Terms beginning with O
532 headwords
- O.N.BA treatise on the writs in use in the reign of Edward III.
- O.ROwn recognizance: release on one's own promise to appear, without posting bail.
- OASDHIOld Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance.
- OASDIOld Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
- OASIOld-Age and Survivors' Insurance.
- oathA solemn declaration, calling on God or something else revered, that what one says is true or that one will keep a pr…
- oath against an oathA dispute in which a vital fact turns on nothing but a choice between one witness's word and another's, with no other…
- oath ex officioAt common law, an oath by which a clergyman accused of a crime could swear his innocence before a church court.
- oath of abjurationAn oath renouncing any right in the descendants of a claimant to the Crown.
- oath of allegianceAn oath promising faithfulness to a particular sovereign or government, usually administered to a senior public offic…
- oath of calumnyAn oath by a claimant or defendant that they are acting in good faith and genuinely believe the case has merit.
- oath of officeAn oath taken by someone about to take up a public office, promising to perform its duties faithfully.
- oath of supremacyIn English law, an oath once required of officeholders, alongside the oaths of allegiance and abjuration, declaring t…
- Oath or Affirmation ClauseThe clause of the Constitution requiring members of Congress and of the state legislatures, and all executive and jud…
- oath purgatoryAn oath taken to clear oneself of a charge or suspicion.
- oath suppletoryAn oath a party was allowed to take to complete proof that fell just short of what the law required.
- oath-helperA person who came to court and swore in support of a party's oath, vouching not for the facts but for the swearer's c…
- oath-riteThe form or ceremony used in taking an oath.
- obaeratusA debtor bound to serve the creditor until the debt is worked off.
- obedienceCompliance with a law, a command, or an authority.
- obediential obligationA duty arising from a natural relationship rather than from any agreement, such as a parent's duty to a child.
- obiitHe or she died.
- obiit sine proleDied without children.
- obitIn older usage, a memorial service on the anniversary of a death; also a notice or record of a death.
- obiterIncidentally, or in passing.
- obiter dictumA remark made by a judge in the course of an opinion that was not necessary to the decision, and so is not binding as…
- obiter ex post factoA holding that a later court says was framed in unnecessarily wide terms. Some authorities deny that this is really o…
- objectA person or thing that thought, feeling, or action is directed at; also an aim or purpose.
- object of a rightThe thing in respect of which a right exists: the subject matter of the right.
- object of the powerA person to whom property may be given under a power of appointment.
- object of the power of appointmentA person to whom property may be given under a power of appointment.
- object offenseThe crime that an inchoate offense aims at, as murder is the object offense of a conspiracy to murder.
- objectantA person who contests the validity of a will.
- objectionA formal statement opposing something said or done in court, asking the judge to rule on it at once. The objector mus…
- objection in point of lawA pleading by which the defendant admits the facts alleged but says they do not amount to a legal claim.
- objectiveBased on things anyone can check from outside, rather than on one person's perceptions or intentions; also free from…
- objective ethicsThe view that an act can always be judged right or wrong in itself, whatever the situation or the consequences.
- objective meaningThe meaning a disinterested, reasonable person familiar with the circumstances would give an unambiguous document. Pa…
- objective novationA novation that puts a new obligation in place of an old one between the same parties.
- objective standardA standard measured by outward conduct and by how things appear to others, rather than by what the person in question…
- objective theory of contractThe doctrine that a contract is not a meeting of minds but a set of outward acts that together look like agreement.
- objurgatrixA common scold: a woman once punishable for habitually disturbing the peace with quarrelsome speech.
- oblationAn offering or sacrifice, above all one made in a religious ceremony.
- obligateTo bind by a legal or moral duty; also to commit funds or property to meeting an obligation.
- obligatioIn Roman law, an obligation: the legal bond tying one person to render something to another.
- obligatio civilisAn obligation recognized by the civil law itself, and so fully enforceable in the ordinary courts.
- obligatio ex contractuAn obligation arising from a contract.
- obligatio ex delictoAn obligation arising from a wrong done to another's person or property: one enforceable in tort.
- obligatio honorariaAn obligation recognized not by the civil law but by the praetor's edict, and enforceable only through the remedies t…
- obligatio naturalisAn obligation the courts will not enforce, resting only on natural law.
- obligatio praetoriaAn obligation recognized not by the civil law but by the praetor's edict, and enforceable only through the remedies t…
- obligatio quasi ex contractuAn obligation arising between people who never contracted with each other but whose relationship resembles a contract.
- obligatio quasi ex delictoAn obligation arising from a wrong that does not amount to a delict but still creates liability.
- obligatio quasi ex maleficioAn obligation arising from a wrong that does not amount to a delict but still creates liability.
- obligationA legal or moral duty to do or refrain from doing something; also a binding agreement or acknowledgment of a liabilit…
- obligation bondA municipal bond payable out of general revenue rather than a special fund, backed by nothing but the issuer's power…
- Obligation of Contracts ClauseThe clause of the Constitution forbidding a state to pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. The Supreme…
- obligation, mutuality ofThe agreement of both parties to a contract to be bound in some way.
- obligationalBinding in law or in conscience; also creating or recording an obligation.
- obligationes innominatiObligations with no settled name or class, because they are neither contractual, delictual, nor quasi-contractual, su…
- obligations, law ofThe branch of law dealing with rights against particular persons rather than against the world: one of the three grea…
- obligatoryBinding in law or in conscience; also required, or creating or recording an obligation.
- obligeTo bind by a legal or moral duty; also to bind by doing someone a favor.
- obligeeThe person to whom an obligation is owed: the promisee or creditor.
- obligorThe person who has undertaken an obligation: the promisor or debtor.
- obliqueCollateral rather than direct in descent; also indirect or circumstantial.
- oblique evidenceEvidence resting on inference rather than on someone's own knowledge or observation; broadly, all evidence that is no…
- obliquusOf a line of descent, collateral rather than direct.
- obliterateTo rub out or erase a writing; also to destroy every trace of something.
