a taxpayer. Within 90 days of receiving it the taxpayer must eit…
- Ninth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, providing that listing certain rights in the…
- nisiOf a court's one-sided ruling or grant of relief, good unless the party it goes against comes forward and shows cause…
- nisi decreeA decree that becomes absolute unless the party it goes against shows the court, within a stated time, why it should…
- nisi fecerisFormerly, a clause in a manorial writ providing that the king's court or officer would do justice if the lord failed…
- nisi priusA trial court in which issues are tried before a jury, as opposed to an appellate court. The term has fallen out of u…
- nisi prius clauseAn entry on the record authorizing a jury trial in the county named.
- nisi prius rollThe record of a case tried at nisi prius.
- nitroglycerine chargeA supplementary instruction urging a deadlocked jury to keep trying for a verdict, each juror listening to the others…
- NLRAA federal statute governing relations between employers and employees, which created the National Labor Relations Board.
- NLRBThe federal agency created by the National Labor Relations Act to oversee employer-employee relations by supervising…
- NMBThe federal agency that mediates disputes between rail and air carriers and their employees over pay and working cond…
- NMINo middle initial.
- no actus reusA plea in which a criminal defendant denies committing the act charged, as opposed to denying the guilty state of min…
- no arrival, no saleA delivery term in some sales contracts under which the seller must get the goods to a named place and bears the risk…
- no awardIn a suit to enforce an arbitration award, the defendant's plea that no award was ever made.
- no billA grand jury's endorsement that the evidence is not enough to support an indictment.
- no cause of actionA finding that the claimant has no legally recognized claim at all, so that the case fails whatever the facts.
- no contestA plea by which a criminal defendant, without admitting guilt, declines to contest the charge. It is often preferred…
- no evidenceThe absence of any legally sufficient evidence on which a reasonable fact-finder could decide for the party who bears…
- no fundsAn indorsement marked on a check when the account does not hold enough to cover it.
- no goodsA sheriff's return that the defendant has no goods in the district on which the writ can be levied.
- no parStock issued with no fixed value on its face. For accounting purposes it is given a stated value bearing little or no…
- no progressA litigant's failure to press on with the case.
- no recourseThe absence of any means of obtaining repayment from, or judgment against, a person; also a notation on an instrument…
- no-action clauseA policy clause barring suit against the insurer until the insured's liability has been settled by judgment.
- no-action letterA letter from an agency's staff saying that, if the facts are as the applicant describes, the staff will advise the a…
- no-answer default judgmentA judgment for the claimant entered after the defendant fails to answer or appear in time.
- no-bonus clauseIn landlord-tenant law, a lease clause that takes effect if the property is condemned, limiting the tenant's compensa…
- no-claimThe absence of a claim. Legal philosophers coined the term as the opposite of a claim, to complete the scheme of jura…
- no-confidence voteThe formal method by which a legislature, by majority vote, forces a cabinet or ministry to resign.
- no-contest clauseA clause in a will making a gift conditional on the beneficiary's not challenging the will.
- no-dutyThe liberty not to do something: the absence of any duty to act.
- no-duty doctrineIn tort law, the rule that a defendant who owes the claimant no duty is not liable for their injury; also the rule th…
- no-evidence motionA party's contention that the evidence cannot support the finding made. Despite the name, the question is not whether…
- no-eyewitness ruleIn tort law, the largely defunct rule that where no direct evidence shows what a dead person did to avoid an accident…
- no-faultOf a claim settled without deciding that anyone was to blame.
- no-fault auto insuranceAn agreement to indemnify for injury or property damage arising from the use of a car, whoever caused the accident.
- no-fault divorceA divorce in which neither party has to prove fault, only that the marriage has broken down beyond repair or that the…
- no-knock searchA police search of premises entered without first knocking and announcing who they are and why they have come. A warr…
- no-knock search warrantA warrant allowing the police to enter without first knocking and announcing themselves, because announcing would let…
- no-limit orderAn order to buy or sell securities at whatever price the market gives, with no price limit set.
- no-load fundA mutual fund that charges no sales commission, though it may charge fees to cover running costs.
- no-man's-landIn labor law, the area of uncertainty over whether a state or the federal government had jurisdiction over a labor di…
- no-merit briefIn criminal procedure, a brief filed by a court-appointed defense lawyer who has found no arguable ground for appeal…
- no-oral-modification clauseA contract clause providing that the agreement can be changed only in writing, not by anything the parties say.
- no-par stockStock issued with no fixed value on its face. For accounting purposes it is given a stated value bearing little or no…
- no-par-value stockStock issued with no fixed value on its face. For accounting purposes it is given a stated value bearing little or no…
- no-pass, no-play ruleA state law requiring public-school students who take part in extracurricular activities, such as sports or band, to…
- no-retreat ruleThe rule that a person facing a deadly attack may use deadly force in self-defense where there is no reasonable way t…
- no-rightThe absence of any right against another in a particular respect. It is the counterpart of a privilege: where one per…
- no-setoff certificateA document in which a borrower acknowledges that the mortgage is good and valid for the whole amount of the note, so…
- no-shop provisionA clause forbidding a party to a commercial contract from seeking or striking a better bargain with anyone else.
- no-strike clauseA clause in a labor agreement forbidding employees to strike and putting arbitration in place of striking as the way…
- nobile officiumIn Scots law, the power of a superior court to give equitable relief where the ordinary law provides none.
- nobilityPeople of social or political rank, usually inherited or conferred by the sovereign. English law knows several degree…
- nocentIn older usage, harmful; also guilty or criminal. The word is the little-used opposite of innocent.
- noctanterA chancery writ to a sheriff as the first step in recovering damages for the destruction of a ditch or hedge by night…
- noctem de firmaA night's entertainment owed to the lord, or the payment given in place of it.