- obliterated cornerA boundary corner that can be found only from evidence other than the markers the original surveyor left.
- oblivionForgetting, or the state of being wholly forgotten; also an official overlooking of an offense, as by pardon or amnesty.
- obloquyAbusive or defamatory language; also the state of being ill spoken of.
- obnoxiousOffensive or objectionable; in older usage, exposed to harm or liable to something unwelcome.
- obreptionObtaining a grant or dispensation from a sovereign or church authority by fraud.
- obrogateTo change or repeal a law, in whole or in part, by passing a new one.
- obrogationThe repeal or annulment of a law or custom by formal authority.
- obsceneDeeply offensive by contemporary community standards of decency. Under the Supreme Court's three-part test, material…
- obscene libelThe common-law crime of publishing material, above all sexual words or pictures, meant to deprave or corrupt those op…
- obscenityThe quality of being morally repugnant or socially taboo, above all in referring to or depicting sexual or excretory…
- observeTo abide by a law, rule, or custom.
- observerIn international law, a representative of a country or organization who attends meetings of an international body the…
- obsignareTo seal up, as with money that has been tendered and refused.
- obsignationA formal ratification or confirmation, above all under an official seal.
- obsolescenceThe process of falling out of use or becoming outdated, and the loss of value or usefulness that follows, above all f…
- obstanteWithstanding, or standing in the way.
- obstinate desertionDesertion by a spouse who persistently refuses to return to the family home, giving the other grounds for divorce. Be…
- obstrictTo coerce.
- obstruction of justiceInterfering with the orderly working of the law, as by lying to or withholding evidence from a police officer or pros…
- obtaining property by false pretensesThe crime of knowingly getting title to another's personal property by misrepresenting a fact with intent to defraud.…
- obtestTo call on someone as a witness; also to beseech, or to protest.
- obtulit seOffered himself: words once entered on the record when a party appeared in court as required.
- obventionAn incoming fee or revenue, above all one that arrives only occasionally.
- obviateTo do away with something, or to head it off before it arises; also to make it unnecessary.
- obviousnessIn patent law, the quality of being plain to a person of ordinary skill in the field, given the scope and content of…
- obviousness double patentingA patent objection that a later claim, though not identical to one already patented by the same inventor, is only an…
- occasioA levy a lord imposed on his tenants in time of need; also hindrance or trouble, above all vexatious litigation.
- occupancyHolding, possessing, or living in or on something: actual possession or tenancy, above all of a dwelling or land. The…
- occupantA person with possession of, or control over, property or premises; also a person who gains title by taking possession.
- occupareTo seize or take possession of property, or to enter on land that no one holds.
- occupatileProperty its rightful owner has left, now held by someone else.
- occupatioA way of acquiring absolute title by being the first to take possession of something that belonged to no one, such as…
- occupationA person's work or usual business; also the possession, control, or use of land. In international law, the seizing an…
- occupation taxA tax on the privilege of carrying on a business, trade, or profession. Many states levy one on lawyers.
- occupational diseaseA disease contracted through exposure to harmful conditions or substances at work. Employees who suffer one qualify f…
- occupational hazardA danger peculiar to a particular trade or calling, covering both accidental injuries and occupational diseases.
- Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationThe federal agency that sets and enforces health and safety standards across industries. Created in 1970 within the L…
- occupational taxA tax on the privilege of carrying on a business, trade, or profession.
- occupational-disability insuranceDisability insurance paying benefits when the insured cannot do their own regular job, even if able to do some other…
- occupavitA writ to recover possession of land or a tenement from which one had been ejected in time of war.
- occupying claimantA person claiming a statutory right to be paid for improvements made to land that turns out not to be theirs.
- occupying-claimant actA statute requiring a landowner to pay an occupier who improved the land while honestly believing it was their own. T…
- occurrenceSomething that happens; in liability policies, an accident, event, or continuing condition causing injury or damage t…
- occurrence policyAn agreement to indemnify for any loss from an event happening within the policy period, whenever the claim is later…
- occurrence ruleIn civil procedure, the rule that the limitation period starts when the wrongful act or omission happens, rather than…
- oceanThe great body of salt water covering more than seven-tenths of the earth; also any of its principal divisions, usual…
- ocean bill of ladingA negotiable bill of lading used for carriage by sea.
- ocean marine insuranceInsurance covering the risks of carrying goods by sea.
- octroiFormerly, a grant or privilege given by a sovereign; also a local tax on certain goods brought into a city, above all…
- octroyOf a sovereign, to grant something as a privilege.
- ODAn overdose of a drug; also, in banking, an overdraft.
- odalLand held free of feudal duties or burdens.
- odd lotA block of securities smaller than the standard trading unit, usually fewer than 100 shares.
- odd-lotDescribing a worker so disabled that they cannot find steady work in the ordinary labor market, and who are therefore…
- odd-lot doctrineIn workers' compensation, the rule allowing a finding of total disability where an injured claimant can work only now…
- odelLand held free of feudal duties or burdens.
- odhalLand held free of feudal duties or burdens.
- odhallLand held free of feudal duties or burdens.
- odio et atiaFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff to empanel twelve jurors to inquire whether a prisoner held for murder was charge…
- odiumThe state of being hated, or the disgrace that follows detestable conduct.
- of counselA lawyer working on a case who is not the principal attorney of record but helps prepare, manage, or argue it; also,…
- of courseFollowing the ordinary procedure, so that no special leave is needed.
- of recordRecorded in the appropriate records; of a court, one whose proceedings are taken down and preserved.
- of the essenceOf a contract term, so important that failing to meet it lets the other side treat the contract as broken and call it…
- off pointNot addressing the precise issue at hand: beside the point.
- off-boardOutside a major exchange: over the counter or between private parties.
- off-the-boardOutside a major exchange: over the counter or between private parties.
- off-year electionAn election held in a year other than the year of a presidential election.
- offenderA person who has committed a crime.
- offenseA breach of the law: a crime, often a minor one.
- offense against propertyA crime against another's personal property. At common law these were larceny, embezzlement, cheating, cheating by fa…
- offense against the habitationA crime against another's dwelling, traditionally arson or burglary.
- offense against the personA crime against the body of another person. At common law these were murder, manslaughter, mayhem, rape, assault, bat…
- offense against the public healthA crime traditionally seen as endangering society at large. At common law these included nuisance, bigamy, adultery,…
- offense against the public peaceA crime tending to disturb the peace. At common law these were riot, unlawful assembly, dueling, rout, affray, forcib…
- offensiveMeant for attack; also unpleasant to the senses, or repugnant to what is generally thought decent.
- offensive and defensive leagueIn international law, an alliance binding the parties both to help one another when attacked and to support one anoth…
- offensive collateral estoppelAn estoppel a claimant raises to stop a defendant relitigating an issue already decided against them in an earlier ca…
- offensive strikeA strike called to win new advantages from the employer, rather than to resist a change the employer is trying to make.
- offensive-use waiverAn exception to the attorney-client privilege: a litigant who seeks relief is treated as having given up the privileg…
- offerPresenting something for acceptance; above all a promise to do or not do something, shown in a way that would lead a…
- offer in compromiseAn offer by one party to settle a dispute, usually by paying money, so as to avoid or end litigation. It is generally…
- offer of compromiseAn offer by one party to settle a dispute, usually by paying money, so as to avoid or end litigation. It is generally…
- offer of judgmentA settlement offer by which one party invites judgment to be taken against it on stated terms. In federal and many st…
- offer of performanceIn contract law, one party's reasonable assurance, by words or conduct, that it is ready and able to perform. Where t…
- offer of proofIn civil procedure, a presentation of excluded evidence for the record, out of the jury's hearing, so that the point…
- offer of settlementAn offer by one party to settle a dispute, usually by paying money, so as to avoid or end litigation.
- offer to all the worldAn offer made by advertisement to the public at large, promising a reward to anyone who performs stated services. A c…
- offeringThe sale of an issue of securities to investors.
- offering circularA document like a prospectus giving information about a private offering of securities.
- offering priceThe price at which a seller lists property, often implying willingness to take less.
- offering statementA document like a prospectus giving information about a private offering of securities.
- officeA position of duty, trust, or authority, above all one conferred by government for a public purpose; also a division…
- office auditAn IRS audit of a return carried out at the agent's own office.
- office expenseBusiness costs such as rent, utilities, and support staff, which cannot be traced to any particular product or service.
- office grantA grant made by a public officer in the course of duty rather than by a private owner, such as a sheriff's deed on an…
- office hoursIn the Marine Corps, official punishment imposed for a minor offense without a court-martial. The Navy and Coast Guar…
- office lawyerA lawyer who does not litigate, working almost entirely out of the office without court appearances.
- office of honorAn unpaid public position of considerable dignity to which public trusts are committed.
- office practiceA practice made up chiefly of work outside court, such as negotiating and drafting contracts, preparing wills and tru…
- office practitionerA lawyer who does not litigate, working almost entirely out of the office without court appearances.
- office-block ballotA ballot listing candidates under the title of the office they seek, without showing their party affiliation.
- officerA person holding an office of trust, authority, or command. In public life it means above all someone holding public…
- officer de factoA person who carries out the duties of an office under an apparent appointment or election but has never properly qua…
- officer de jureA person who holds an office having met every qualification for it; also a properly appointed corporate officer.
- officer of inferior rankA ministerial or executive officer, as distinguished from a judicial one.
- officer of the courtA person charged with upholding the law and running the judicial system, such as a judge, clerk, bailiff, or sheriff.…
- officer of the dayThe officer in charge, for the time being, of the guard, prisoners, and police of a military force or camp.
- officer of the guardA commissioned officer detailed to command the guard of a military force or camp, serving under the officer of the day.
- officer of the peaceA civil officer such as a sheriff or police officer appointed to keep public order. The phrase may also cover a judge…
- officialA person holding public office; also someone authorized to act for a company or organization, above all in a subordin…
- official bondA bond given by a public officer, conditional on faithfully performing the duties of the office. The term also covers…
- official corruptionA public officer's corrupt breach of duty, whether by doing something forbidden, doing a lawful thing wrongly, or fai…
- official misconductA public officer's corrupt breach of duty, whether by doing something forbidden, doing a lawful thing wrongly, or fai…
- official newspaperA newspaper designated to carry all the public notices, resolutions, acts, and advertisements of a state or city body.
- official principalIn church law, a person an archbishop, bishop, or deacon appoints to exercise jurisdiction in and preside over an ecc…
- official privilegeThe privilege protecting from a defamation claim any statement one government officer makes to another in the course…
- official reportA report an officer or agency is required by law to make, such as a police officer's account of an incident or an age…
- official useA use imposing a duty on the person holding legal title for another, as where a feoffee to uses had to sell the estat…
- officina breviumThe office from which the king's writs were issued.
- officina justitiaeThe court of chancery, where the king's writs were issued.
- officioBy virtue of an office, or by the authority an office carries.
- officious intermeddlerA person who confers a benefit on someone without being asked and without any duty to do so, and who therefore cannot…
- officious testamentA will that departs from the natural claims of family by leaving property away from those who would ordinarily expect…
- officious willA will that departs from the natural claims of family by leaving property away from those who would ordinarily expect…
- offsetSomething, such as an amount or a claim, that balances or cancels out something else.
- offset accountOne of two accounts that balance against each other and cancel out when the books are closed.
- OIDOriginal issue discount: the amount by which a bond is sold below its face value when first issued.
- oil-and-gas leaseA grant of the right to search for and take oil and gas from a stated piece of land. Though called a lease, it operat…
- OireachtasThe Parliament of the Republic of Ireland.
- Old Natura BreviumA treatise on the writs in use in the reign of Edward III.
- old styleThe way of reckoning dates by the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., under which every year has…
- old-age and survivors insuranceThe federal program, part of Social Security, that pays retirement benefits to insured workers and benefits to their…
- old-age and survivors' insuranceA federally subsidized system of insurance paying retirement benefits to those who reach the qualifying age and payme…
- oligarchyA government in which a small group holds power; also the group itself.