- nocumentumA nuisance. The old law gave no remedy for a nuisance that caused only damage to property, but did give one where it…
- Noerr-Pennington doctrineThe rule that the First Amendment protects companies from liability, above all under the antitrust laws, when they jo…
- NOLThe amount by which a business's operating expenses exceed its revenues, deductible against gross income where other…
- nolens volensWilling or unwilling: whether one likes it or not.
- nolissementIn French law, the chartering of a ship.
- nolo contendereNo contest: a plea by which a criminal defendant declines to dispute the charge without admitting guilt.
- nomenIn Roman law, a personal name. A citizen generally had three: a first name, a family name, and a surname marking the…
- nomen collectivumA collective name: the name of a class of things.
- nomen transcripticiumA creditor's entry of a money debt in a new account after closing an old one, which with the debtor's consent turned…
- nomina villarumIn the reign of Edward II, a list the sheriffs compiled of the villages in their counties and of who held them.
- nominalExisting in name only; also, of a price, trifling compared with what one would expect.
- nominal accountAn income-statement account closed into surplus at year end when the books are balanced.
- nominal assetAn asset whose value is hard to judge, such as a judgment or a claim.
- nominal capitalThe smallest value of shares a company's constitution allows it to issue.
- nominal considerationConsideration so small that it bears no relation to the value of what is exchanged, such as $10 for a piece of land.…
- nominal damagesA token sum awarded where a legal right has been infringed but no loss is shown, or where the right does not depend o…
- nominal partnerA person held out as a partner in a firm who in fact has no interest in the partnership.
- nominal partyA party named in a lawsuit who has no real interest in the outcome and is joined only because the procedure requires it.
- nominal rateThe interest rate stated in a loan agreement or on a bond, with no allowance for inflation.
- nominal sentenceA sentence so light that it is a formality, imposed to mark a conviction rather than to punish.
- nominal trustA trust in which the trustee's only duty is to hand the property over to the beneficiary.
- nominal valueThe value shown on the face of an instrument or security: the dollar figure the charter assigns to a share, or the pr…
- nominal yieldProfit stated as a percentage of the sum invested.
- nominal-payee ruleIn commercial law, the rule that an indorsement by anyone is effective where the drawer of the instrument never inten…
- nominateTo propose a person for election or appointment, or to name them for a position.
- nominate contractA contract of a recognized named type, such as sale, insurance, or lease, where using the name itself brings with it…
- nominatimBy name: mentioning a person or thing expressly, so that, for instance, disinheriting someone by name leaves no doubt…
- nominating and reducingA method, used above all in London, of picking special jurors. Numbers standing for the people on the sheriff's list…
- nominatio auctorisIn a claim to recover property, the defendant's plea that someone else in fact owns it, so that the true owner must c…
- nominationProposing a person for election or appointment, or naming them for a position.
- nomination paperA document an independent political group files to put one or more candidates on a general-election ballot, where the…
- nomination to a livingThe right to offer a clerk to the owner of an advowson, to be presented to the bishop. The owner may grant that right…
- nominativus pendensA phrase in the nominative case left grammatically unconnected to the rest of the sentence.
- nomineBy name, or under the name of.
- nomine poenaeBy way of penalty: a phrase marking a sum payable as a penalty rather than as compensation.
- nomineeA person proposed for an office or duty; also someone designated to act for another in a narrow way, or a party who h…
- nominee trustA trust in which the beneficiaries may direct what the trustee does with the trust property; also an arrangement for…
- nomocanonA collection of church canons and imperial laws applying to church matters in the orthodox churches, made up largely…
- nomographerA person who drafts laws, or one skilled in the drafting of them.
- nomographyThe art of drafting laws; also a treatise on that art.
- nomotheteA lawgiver.
- non assumpsitFormerly, the general denial in an action of assumpsit.
- non cepitA general denial in a replevin action, putting in issue both the taking and the place where it happened.
- non compos mentisNot of sound mind: lacking the mental capacity the law requires to make a valid legal act.
- non concessitIn English law, a plea denying that the Crown granted the claimant the rights claimed under letters patent; also a st…
- non damnificatusIn an action of debt on a bond to hold the claimant harmless, the defendant's plea that the claimant has suffered no…
- non decimandoA custom or prescription claimed as a ground for paying no tithes at all.
- non demisetA plea in an action for rent that the claimant never granted the lease, available where the claimant had not pleaded…
- non detinetThe general denial in a detinue action, denying both that the defendant is holding the goods and that the claimant ha…
- non est factumA plea denying that the defendant executed the document sued on.
- non fecitA denial, in an action of assumpsit on a promissory note, that the defendant made the promise.
- non fecit vastum contra prohibitionemIn an estrepement action, a tenant's denial of having damaged the land after judgment went against them but before th…
- non infregit conventionemFormerly, a plea in an action for breach of covenant, denying that the defendant broke it.
- non intromittendoFormerly, a writ ordering a court not to help someone who had obtained a writ of praecipe in capite for land from the…
- non liquetIn civil law, the principle that a decider may decline to decide because the law is unclear; in international law, a…
- non obstanteNotwithstanding: a phrase introducing a clause that overrides what would otherwise apply.
- non obstante veredictoNotwithstanding the verdict: describing a judgment the court enters against the party the jury found for, because no…
- non omittas propter liberatemFormerly, a clause in writs of execution directing the sheriff to carry out the writ whether or not they had special…
- non plevinA failure to replevy land in time after the Crown has taken it on a default.
- non ponendis in assisis et juratisA writ exempting a person from being put on assizes or juries.
- non procedendo ad assisamA writ ordering that no further steps be taken toward holding an assize.
- non procedendo ad assisam rege inconsultoFormerly, a writ stopping the trial of a case touching someone in the king's service until the king had been consulted.
- non prosequiturA judgment against a claimant who has failed to pursue the case.
- non solvendo pecuniamFormerly, a writ forbidding a bishop to levy a fine imposed on a royal clerk for not residing in the parish.
- non submissitIn an action of debt on a bond to perform an arbitration award, the defendant's denial that they ever submitted to th…
- non sui jurisLacking legal age or capacity, and so unable to act for oneself.