- oligopolistOne of the few large sellers who together dominate a market.
- oligopolyControl of a market by a few large sellers, producing high prices and low output much as a monopoly does.
- oligopsonyControl of a market by a few large buyers.
- olographic willA will written out entirely in the testator's own hand. Many states treat one as valid even without witnesses.
- ombudsmanAn official appointed to receive, investigate, and report on complaints by private citizens against the government, o…
- omissionA failure to do something, above all a neglect of duty; also the leaving out of something, or the thing left out.
- omnibusDealing with many separate items or purposes at once.
- omnibus billA single bill gathering various unrelated matters, usually drafted that way to force the executive either to accept a…
- omnibus clauseIn a car insurance policy, a clause extending cover to anyone driving the insured vehicle with the owner's permission…
- omnibus countA single count gathering together all claims for money, for goods sold and delivered, for work and labor, and on an a…
- omnibus hearingA pretrial hearing at which the court takes up several matters at once, such as discovery, the admissibility of evide…
- omnibus motionA motion making several requests, or asking for several kinds of relief, at once.
- omniumThe whole value of the items making up a combined fund or holding. The word is used mainly in commercial practice and…
- OMVIOperating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
- OMVUIOperating a motor vehicle under the influence.
- on all foursOf a case, squarely on point with a precedent on both the facts and the law.
- on board bill of ladingA carrier's receipt for goods, stating that they have actually been loaded aboard the named vessel rather than merely…
- on demandWhen presented, or on request for payment.
- on information and beliefOf an allegation, made not from the speaker's own knowledge but on secondhand information the speaker believes to be…
- on or aboutApproximately, or at about the time named. Pleadings use it to avoid a mismatch between what is pleaded and what is p…
- on pain ofUnder penalty of: followed by the punishment for failing to obey a command or condition.
- on pointAddressing the precise issue at hand.
- on the briefOf a lawyer, having helped prepare a given brief. The names of all such lawyers usually appear on its cover.
- on the meritsOf a judgment, given after the court has heard and weighed the evidence and the parties’ substantive arguments.
- on the pleadingsOf a judgment, given for reasons apparent on the face of the complaint and answer, without hearing evidence or substa…
- on-sale barIn patent law, the rule that an invention cannot be patented if it was sold or offered for sale more than a year befo…
- onboard bill of ladingA bill of lading recording that the goods have been loaded onto the ship.
- one involving statutory interpretationA note explaining or criticizing a source of law, usually a case; also, a volume containing such notes.
- one-action ruleIn debtor-creditor law, the rule that where a debt is secured on land, the creditor must foreclose on that security b…
- one-court-of-justice doctrineA principle in some states that the state has only one court, made up of several divisions: the supreme court, the ap…
- one-day, one-trial methodA system of jury service under which a person summoned takes part in the selection process for a single day only, unl…
- one-month liquidationA special election available to certain shareholders that fixes how distributions received in a liquidation are treat…
- one-person, one-vote ruleThe principle, drawn from the Equal Protection Clause, that legislative districts must hold roughly equal numbers of…
- one-satisfaction ruleThe rule that a claimant may recover only once for a given harm, and must elect between remedies if the jury awards m…
- one-subject ruleThe principle that a statute should cover only one subject, and that its title should say what that subject is.
- onerando pro rata portioneA writ for a joint tenant or cotenant distrained for more rent than their share.
- onerousExcessively burdensome; also carrying obligations that outweigh the benefits. In civil law, given in return for somet…
- onerous contractIn civil law, a contract in which what each party gives is roughly balanced by what they receive, as opposed to a gra…
- onerous giftA gift burdened with a condition or charge, so that the person receiving it takes on some obligation along with it.
- onerous titleIn civil law, a title acquired by giving value for the property, whether in money or in services; also title to prope…
- onomasticHaving to do with names; also, of a signature, written in a different hand from the rest of the document, as where on…
- onusA burden; also a disagreeable responsibility or obligation.
- OPECThe Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
- openPlain and apparent; also visible and not concealed, or not yet closed or settled.
- open accountAn account still unpaid or unsettled; also, one left open for continuing debits and credits, with a fluctuating balan…
- open and notoriousOf possession of property, so open and obvious that the true owner must be taken to know of it; of adultery, carried…
- open and notorious adulteryAn offense in which a couple live together publicly as though married, with the community generally aware both of the…
- open and 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…
- open bidA bid the bidder may change after submitting it, so as to match competing bids.
- open courtA court in session, presided over by a judge, attended by the parties and their lawyers, and doing judicial business…
- open creditA consumer-credit arrangement letting the borrower keep buying goods or drawing loans so long as the balance owing st…
- open diplomacyDiplomacy conducted with interested observers and the press free to attend.
- open entryAn open entry onto land to take possession, made neither secretly nor by stratagem, and in some states required by la…
- open guarantyA guaranty covering a running series of dealings rather than one transaction, and lasting until the guarantor revokes…
- open letter of creditA letter of credit payable against a simple draft, with no document of title required.
- open listingA listing that lets the owner give selling rights to several agents at once, obliges the owner to pay a commission if…
- open marketA market open to any buyer or seller, where free competition sets prices and decides what is available.
- open mortgage clauseA mortgage clause that leaves the lender unprotected if the borrower does something that voids the policy, such as co…
- open orderAn order to buy or sell securities that stays in force until it is filled or the customer cancels it.
- open policyA policy that puts no value on the insured property, so that its worth must be proved when a loss occurs.
- open possessionPossession so open and evident to others that the true owner must be taken to know of it.
- open priceA price left unsettled when the sale is made, to be fixed later or by what is reasonable at the time of delivery.
- open seaThe waters beyond any country's jurisdiction. Under international law the high seas once began three miles from shore…
- open seasonThe time of year when hunting or fishing for particular game is allowed.
- open sessionA session that people not directly involved may attend. In military law, the part of a court-martial when everyone is…
- open shopA workplace where belonging to a union is not a condition of employment.
- open townIn international law, an undefended city in a war zone, left open to the advancing forces so that it will not be bomb…
- open unionA union with few requirements for membership.
- open verdictA coroner's verdict finding that a death was suspicious without naming its cause or anyone responsible, so that the i…
- open-door lawA statute requiring a government department or agency to open its meetings or its records to the public.
- open-endAllowing for later changes or additions; of a fund, continually issuing and redeeming shares on demand at their curre…
- open-end fundA mutual fund that keeps issuing new shares and buying back existing ones on demand, so that it grows as more investo…
- open-end mortgageA mortgage allowing the borrower to draw further sums against the same property.
- open-end mortgage bondA mortgage bond that may itself be used as security for a further bond issue.
- open-fields doctrineIn criminal procedure, the rule allowing a search without a warrant of land lying outside the curtilage, which takes…
- open-meeting lawA statute requiring a government department or agency to open its meetings or its records to the public.
- open-perils policyA property policy covering every risk of loss except those it specifically excludes.
- open-shop-closed-shop operationAn arrangement in which one owner runs both a union business and a similar non-union one, so as to compete for both k…
- opening statementA lawyer's statement at the start of a trial, giving the factfinder a preview of the case and of the evidence to come…
- operating expenseAn expense incurred in running a business and producing its output.
- operating incomeFor business tax, earnings from a firm's normal operations; for individual tax, income from sources such as wages, co…
- operating interestIn oil-and-gas law, the interest an oil-and-gas lease grants: the right to enter the land to search for, develop, and…
- operating leaseA lease of property, above all equipment, for a term shorter than the property's useful life. The lessor pays the tax…
- operating profitTotal sales revenue less all operating expenses, without adjusting for non-operating items such as interest.
- operating under the influenceDriving a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, an offense some states define by the driver's control of the ve…
- operating while intoxicatedDriving a vehicle while intoxicated, an offense some states define by the driver's control of the vehicle rather than…
- operating-cost ratioThe ratio of a business's operating costs to its net sales.
- operation of lawThe way a right or liability comes into being automatically, without regard to what the party actually intended.
- operationalWorking, or able to function; also concerned with carrying out rather than deciding.
- operativeIn force or having effect, above all the part of a legal document that actually carries out the transaction; also cen…
- operative factA fact that changes an existing legal relationship, especially one that gives rise to a legal claim.
- operative performance bondA performance bond that has come into force, so that the surety is answerable if the work is not done.
- operis novi nuntiatioIn civil law, a protest or warning against new building work that another has begun to one’s detriment.
- OPICA corporation the federal government created to finance and insure investments abroad by American companies. Chartere…
- opinio juris sive necessitatisIn international law, the principle that a country's practice becomes customary international law only if the country…
- opinionA court's written statement explaining its decision, usually setting out the facts, the points of law, the reasoning,…
- opinion evidenceA witness's belief, thought, or inference about a disputed fact.
- opinion letterA lawyer's written statement of their view of the law as it applies to stated facts, often given to a client or to a…
- opinion ruleIn the law of evidence, the rule that a witness should speak to facts rather than opinions, so that opinions are ofte…
- opinion testimonyTestimony resting on the witness's belief or inference rather than on direct knowledge. Both lay and expert witnesses…
- oppignorateIn older usage, to pawn or pledge.
- opponentAn adverse party in a contested matter; also the party challenging the admissibility of evidence.
- opportunityThe fact that the person said to have done an act was present at the time and place it was done.
- opportunity costThe cost of acquiring an asset measured by the return given up on the investment not made.
- opportunity to be heardThe chance to appear before a court or tribunal and put evidence and argument before being deprived of a right by the…
- opposerIn intellectual-property law, a person who formally seeks to stop a patent being granted or a trademark registered.
- oppressionUnjustly exercising authority or power. As an offense, it means a public officer's abuse of discretion from an improp…
- oppressorA public official who wrongfully uses power under color of authority to another's harm.
- OPRAA national market-system plan approved by the securities regulator for gathering and distributing last-sale and quota…
- opt inTo choose to take part in something.
- opt outTo choose not to take part in something.
- optimal-use valueIn tax law, the highest and best use of a thing from an economic point of view. If a farm is worth more as a shopping…
- optionThe right or power to choose, or the thing chosen. In contract law, an agreement to hold an offer open for a set peri…
- option agreementIn company law, a share-transfer restriction that binds a shareholder to sell their shares at a fixed price on a stat…
- option contractA contract to keep an offer open for a set time, so that the offeror cannot withdraw it during that period.
- option premiumThe price the buyer of an option pays the writer for the right the option confers.
- option spreadIn securities law, the gap between the price fixed by an option and the market value of the underlying stock when the…
- option tender bondA bond the holder may redeem at full value at specified dates before maturity.
- option to purchase real propertyA contract by which a landowner gives someone the right to buy the property at a stated price within a stated time, o…
- optional bondA bond the holder may redeem before maturity if the issuer agrees.
- optional completeness, rule ofThe rule of evidence that where a party puts in part of a writing or statement, the other side may require the rest o…
- optional writAt common law, an original writ issued where the claimant sought a specific sum, such as a liquidated debt, commandin…
- optional-completeness doctrineThe rule of evidence that where a party puts in part of a writing or statement, the other side may require the rest o…
- optioneeThe person to whom an option is given.
- optionorThe person who grants an option.
- Options Price Reporting AuthorityA national market-system plan approved by the securities regulator for gathering and distributing last-sale and quota…
- opusA product of work, above all an artistic, literary, or musical work.
- or criminalUnder benefit of clergy, clerics accused of felony could be tried only in a church court and so faced only the punish…
- oraculumA ruling or sentence delivered by the emperor.
- oralSpoken rather than written.
- oral argumentA lawyer's spoken presentation to a court, above all an appellate court, for or against the relief sought.
- oral confessionA confession not put in writing. Such confessions may be used in evidence, though interrogators prefer written or rec…
- oral contractA contract, or a change to one, that is not in writing or is only partly in writing.