- non tenent insimulFormerly, in a partition action, the defendant's plea denying that they held the estate jointly with the claimant.
- non usurpavitA plea denying that the defendant usurped the claimant's right to present a clerk to a church.
- non-core proceedingIn bankruptcy law, a proceeding on a claim that will affect the administration of the estate, such as a tort claim be…
- non-interest-bearing bondA bond sold at its current market value, which is below its face value.
- non-purchase-moneyOf an obligation, not secured by property bought with the loan itself.
- non-self-governing territoryIn international law, a territory governed by another country. Such territories are rarely given representation in th…
- nonabilityThe lack of legal capacity, above all to sue in one's own name; also a plea raising that lack.
- nonacceptanceThe refusal or rejection of something, such as an offer of contract; also a buyer's rejection of goods that do not ma…
- nonaccessIn family law, the absence of any opportunity for sexual intercourse. An alleged father often raises it as a defense…
- nonacquiescenceIn administrative law, an agency's policy of refusing to be bound by a lower court's precedent that conflicts with it…
- nonactuarially sound retirement systemA retirement plan that pays current benefits out of current contributions and assets, instead of investing contributi…
- nonadmissionA failure to acknowledge something; also a refusal to allow something in, such as evidence in a proceeding.
- nonadmitted assetAn asset that by law cannot be counted in assessing an insurer's financial position, because it cannot be turned into…
- nonae et decimaeNinths and tenths: payments of a ninth and a tenth part of goods, once levied on the clergy and laity as a tax.
- nonaggression pactIn international law, a treaty by which two or more countries agree not to take military action against each other.
- nonagiumA ninth part of a dead person's goods, sometimes payable to the parish clergy for pious uses.
- nonaligned stateIn international law, a country, usually a less developed one, that has joined with others in a like position to stre…
- nonancestral estateAn estate coming from any source other than the owner's ancestors.
- nonapparent easementAn easement that can be enjoyed only when the claimant actively does something on the servient land, such as a right…
- nonapparent servitudeA servitude whose existence is not shown by any visible sign on the burdened land, so that a buyer might not discover…
- nonappearanceA failure to appear in court, above all to prosecute or defend a lawsuit.
- nonassertive conductIn the law of evidence, behavior not meant as a statement, such as fainting while being questioned as a suspect. Beca…
- nonassessable insuranceInsurance whose premium is fixed, so that the insurer cannot demand anything further from the insured.
- nonassessable stockStock whose holder risks no more than what they paid for it and cannot be called on for further sums to pay the issue…
- nonbailableOf a person, not entitled to bail; of an offense, not admitting of bail.
- nonbankHaving to do with a body other than a bank.
- nonbank bankA financial institution that either takes demand deposits or makes commercial loans, but not both, and so escapes the…
- nonbillable timeTime a lawyer or paralegal spends that cannot be charged to a client.
- noncallable bondA security the issuer cannot redeem or buy back before maturity.
- noncallable securityA security the issuer cannot redeem or buy back at its own option.
- noncancelability clauseA policy clause stopping the insurer from canceling after a loss, so long as the premium has been paid.
- noncapitalOf a crime, not punishable by death.
- noncareer vice-consulA vice-consul who is not a member of the Foreign Service and is appointed without examination.
- noncash chargeA cost, such as depreciation or amortization, that involves no actual payment of money.
- noncitizenA person who is not a citizen of the place in question.
- nonclaimA failure to pursue a right within the time the law allows, which bars the person from asserting it afterwards.
- nonclaim statuteA statute that extinguishes a claim not made in time, above all within another proceeding, such as the deadline for a…
- noncode stateA state that had not yet merged the procedures of law and equity, so that equity was still run as a separate system.…
- noncombatantNot serving in a fighting role; also not designed for combat.
- noncommercial partnershipA partnership that does not buy and sell goods but is instead a partnership of trade or profession.
- noncommissioned officerAn enlisted member of the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps in one of the grades above the lowest, such as a sergeant…
- noncompete covenantA contract term, found above all in employment, partnership, and sale-of-business agreements, by which one party prom…
- noncompetition covenantA clause, usually in an employment, partnership, or business-sale agreement, by which one party promises not to run a…
- nonconforming goodsGoods that fail in some respect to match what the contract called for, so that the buyer may reject them.
- nonconforming lotA lot that was lawful when created but that a new or amended zoning ordinance now breaches.
- nonconforming useIn zoning law, a use of land that the current zoning rules forbid but that is allowed to continue because it was lawf…
- nonconformistA person who refuses to follow established customs, beliefs, or practices, above all one who will not conform to a pa…
- nonconformityA failure to meet a requirement, as with goods that do not match a contract specification.
- nonconsensualNot done by mutual consent.
- nonconsentThe absence of voluntary agreement; in the law of rape, the refusal to take part willingly in sexual intercourse.
- nonconstitutionalResting on some legal ground other than a provision of the federal or a state constitution.
- nonconsumableA thing, such as land, a vehicle, or a share of stock, that can be used without being used up, apart from the natural…
- noncontestability clauseA policy clause, common in life insurance, barring the insurer after a set period, usually one or two years, from dis…
- noncontinuing guarantyA guaranty limited to a single transaction, which ends once that transaction is complete rather than covering a runni…
- noncontinuous easementAn easement that can be enjoyed only when the claimant actively does something on the servient land, such as a right…
- noncontractNot arising out of a contract.
- noncontract demurrageDemurrage a court orders where the contract makes no provision for it.
- noncontractualNot arising out of a contract.
- noncontractual dutyA duty arising apart from any contract.
- noncontribution clauseA clause in a fire policy providing that only the interests of the owner and the first mortgagee are covered.
- noncontributoryNot taking part in something; of an employee benefit plan, funded by the employer alone.
- noncontributory pension planA pension plan funded entirely by the employer, with nothing taken from the employees.