- oral depositionA deposition given in answer to a lawyer's spoken questions.
- oral trustA trust created by the settlor's spoken words rather than in writing. Trusts of land must generally be in writing und…
- oral willA will made by the testator's spoken declaration, which must usually be proved by the testimony of those who heard it.
- oratio consultoriaA written opinion given by a jurist in answer to a question of law referred to them.
- oratorIn Roman law, an advocate or pleader; in older English usage, a claimant or petitioner in chancery.
- orbationThe loss of one's parents or children by death.
- ordealAn early form of trial in which the accused underwent a dangerous or painful physical test, the outcome being taken a…
- ordeal by fireAn ordeal in which the accused had to hold hot metal or walk barefoot over a hot surface, guilt or innocence turning…
- ordeal by waterAn ordeal in which the accused was put into cold water, sinking being taken as proof of innocence and floating as pro…
- ordelfThe right to dig for ore in one's own land.
- ordelsIn English law, the right to hold trials by ordeal within a given jurisdiction.
- orderA command or direction; also a written direction issued by a court or judge.
- order absoluteA decree nisi that has ripened: one that has become unconditional because the time set in it has passed without chall…
- order assigning residueA probate court's order naming those entitled to share in what remains of an estate and setting out each one's share.
- order at the marketAn order to buy or sell at once at the best price the market offers.
- order bill of ladingA negotiable bill of lading stating that the goods are consigned to the order of the person named in it.
- order instrumentAn instrument payable to a named payee, or to anyone the payee directs.
- order nisiA decree that becomes absolute unless the party it goes against shows the court, within a stated time, why it should…
- Order of the CoifFormerly, the order of serjeants-at-law, the highest rank of counsel at the English Bar; the last serjeant was appoin…
- order paperAn instrument payable to a named payee, or to anyone the payee directs.
- order to show causeAn order requiring a party to appear and explain why they did or failed to do something, or why the court should not…
- ordered, adjudged, and decreedOrdered by the court: the formula introducing what a judgment requires.
- orderly officerThe officer in charge, for the time being, of the guard, prisoners, and police of a military force or camp.
- ordinanceA law made by a city or town council. Municipal governments may pass ordinances on whatever matters the state allows…
- ordinarily prudent personThe hypothetical person the law measures conduct against, above all in deciding negligence. Such a person acts sensib…
- ordinaryHappening in the regular course of things; of a judge, holding jurisdiction by right of office rather than by delegat…
- ordinary and necessary business expenseAn expense that is usual for the trade or business and helpful in carrying it on, paid or incurred during the tax yea…
- ordinary and necessary expenseAn expense that is normal and appropriate for running a particular trade or business, and paid or incurred during the…
- ordinary annuityAn annuity whose payments fall due at the end of each period.
- ordinary careFor deciding negligence, the care that a prudent and competent person in the same line of work would take in the same…
- ordinary course of businessThe normal routine of running a trade or business.
- ordinary diligenceThe care an averagely prudent person would take in handling their own property of the kind in question.
- ordinary gainIn tax law, a gain on selling or exchanging something that is not a capital asset, taxed at ordinary rates rather tha…
- ordinary goodsGoods of a kind ordinarily dealt in, as opposed to consumer goods, farm products, or inventory held for a particular…
- ordinary high tideThe average of all high tides, above all over a period of 18.6 years.
- ordinary incomeFor businesses, earnings from normal operations; for individuals, income from sources such as wages, commissions, and…
- ordinary insuranceLife insurance carrying a cash value that grows with interest, such as whole life or universal life. It is one of the…
- ordinary lawThe body of law made by statute, as opposed to constitutional or judge-made law.
- ordinary life insuranceLife insurance covering the insured for life, with fixed premiums, part of which builds up savings, and a guaranteed…
- ordinary lossIn tax law, a loss on selling or exchanging something used in a trade or business. It can be set against ordinary inc…
- ordinary meaningThe meaning a court gives a document on a commonsense reading of its words, taking them in their ordinary sense witho…
- ordinary negligenceA lack of ordinary care: the failure to do what a reasonably prudent person would do. The phrase is used mostly to ma…
- ordinary seamanA seaman with some experience but not skilled enough to rank as an able-bodied seaman.
- ordinary sharesIn British usage, the class of shares carrying a vote, a dividend paid after all prior claims are met, and a share of…
- ordinary-meaning ruleThe rule that where a writing appears unambiguous on its face, its meaning must be taken from the writing itself with…
- ordinary's courtA probate court, so called in some parts of the United States.
- ordinatio forestaeFormerly, a statute setting out the rules to be observed in the royal forest.
- ordinatum estIt is ordered: the usual opening words of a court order entered in Latin.
- ordinis beneficiumIn civil law, a surety's right to require the creditor to exhaust the principal debtor's property before coming again…
- ordonnanceA law, decree, or ordinance; also a compilation of the law on one subject, above all prizes and captures at sea.
- ore tenusOrally: made or presented by word of mouth.
- ore tenus ruleThe presumption that a trial court's findings of fact are right and should not be disturbed unless plainly wrong or u…
- oredelfThe right to dig for ore in one's own land.
- organic actA law creating an administrative agency or a unit of local government.
- organic diseaseA disease caused by injury to, or a lesion or malfunction in, an organ.
- organic lawThe body of law, as in a constitution, that creates and defines a government: fundamental law. In civil-law systems t…
- organic statuteA law creating an administrative agency or a unit of local government.
- organizationA body of people, such as a union or company, formed for a shared purpose.
- organizational depositionA deposition in which a party names the matters to be examined and the organization must put forward someone able to…
- organizational expenseAn expense incurred in setting up a corporation or other organization.
- organizational meetingThe first meeting of a new company's directors, held to adopt bylaws, elect officers, and settle other opening business.
- organizational picketingPicketing by a union to press an employer to accept it as the employees' bargaining agent, above all where the employ…
- organizational strikeA strike to force an employer to recognize the union as the employees' bargaining agent. Such strikes became largely…
- organized crimeWidespread criminal activity coordinated and controlled through a central syndicate; also, the people who run it and…
- organized laborUnions taken together as a political and economic force.
- original acquisitionAn acquisition of something that has never belonged to anyone else, such as a copyright held by the author.
- original billA bill about a matter that the same parties, with the same interests, have never litigated before.
- original contractorA person who contracts to complete a whole project, buying the materials, hiring and paying the subcontractors, and c…
- original conveyanceA conveyance that creates an estate. Feoffment, gift, grant, lease, exchange, and partition are examples.
- original costWhat an asset cost when it was acquired, as opposed to what it is worth now.
- original estateAn estate that is the first of one or more derived estates, standing to them as a particular estate stands to a rever…
- original evidenceA witness's statement that they perceived a fact in issue through one of the five senses, or that they were in a part…
- original intentThe state of mind of those who drafted or enacted the Constitution, a statute, or another document, as a guide to wha…
- original inventionUnder a reissue statute, the invention as the original patent described it.
- original issueThe first issue of securities of a particular type or series.
- original jurisdictionA court's power to hear and decide a matter before any other court can review it.
- original marketThe market in which goods or securities are first offered for sale, above all where a company issues new securities t…
- original precedentA precedent that creates a new rule of law and applies it.
- original processProcess issued at the very start of a proceeding.
- original promiseA promise to answer for another's debt made chiefly for the promisor's own benefit. Because the promise serves the pr…
- original titleA title that creates a right for the first time, rather than passing on one that already existed.
- original writA writ beginning an action and requiring the defendant to appear and answer. In the United States the summons has lar…
- original-document ruleThe rule of evidence that to prove what a writing, recording, or photograph says, a party must produce the original,…
- original-issue discountThe amount by which a bond is sold below its face value when first issued.
- original-package doctrineThe rule that imported goods were free of state tax so long as they remained unsold and in their original packaging.…
- originaliaFormerly, records made up in Chancery and sent to the Remembrancer's office in the Exchequer. They were kept from 123…
- originalismThe theory that the Constitution should be read according to what those who drafted and adopted it meant by it.
- originalityThe quality of being independently created and carrying at least a minimum of creativity. It is a requirement of copy…
- Origination ClauseThe constitutional provision that all bills for raising revenue must start in the House of Representatives rather tha…
- origination feeA charge a lender makes for putting a loan together and processing it.
- originatorThe party who sets a funds transfer in motion.
- ornestTrial by combat: the old method of deciding a dispute by a fight between the parties or their champions.
- ORPOrdinary, reasonable, and prudent: the standard of conduct by which negligence is measured.
- orphanA child whose parents are dead; sometimes also a child with one parent dead, more precisely called a half orphan, or…
- orphan drugA prescription drug developed to treat a disease affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, such as AI…
- OSA seaman with some experience but not skilled enough to rank as an able-bodied seaman.
- OSHAThe Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; also the federal agency it created, which sets and enforces workplace…
- ostensibleOpen to view, or apparent.
- ostensible agencyAn agency arising by operation of law, where a principal has behaved in a way that would lead an outsider reasonably…
- ostensible agentSomeone who reasonably appears to have authority to act for another, whether or not that authority was actually given.
- ostensible authorityAuthority a principal's own conduct leads an outsider reasonably to believe an agent has, even though it was never ac…
- ostensible partnerA person held out as a partner in a firm who in fact has no interest in the partnership.
- ostrich defenseA criminal defendant's claim not to have known what an associate was up to, despite reason to suspect it.
- ostrich instructionIn criminal procedure, an instruction that a defendant who deliberately kept themselves from learning the truth may s…
- OTCNot listed or traded on an organized exchange, but dealt directly between buyer and seller; of drugs, sold lawfully w…
- other considerationFurther things of value to be given under a contract, usually left unlisted in the contract, deed, or bill of sale be…
- other incomeIncome that does not come from an entity's main business, such as dividends and interest.
- other-insurance clauseA policy clause seeking to cut down cover where the insured also holds other insurance against the same loss. The thr…
- OUIOperating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- our federalismThe doctrine that a federal court should keep out of a constitutional challenge to state action where hearing it woul…
- oustTo put someone out of possession, or to deprive them of a right or inheritance.
- ousterThe wrongful dispossession or shutting out of someone, above all a cotenant, from property; also the removal of a pub…
- ouster le mainThe releasing of land out of the sovereign's hands where the Crown has no right to hold it, and the judgment or writ…
- out of the stateOutside the jurisdiction: beyond the reach of the court's process, which in older usage meant beyond the seas.
- out-of-courtNot done as part of a court proceeding.
- out-of-court settlementThe ending of a pending suit by agreement between the parties, without the court's involvement.
- out-of-pocket expenseMoney, time, labor, or resources actually spent to achieve a result, above all a business cost chargeable against the…
- out-of-pocket lossThe difference between what the buyer paid and the market value of what they got in return. It is the measure used fo…
- out-of-pocket ruleThe rule that a defrauded buyer may recover the difference between what they paid for the property and what it was ac…
- outbuildingA detached building within the grounds of a main one, such as a shed or garage.
- outcome-determinative testIn civil procedure, a test for deciding whether an issue is substantive under the Erie doctrine, by asking whether ap…
- outer barThe junior barristers who sit outside the bar in court, ranking below those appointed King's Counsel.
- outer barristerA barrister who has been called to the bar but not called to plead from within it, as a Queen's Counsel may; a member…
- outfangthiefA lord's right to pursue a thief beyond the manor's boundaries and bring them back for trial and punishment.
- outlawA person put outside the protection of the law by a sentence of outlawry; also, loosely, a habitual criminal or fugit…
- outlaw strikeA strike the union has not authorized, or one called in breach of a collective agreement.
- outlawryFormerly, the process of putting someone outside the protection of the law, and the condition of being so placed; als…
- output contractA contract in which the buyer promises to take all the goods or services the seller can produce in a set period at a…
- outrageThe tort of deliberately or recklessly causing someone severe emotional distress by conduct beyond all bounds of dece…
- outrageous conductConduct so extreme that it goes beyond all bounds of ordinary decency.