- noncore proceedingIn bankruptcy law, a proceeding on a claim that will affect the administration of the estate, such as a tort claim be…
- noncovered wagesWages on which no social-security tax has to be paid.
- noncumulative dividendA dividend on preferred stock that does not build up if it is missed, so that a passed dividend is simply lost to the…
- noncumulative preferred stockPreferred stock on which a missed dividend is simply lost: once a payment is passed over, it is not made up later.
- noncumulative stockPreferred stock on which passed dividends never have to be made up. Once a periodic dividend is omitted, it will not…
- noncumulative votingA voting system in which a shareholder may cast for any one candidate no more votes than the number of shares held, s…
- noncustodialOf questioning, not taking place while the person is in custody; of a parent, not having sole or primary custody.
- noncustodial sentenceA sentence that does not send the offender to prison, such as a fine, probation, or community service.
- nondeadly forceForce neither meant nor likely to kill or cause serious injury, aimed at most at minor harm. A threat of deadly force…
- nondelegableOf a power or function, not capable of being handed to someone else to perform.
- nondelegable dutyA duty a contracting party cannot pass to someone else. If they try, the other party may refuse to accept performance…
- nondelegation doctrineThe principle, drawn from the separation of powers, limiting how far Congress may hand its legislative power to anoth…
- nondeliveryA failure to hand over or convey something, such as goods.
- nondirectionA judge's failure to instruct the jury properly on a point of law that had to be covered.
- nondischargeable debtA debt, such as one for overdue taxes, that bankruptcy does not wipe out.
- nondisclosureA failure or refusal to reveal something that either ought to be revealed or is required to be.
- nondiscretionary trustA trust in which the trustee has no discretion over how the trust is managed or how distributions are made.
- nondiverseOf the same kind; of a party, having the same citizenship as those on the other side of a lawsuit, so that there is n…
- nonesIn the Roman calendar, the ninth day before the ides: the 7th of March, May, July, and October, and the 5th of the ot…
- nonessential mistakeIn contract law, a mistake that touches nothing in the agreement itself but only some outside circumstance, and so le…
- nonessential termA term of a contract that is not fundamental, so that breaking it gives a claim for damages but no right to treat the…
- nonexclusive easementAn easement that leaves the owner of the burdened land free to share in the benefit as well.
- nonexclusive listingA listing that lets the owner give selling rights to several agents at once, obliges the owner to pay a commission if…
- nonexempt propertyA debtor's property that creditors may lawfully reach to satisfy a debt, as opposed to property the law exempts, such…
- nonfeasanceA failure to act where there was a duty to act.
- nonfeasorA person who fails to act when under a duty to act, as opposed to one who acts badly.
- nonforfeitableNot liable to be forfeited.
- nonforfeiture optionA choice the policyholder has when premiums stop: to keep the policy in force for a shorter term, to surrender it for…
- nonfreehold estateAny estate in land without seisin, such as an estate for years, from period to period, at will, or at sufferance; any…
- nonfunctionalIn trademark law, a feature of a product that may identify or distinguish it but that plays no part in how the produc…
- nonfundamental termA term of a contract that is not fundamental, so that breaking it gives a claim for damages but no right to treat the…
- nongovernmental organizationIn international law, a scientific, professional, business, or public-interest organization that is neither part of a…
- noninfamous crimeA crime that does not count as an infamous crime.
- noninstallment creditConsumer credit to be repaid in a single payment, such as a doctor's or plumber's bill.
- noninsurable riskA risk no insurer will write, because it is too uncertain for actuaries to price.
- nonintercourseOne country's refusal to trade with another, as under the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, which barred the import of Bri…
- noninterpretivismIn constitutional interpretation, the view that judges are not confined to the Constitution's text or to the understa…
- noninterpretivistA person who holds that judges may look beyond the Constitution's text and original understanding to changing social…
- noninterventionIn international law, the principle that one country should not interfere in another's internal affairs. The United N…
- nonintervention executorAn executor who, unlike an ordinary one, may administer the estate with very little supervision from the probate court.
- nonintervention willA will naming an executor who may administer the estate with little or no supervision by the probate court.
- nonintromittent clauseA clause in a borough's charter exempting it from the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace appointed for the sur…
- nonissuable pleaA plea on which a ruling will not decide the case on its merits, such as a plea in abatement.
- nonjoinderThe failure to bring a necessary party into a lawsuit.
- nonjudicial dayA day on which the courts do not sit and legal proceedings cannot be held, such as a Sunday or a public holiday.
- nonjudicial foreclosureA way of foreclosing that needs no court case.
- nonjudicial punishmentIn military law, official punishment imposed for a minor offense on someone subject to the Uniform Code of Military J…
- nonjuridicalNot relating to court proceedings or the administration of justice; also not relating to law at all.
- nonjurorSomeone who is not serving as a juror. Formerly, a person who refused to swear allegiance to the sovereign, above all…
- nonjuryDecided by a judge rather than by a jury.
- nonjury trialA trial before a judge sitting without a jury, who decides the facts as well as the law.
- nonjusticiableNot suitable for a court to decide.
- nonjusticiable questionA question a court will not take up because it turns on the exercise of discretion belonging to the executive or the…
- nonlapse statuteIn the law of wills, a statute that saves a gift from failing where the beneficiary dies before the testator, by pass…
- nonleviableOf property, exempt from execution, seizure, forfeiture, or sale.
- nonliquidating distributionA handing out of assets by a company or partnership that is carrying on business, such as a distribution of capital n…
- nonliteral infringementIn patent law, a judge-made doctrine finding infringement where the accused product or process falls outside the lite…
- nonmailableOf a letter or parcel, unable to be sent by post because of its size, its contents, or what is written on it.
- nonmarital childA child neither conceived nor born in marriage and not later legitimated. At common law such a child was treated as n…
- nonmarketable securityA security that cannot be sold on the market, such as certain government bonds, and can only be redeemed by the holde…
- nonmedical policyA policy issued without any medical examination of the applicant beforehand.