- outside directorA director who is not an employee and who has little or no direct interest in the company.
- outside financingRaising money by selling stock, which is equity financing, or bonds, which is debt financing.
- outside partyA person who is not a party to a lawsuit, agreement, or transaction but is somehow caught up in it.
- outsourcing agreementAn agreement for one party to take over substantially all of another's business needs, especially in data processing…
- outstandingUnpaid or uncollected; of securities, publicly issued and still in investors' hands.
- outstanding capital stockStock held by investors that the issuing company has not bought back.
- outstanding securityA security held by an investor that the issuer has not redeemed.
- outstanding stockStock held by investors that the issuing company has not bought back.
- outstanding warrantAn arrest warrant that has been issued but not yet executed.
- overOf a property interest, meant to take effect after an earlier estate fails or ends.
- over-the-counterNot listed or traded on an organized exchange, but dealt directly between buyer and seller; of drugs, sold lawfully w…
- over-the-counter marketThe market for securities not traded on an organized exchange, where dealing happens by telephone or computer between…
- overageAn excess or surplus, above all of goods; also a share of retail sales a store pays its landlord on top of the fixed…
- overbreadth doctrineThe rule that a statute written so broadly that it deters protected expression may be struck down on its face for its…
- overburdenIn mining law, the layer of rock and soil lying above the minerals in question.
- overdraftA withdrawal of more money from a bank than the account holds; also, the amount so withdrawn.
- overdrawTo draw on an account for more than it holds.
- overheadBusiness costs such as rent, utilities, and support staff, which cannot be traced to any particular product or service.
- overheated economyAn economy running at so high a level of activity that it threatens to push up interest rates and inflation.
- overinclusiveOf legislation, reaching beyond the class of people it was meant to protect or regulate, and so burdening more people…
- overinsuranceInsurance, often from holding several policies at once, that exceeds what the insured thing is worth; also insurance…
- overissueAn issue of securities beyond the amount of capital or credit authorized.
- overlapping jurisdictionPower over the same subject matter and territory held by more than one court at once, so that the litigant may choose…
- overlapping offenseAn offense that is charged in addition to another arising out of the same conduct.
- overplusWhat is left over: the surplus after everything owing is met, as with receipts exceeding payments, or with the funds…
- overreachingTaking unfair commercial advantage of another, above all by fraud; also, in a different sense, defeating one's own pu…
- overridden vetoA veto the legislature has set aside by passing the measure again, usually by an enhanced majority. In Congress a vet…
- overrideTo prevail over something, or to set it aside.
- overriding interestA royalty on production reserved to someone with no interest in the land itself, carved out of the lessee's share.
- overriding royaltyA royalty a mineral lessee keeps when subleasing the property, carved out of the working interest.
- overruleTo rule against something; also, of a court, to set aside a precedent by deciding expressly that it is no longer good…
- overseas bill of ladingA bill of lading used for shipment overseas by sea or air.
- Overseas Private Investment CorporationA corporation the federal government created to finance and insure investments abroad by American companies. Chartere…
- oversubscriptionA situation in which more people apply for a new issue of securities than there are securities to go round.
- overtOpen and observable, rather than concealed.
- overt actAn act showing an intent to kill or seriously injure someone, which justifies that person in defending themselves. Th…
- overtimeHours worked beyond a standard day or week. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered employees must be paid extra,…
- overtime payPay at a higher rate for hours worked beyond the standard working day or week.
- overtryOf a trial lawyer, to spend excessive time and effort on trivia, above all by putting in more evidence than the factf…
- overturnTo overrule or reverse.
- oweltyA sum of money paid to even things up after an exchange of parcels of unequal value or an unequal division of land; a…
- OWIOperating a vehicle while intoxicated.
- owingStill to be paid: owed or due.
- owlingThe smuggling of wool or sheep out of England, usually by night.
- ownTo hold as property, or to have legal title to.
- own-product exclusionA clause in some commercial general liability policies excluding cover for damage to a product the insured made, sold…
- own-work exclusionA clause in some commercial general liability policies excluding cover for damage to the work or services the insured…
- owned-property exclusionA clause in some commercial general liability policies excluding cover for damage to property the insured owns, rents…
- ownerA person with the right to possess, use, and dispose of something.
- owner of recordThe person the issuer's books show as holding stock on the record date.
- owner pro hac viceA charterer who takes over possession and control of a vessel under a demise charter, stepping into most of the owner…
- owner's policyA title-insurance policy covering the owner’s title as well as the lender’s interest.
- owner’s policyIn real-estate law, a title-insurance policy covering the owner’s own title, as opposed to one protecting only the le…
- owners' associationThe governing body of a condominium or planned unit development, usually an unincorporated association or a nonprofit…
- owners’ associationThe governing body of a condominium or planned development, usually an unincorporated association or a nonprofit corp…
- owners' equityThe owners’ total financial stake in a business: the capital they put in plus any earnings kept in the business.
- owners’ equityThe owners’ combined financial interest in a business: what they put in, plus whatever earnings have been retained.
- ownershipThe bundle of rights allowing a person to use and enjoy property and to pass it on to others. It implies a right to p…
- ownership in commonOwnership shared by two or more people whose interests pass at death to their own heirs rather than to the survivors.
- oxfildCompensation a county or hundred paid for a wrong done by someone within it.
- oxgangAs much land as an ox could plow in a year, usually twelve to fifteen acres. Eight of them made a carucate, and land…
- oyerA criminal trial held under a commission of oyer and terminer. The word also means the reading aloud in open court of…
- oyer and terminerTo hear and determine: the commission empowering judges to hear and decide criminal cases at assizes.
- oyer, demand ofA party's claim of the right to hear, read, or inspect a deed that the other side has produced in its pleading.
- oyezHear ye: called out three times by the crier to bring a court to order at the opening of a session or before a procla…