- nonmember bankA bank that does not belong to the Federal Reserve System.
- nonmerchantable titleA title a reasonable buyer would refuse because of possible competing interests in the property or the prospect of li…
- nonmonetary itemAn asset or liability whose value moves over time, such as land, equipment, inventory, or warranty obligations.
- nonmovantA party other than the one who made the motion the court is considering.
- nonnavigableOf water, not usable by vessels for travel or trade; in the older tidal test, unaffected by the ebb and flow of the t…
- nonnegotiableOf an agreement or term, not open to change; of an instrument, incapable of passing to a new holder by indorsement or…
- nonnegotiable bill of ladingA bill of lading naming the consignee to whom the carrier must deliver the goods, which cannot be transferred to anyo…
- nonnegotiable document of titleA document of title that merely evidences the goods it covers, without standing in their place.
- nonobviousnessIn patent law, the quality of being far enough beyond what was already known that, when the invention was made, it wo…
- nonoccupant visitorIn criminal procedure, a person who owns, works at, or is a customer of a business where a search is being carried ou…
- nonoccupationalNot related to one's job; also, of a disability policy, paying benefits where the disability keeps the insured from w…
- nonoccupierA person who does not occupy the land in question, above all someone coming on to it as an invitee or licensee.
- nonoperating incomeBusiness income coming from investments rather than from operations.
- nonoperative performance bondA performance bond that is not yet in force and takes effect only when the buyer's letter of credit or other approved…
- nonoriginal billA bill about a matter the same parties have already litigated, added to or continuing an original bill.
- nonparticipatingNot taking part in something; above all, having no right to share in profits or surplus.
- nonparticipating preferred stockPreferred stock that gives its holder no claim to earnings beyond the dividend the preference contract states, howeve…
- nonpaymentA failure to hand over money or other value when it falls due.
- nonperformanceA failure to carry out an obligation, above all one under a contract.
- nonperforming loanA loan on which the borrower has stopped making the required payments.
- nonperforming party has causedIn family law, leaving a spouse or child deliberately and with no intention of returning.
- nonpersonal actionAn action proceeding on a basis of territorial jurisdiction other than jurisdiction over the person, that is jurisdic…
- nonprivityThe absence of any contractual relationship between two people.
- nonprobateHaving to do with a way of passing property at death other than by will, or with the property so passed.
- nonprofit associationA group formed for some purpose other than making money, such as a scientific, religious, or educational body.
- nonprofit corporationA corporation set up for some purpose other than making a profit, and usually given special tax treatment.
- nonproliferation treatyA treaty by which countries undertake to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, above all the Treaty on the Non-Prolife…
- nonpublic forumPublic property that is neither designated nor traditionally used as a place for public communication, such as a jail…
- nonqualified deferred-compensation planA pay arrangement, such as stock options, often offered to executives, that puts off the point at which the income is…
- nonqualified pension planA deferred-compensation plan under which an executive builds up extra retirement benefits through further yearly cont…
- nonqualified stock optionA stock-option plan that does not qualify for capital-gains treatment, letting the holder buy stock over a period, of…
- nonrecognitionIn international law, one government's refusal to accept another government as legitimate.
- nonrecognition provisionIn tax law, a rule allowing all or part of a realized gain or loss to go unrecognized for tax purposes. Usually it on…
- nonrecourseOf an obligation that can be met only out of the collateral securing it, and not out of the debtor's other assets.
- nonrecourse loanA secured loan on which the lender may look only to the collateral, and not to the borrower's other assets, if the lo…
- nonrecourse noteA note on which the holder can look only to the collateral, and not to the maker personally, if it is not paid.
- nonrecurring dividendA dividend paid on top of the regular one, usually because profits in that period were unusually high.
- nonrefoulementA refugee's right not to be sent from one state to another, above all to one where their life or liberty would be at…
- nonrefund annuityAn annuity guaranteeing payments for the annuitant's life, with nothing refunded to anyone on death.
- nonremovable inmateA foreign national who could otherwise be deported but cannot be, because the United States has no diplomatic relatio…
- nonrenewalA failure to renew something, such as a lease or an insurance policy.
- nonreporting issuerAn issuer that need not file reports under the Exchange Act, because it has not volunteered to, has had no effective…
- nonresidenceIn church law, a clergyman's absence from the parish they hold. It was an offense, punished by sequestering the benef…
- nonresidentA person who does not live within the jurisdiction in question.
- nonresident alienSomeone who is neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States.
- nonresident decedentSomeone who, at the time of death, was domiciled outside the jurisdiction in question, such as the state where probat…
- nonresident-motorist statuteA state law setting out the liabilities and duties of nonresidents who use the state's highways.
- nonretroactivity principleIn criminal procedure, the rule barring a federal court from granting habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner on the…
- nonserviceA failure to serve a summons, warrant, or other process in a civil or criminal case.
- nonshareholder constituencyA group other than shareholders, such as employees or the wider public, with an interest in a company's business that…
- nonskip personIn tax law, a person who is not a skip person for the purposes of the generation-skipping transfer tax.
- nonsovereign stateA state forming part of a greater state that takes in it and others, and subject to that greater state's government:…
- nonstatutory bondA bond that no statute requires but which is given anyway.
- nonstock corporationA corporation that issues no shares but is owned by its members under a charter or agreement. Mutual insurance compan…
- nonsuitA claimant's voluntary dropping of a case or of a defendant, with no decision on the merits; also a court's dismissal…
- nonsupportA failure to support someone the law requires one to provide for, such as a child, spouse, or other dependant. It is…
- nontenureThe general denial in a real action, by which the defendant denies holding some or all of the land in question.
- nontermThe period between two law terms, when the courts do not sit.
- nontestifying expertAn expert a party has retained but does not intend to call at trial. Such an expert's opinions are generally beyond t…
- nontrading partnershipA partnership that does not buy and sell goods but is instead a partnership of trade or profession.
- nontraditional public forumPublic property not traditionally open for assembly and debate, which the government has nonetheless opened for expre…
- nonunionOf a person or thing, not belonging to a labor union; of an opinion, not favoring unions; of a product, not made by u…
- nonuseA failure to exercise a right; also the state of not being used.
- nonuserA failure to exercise a right, such as a franchise or an easement, which may cost the holder the right itself.
- nonverbal testimonyA photograph, drawing, map, chart, or similar depiction used to help a witness give evidence. The witness need not ha…
- nonvital termA term of a contract that is not fundamental, so that breaking it gives a claim for damages but no right to treat the…
- nonvoluntary euthanasiaEuthanasia carried out on a person who is not capable of deciding, and so cannot consent.
- nonvoting stockStock that carries no vote in most circumstances.
- nonwaiver agreementIn insurance law, an agreement alongside a liability policy in which the insured accepts that the insurer's investiga…
- nook of landA variable measure of land, often about twelve and a half acres.
- normA standard a society or group accepts, against which it measures conduct; also the standard set by what most members…
- normalFollowing a regular pattern, or according to an established rule; also setting the standard.
- normal balanceThe kind of balance, debit or credit, that a ledger account usually carries. Assets normally show debit balances, lia…
- normal collegeA training school for public-school teachers. Such schools appeared in the United States in the 1800s as two-year pro…
- normal lawThe law as it applies to people under no legal disability.
- normal marketA market in which longer-dated futures or options sell at a premium to shorter-dated ones; also the premium itself, w…
- normal mindMental capacity like that of most people, sufficient to handle the ordinary responsibilities of life.
- normal schoolA training school for public-school teachers, of the kind common in the United States from the 1800s, most of which h…
- Norman FrenchThe language the Normans spoke, which became the official language of the English courts after the Conquest of 1066.…
- normativeSetting or conforming to a standard, and so concerned with what ought to be rather than with what is.
- normative jurisprudenceA body of legal and moral principles said to flow from human nature or divine justice rather than from any legislatur…
- Norris-La Guardia ActA federal law of 1932 that keeps the federal courts out of labor policy and sharply limits their power to enjoin labo…
- NorroyThe third of the three Kings of Arms and chief herald for the country north of the Trent, whose duties have included…
- North American Free Trade AgreementA treaty of 1994 among the United States, Canada, and Mexico phasing out tariffs and removing many other barriers to…
- North Eastern ReporterA set of law reports in West's National Reporter System containing the published decisions of the courts of Illinois,…
- North Western ReporterA set of law reports in West's National Reporter System containing the published decisions of the courts of Iowa, Mic…
- Northwest TerritoryThe first territory of the United States: the land south of the Great Lakes, north of the Ohio, and east of the Missi…
- noscitur a sociisA rule of interpretation holding that the sense of an unclear word is to be gathered from the words around it.
- nosocomusA person who manages a hospital caring for the poor.
- not foundWords endorsed on a bill of indictment showing that the grand jury found the evidence too thin to return a true bill.
- not guiltyIn criminal law, a defendant's plea denying the offense charged; also a jury's verdict acquitting the defendant becau…
- not guilty by reason of insanityA verdict of not guilty based on mental illness, which usually leads not to release but to commitment to a mental ins…
- not guilty by statuteUnder certain Acts of Parliament, the form of general denial in a civil action, which allowed a public officer sued f…
- not lawA judicial decision that the profession regards as wrongly decided, and so as no true statement of the law.
- not otherwise indexed by nameA phrase used in shipping and tariff schedules to classify something by a general description rather than by its own…
- not possessedIn common-law pleading, the defendant's plea in trover denying possession of the goods said to have been converted.
- not provenAn old jury verdict, kept now only in Scottish criminal practice, which has the same effect as an acquittal but leave…
- not satisfiedA sheriff's return on a writ of execution stating only that the judgment debt has not been paid. Such a bare return i…
- not sufficient fundsThe note of dishonor on a check showing that the drawer's account does not hold enough to cover it.
- not-for-profit corporationA corporation set up for some purpose other than making a profit, and usually given special tax treatment.
- not-guilty pleaAn accused person's formal denial in court of the offense charged, after which the prosecution must prove every eleme…
- notaA promissory note; also, in older usage, a brand placed on a person by law.
- nota beneNote well: a phrase drawing attention to something important.
- notaeFormerly, shorthand characters.
- notarialHaving to do with the official acts of a notary public.
- notarial actAn official act of a notary public, such as putting a seal on an affidavit.
- notarial protest certificateA notary's certificate recording that the holder of a dishonored negotiable instrument engaged the notary to present…
- notarial recordA notary public's running record of notarial acts, usually a bound book giving the date, time, and kind of each act,…
- notarial registerA notary public's running record of notarial acts, usually a bound book giving the date, time, and kind of each act,…
- notarial sealThe imprint or embossment a notary public's seal makes; also the stamp or embosser that makes it.
- notarial willA will the testator executes before two witnesses and a notary public.
- notariusIn Roman law, a writer, sometimes a slave, who took dictation or recorded proceedings in shorthand, above all for a m…
- notary publicA person a state authorizes to administer oaths, certify documents, attest to the genuineness of signatures, and carr…
- notary record bookA notary public's running record of notarial acts, kept as a bound book and required by law in most states.
- notary sealThe imprint or embossment a notary public's seal makes; also the stamp or embosser that makes it.
- notation creditA letter of credit requiring anyone who buys or pays a draft drawn under it to note the amount on the letter itself.
- noteA written promise by one party, the maker, to pay money to another, the payee, or to bearer. A note involves two part…
- note brokerA broker who arranges the discounting or sale of commercial paper.
- note of a fineIn English practice, a step in the old method of conveying land by fine: the officer's short account of the proceedin…
- note of allowanceA note by which an official, on receiving a party's memorandum of a legal error in the case, allowed the error to be…
- note of handAn unconditional written promise, signed by the maker, to pay a fixed sum of money to a named person or to bearer, or…
- note of protestA notary's preliminary memorandum, to be formalized later, recording that a negotiable instrument was neither paid no…
- note payableA debt the business owes on a promissory note, shown as a liability in its accounts.
- note receivableA debt owed to the business on a promissory note, shown as an asset in its accounts.
- note verbalIn international law, an unsigned diplomatic note, usually written in the third person, that sometimes accompanies a…
- nothusA child born outside marriage. In Roman law, such a child took citizenship from the mother.
- noticeLegal notification required by law or agreement, or which the law treats as given because of some fact, such as the r…
- notice actA recording statute under which the most recent buyer who paid without notice of an earlier unrecorded claim takes pr…
- notice by publicationNotice given to the public, or to those affected, by publishing it in a newspaper of general circulation. The law usu…
- notice doctrineThe equitable rule that where a new owner takes property knowing that someone else had a claim on it at the time, tha…
- notice filingA system of perfecting a security interest by filing a short statement putting others on notice that a security inter…
- notice of appealA document filed with the court and served on the other parties stating an intention to appeal a judgment or order. I…
- notice of appearanceA party's written filing or oral statement on the record telling the court and the other parties that they wish to ta…
- notice of deficiencyA statutory notice of a tax deficiency the IRS sends a taxpayer. Within 90 days of receiving it the taxpayer must eit…
- notice of dishonorNotice to an indorser that acceptance or payment of an instrument has been refused. That notice, together with presen…
- notice of lis pendensA notice recorded in the chain of title to land, warning everyone that the property is the subject of litigation and…
- notice of motionWritten confirmation that a party has filed a motion, or that the court will hear it at a particular time. Under the…
- notice of orders or judgmentsWritten notice that an order or judgment has been entered, given by the court clerk or by a party. The clerk usually…
- notice of pendencyA notice recorded in the chain of title to land, warning everyone that the property is the subject of litigation and…
- notice of protestA statement, usually from a notary public, telling the drawer or indorser of a negotiable instrument that it was neit…
- notice of removalThe pleading by which a defendant moves a case from a state court to a federal one. It is filed in the federal distri…
- notice of trialA document from the court telling the parties the date set for trial. The court usually sends it to everyone, though…
- notice periodThe period a statute allows for giving a required notice, before which a step may not be taken and after which the ri…
- notice pleadingA system of pleading requiring only a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to…
- notice statuteA recording statute under which the most recent buyer who paid without notice of an earlier unrecorded claim takes pr…
- notice to appearA summons or writ calling a person to court. The federal rules require the summons to state that the defendant must a…
- notice to creditorsIn bankruptcy law, a formal notice to creditors that a creditors' meeting will be held, that proofs of claim must be…
- notice to pleadA warning to a defendant that failing to file a responsive pleading within the time allowed will mean judgment by def…
- notice to produceIn pretrial discovery, a party's written request that the other side produce named documents or other things for insp…
- notice to quitA landlord's written demand that a tenant give up and leave the property, ending the tenancy; also a landlord's notic…
- notice-prejudice ruleThe rule barring an insurer from refusing a claim because notice was late, unless the insurer can show the delay actu…
- notice-race statuteA recording statute under which the first person to record, without notice of any earlier unrecorded claim, takes pri…
- notificationIn international law, a formal announcement of a legally significant fact or intention, such as notice of withdrawal…
- notifyTo inform a person or group, in writing or by any means they will understand.
- noting protestA notary public's written statement that a negotiable instrument was neither paid nor accepted when it was presented.
- notioIn Roman law, the investigation of a case; in older English usage, a judge's authority to try one.
- notitiaIn Roman law, knowledge or information; also a list or register, such as the roll of high offices in the eastern and…
- notorietyThe state of being widely, and usually unfavorably, known.
- notoriousWidely known and spoken of; of possession of property, so open and obvious that the true owner must be taken to know…
- notorious cohabitationA man and a woman openly living together in circumstances that older statutes, now rarely enforced, made unlawful.
- notorious insolvencyIn Scots law, the stage of insolvency at which the debtor has publicly acknowledged it under statute. Sequestration,…
- notorious possessionPossession so open and evident to others that the true owner must be taken to know of it. It is one of the elements o…
- notour bankruptcyIn Scots law, the stage of insolvency at which the debtor has publicly acknowledged it under statute, usually followe…
- notwithstanding, prepDespite, or in spite of.
- nova causa interveniensAn event that comes between the first event in a sequence and the final harm, changing the course that would otherwis…
- nova custumaFormerly, a new tax or imposition.
- nova statutaThe statutes passed from the reign of Edward III onward, as distinguished from the older ones.
- novae narrationesA collection of pleading forms published in the reign of Edward III.
- novationReplacing an old obligation with a new one, either by substituting a fresh obligation between the same parties or by…
- novatoryHaving to do with a novation: replacing one obligation or party with another.
- novel assignmentA claimant's restatement of a claim because the first complaint lacked detail. Amended pleadings have replaced it.
- novel disseisinA recent dispossession: the wrongful ousting of someone from land, close enough in time to be remedied by the assize…
- NovellaeA collection of 168 constitutions issued by the emperor Justinian and his immediate successors. With the Code, the Di…
- Novellae ConstitutionesA collection of 168 constitutions issued by the emperor Justinian and his immediate successors, one of the four parts…
- NovelsA collection of 168 constitutions issued by the emperor Justinian and his immediate successors, one of the four parts…
- noveltyIn patent law, the quality of being new in form and in what it does. It must be shown before a patent can issue: an i…
- noverint universi per praesentesKnow all men by these presents: a formal phrase that once opened deeds of release, and that still turns up in transla…
- novi operis nuntiatioA formal protest against new building work, which stopped the work until the dispute over the builder's right to go o…
- novigildA payment for damaging another's property, fixed at nine times what the property cost.
- noviter perventaIn church law, newly discovered facts, which are usually allowed in even after the pleadings have closed.
- novus actus interveniensAn event that comes between the first event in a sequence and the final harm, changing the course that would otherwis…
- NOWNegotiable order of withdrawal; also the National Organization for Women.
- NOW accountAn oath renouncing any right in the descendants of a claimant to the Crown.
- now comesTraditionally, the opening words of a pleading. With a plural subject the phrase becomes "come now."
- noxaIn Roman law, a wrong such as injury to a person or property, above all one done by a slave or a son; also the duty t…
- noxalIn Roman law, a claim against a master or father for a wrong done by a son, a slave, or an animal. The head of the ho…
- noxiousHarmful to health; also unwholesome or corrupting, and in older usage guilty.
- NPLThe Environmental Protection Agency's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites, marke…
- NPVNo par value: describing stock issued with no fixed value on its face.
- NSFNot sufficient funds: the note of dishonor on a check showing that the drawer's account does not hold enough to cover…
- NTSBAn independent federal agency that investigates certain transportation accidents, carries out safety studies, hears l…
- nubilisIn civil law, a person old enough to marry.
- nuclear-nonproliferation treatyA treaty by which countries undertake to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, above all the Treaty on the Non-Prolife…
- nuda detentioBare holding of a thing, where the holder recognizes that someone else has the better right.
- nuda patientiaMere sufferance: putting up with something rather than granting any right to it.
- nuda possessioBare possession, with no right behind it.
- nudeNaked; also lacking consideration or some other essential, or merely stated without further description.
- nude contractA bare promise given without consideration, which the law will not enforce.
- nude pactA bare agreement with nothing given in return: a promise the law will not enforce for want of consideration.
- nudum pactumIn Roman law, an informal agreement the law would not enforce, because it fell outside the recognized classes of acti…
- nugatoryOf no force or effect: useless or invalid.
- nuisanceA condition or activity, such as a loud noise or a foul smell, that interferes with the use or enjoyment of property.…
- nuisance at lawA condition the law treats as a nuisance in itself, without inquiry into the surrounding circumstances.
- nuisance dependent on negligenceA condition lawful in itself but so carelessly allowed to continue that it creates an unreasonable risk and in time c…
- nuisance in factA thing that becomes a nuisance only because of where it is or how it is used, as with a machine emitting a high-pitc…
- nuisance moneyMoney paid to settle a claim purely because fighting it would cost more in fees and expenses than the settlement, wit…
- nuisance per accidensA thing that becomes a nuisance only because of where it is or how it is used, as opposed to one that would be a nuis…
- nuisance per seSomething that is a nuisance wherever it is and however it is run, such as a leaking store of nuclear waste.
- nuisance settlementA settlement made purely for economic reasons, because fighting the case would cost the defendant more than paying it…
- nulNo, or none: a negative particle opening many old pleading phrases.
- nul tiel corporationA plea denying that the corporation named in the pleadings exists. A defendant must usually raise it specifically bef…
- nul tiel recordNo such record: a plea denying the existence of the record on which the other side relies.
- nullHaving no legal effect: void. The pairing "null and void" says the same thing twice.
- nulla bonaA sheriff's return on a writ of execution reporting that the judgment debtor has no property in the district that can…
- nulla poena sine legeNo punishment without a law authorizing it: the principle that conduct cannot be punished unless it was already a cri…
- nullificationMaking something void; above all a state's claim to strike down a federal law within its borders on the strength of i…
- nullification doctrineThe theory, urged by southern states before the Civil War, that a state may declare a federal law unconstitutional an…
- nullitySomething with no legal effect; also the state of being void.
- nullity of marriageThe invalidity of a supposed marriage, either because it was void from the start or because a court has set it aside.…
- Nullum Tempus ActAn English statute of 1769, amended in 1862, limiting the time within which the Crown could sue over land and certain…
- number lotteryA lottery in which five numbers are drawn by lot out of ninety, each player betting that one or more of the numbers t…
- numbers gameA lottery in which a person bets that a particular series of numbers will turn up on a given day from some arbitrary…
- numerosityThe requirement, before a case can be certified as a class action, that the group of potential claimants be so large…
- nunc pro tunc amendmentAn amendment to a court record made now for then, so that the record shows what the court actually did at the earlier…
- nunc pro tunc judgmentA judgment entered now but treated as taking effect from an earlier date, used to make the record show what the judge…
- nunciatoA formal declaration or protest, above all a protest that stopped new building work until the objector's rights were…
- nuncioA papal ambassador to a foreign government: the Vatican's representative in a country with which it has diplomatic re…
- nuncupareTo name or declare aloud, as in naming an heir before witnesses.
- nuncupateFormerly, to name or designate; also to declare something publicly and solemnly, or to declare a will by word of mouth.
- nuncupative willAn oral will made in the expectation of imminent death from an injury just suffered. Most states no longer allow them…
- nundinaeIn Roman law, a fair or market; also the eight-day interval between markets, often fixed as the time for paying debts.
- nundinationBuying or selling at a fair.
- nunquam indebitatusFormerly, a plea in an action of debt by which the defendant denies ever having owed the claimant anything.
- nuntiatioA formal declaration or protest, above all a protest that stopped new building work until the objector's rights were…
- nuntioA papal ambassador to a foreign government: the Vatican's representative in a country with which it has diplomatic re…
- nuntiusIn Roman law, a messenger; a declaration sent by messenger was usually as good as one sent by letter. In older Englis…
- nuper obiitFormerly, a writ by which an heir could obtain an equal division of land where, on the death of an ancestor holding i…
- nuptiaeMarriage.
- nurtureTo feed and care for; also to train, educate, or bring on.
- nurusA daughter-in-law.
- nychthemeronA full day and night: a period of 24 hours.
- NYSEThe dominant securities exchange in the United States, where member firms buy and sell securities for themselves and…
- nystagmusA rapid involuntary jerking of the eyes, which alcohol and certain drugs can cause. Police use a horizontal gaze test…