Terms beginning with T
866 headwords
- TA letter branded on the thumb of a person who claimed benefit of clergy, to stop them claiming it a second time; the…
- T-accountAn accounting form shaped like a T, with the account's name above the line, debits on the left and credits on the right.
- T.CThe federal court that hears disputes over federal tax; in some states, a court hearing appeals in state tax cases wi…
- TABA short-term Treasury obligation issued to meet the government's cash-flow needs, which companies may tender at par i…
- tableTo put off consideration of a bill or motion, with no undertaking to take it up again unless the motion names a later…
- table of authoritiesAn alphabetical list of the authorities cited in a brief, usually divided into cases, statutes, and other materials.
- table of casesAn alphabetical list of the cases cited or digested in a book, with references to where each appears.
- tableau of distributionA list of the creditors of an insolvent estate, showing what each is entitled to.
- tabulis exhibendisThe production of a will's tablets. Roman law allowed an application to have a dead person's will produced and opened…
- tacitImplied rather than expressed, as by silence or acquiescence; in civil law, arising by operation of law.
- tacit admissionAn admission reasonably inferred from what a party did or said, or from their failure to act or speak.
- tacit contractA contract in which conduct rather than words makes the offer, the acceptance, or both.
- tacit dedicationA dedication of property to public use inferred from the owner's silence or inaction, without any express agreement.
- tacit hypothecationThe pledging of something as security without handing over either title or possession.
- tacit lawA law that draws its force from the people's acceptance rather than from any enactment.
- tacit mortgageA mortgage the law fastens on a debtor's property automatically, without any agreement, to secure a particular obliga…
- tacit relocationThe implied renewal of a lease, usually from year to year, where neither landlord nor tenant has shown any intention…
- tacit remissionA release of a debt that the law implies from conduct, as where a creditor hands the original document of title back…
- tacit-relocation doctrineThe rule that a lease is presumed to continue, usually for a further year, past its expiry date where the parties fai…
- tackTo add one's own period of possession to an earlier possessor's, so as to make up the term adverse possession require…
- tackingThe joining of successive periods of possession by different people so that they count as one continuous period, abov…
- Taft-Hartley ActThe federal statute of 1947 that regulates union activity, allows unions to be sued for forbidden acts, bans certain…
- Taft-Hartley fundA fund set up in collective bargaining to pay health and welfare benefits to union members, run jointly by representa…
- tailThe limiting of an estate so that only the owner's issue, or a stated class of issue, can inherit it.
- tail generalAn entail limited to the issue of one named person, rather than to the issue of a particular couple.
- tail specialAn entail limited to specified heirs of the donee's body.
- taintThe corruption of blood following a conviction for felony, by which the convict could neither inherit nor pass on pro…
- tainted evidenceEvidence that cannot be used because it was obtained, directly or indirectly, by unlawful means.
- tainted stockStock owned or transferred by someone disqualified from suing derivatively. Even a transferee who took in good faith…
- takeTo obtain possession or control, lawfully or not; also, of a government, to acquire property for public use, and, in…
- take awayTo entice a girl under the age of consent away from her family for marriage, prostitution, or unlawful sex.
- take by stealthTo steal property secretly.
- take care ofTo look after a person; also to pay a debt or attend to a matter.
- take deliveryTo receive what has been bought or ordered, above all a commodity under a futures or spot contract, or securities lat…
- take effectTo come into force.
- take the witnessYou may question the witness: a lawyer's announcement in court ending one side's questioning and inviting the other t…
- take upTo pay off a note; also to discharge one's liability on a negotiable instrument, or to buy one.
- take-home payWages or salary after income tax, social-security contributions, union dues, and other deductions: the net amount of…
- take-it-or-leave-it contractA standard-form contract drawn up by one party and put to the other, usually a consumer in a weaker position, with no…
- take-nothing judgmentA judgment for the defendant, under which the plaintiff recovers nothing in damages or other relief.
- take-or-pay contractA contract requiring the buyer either to take a minimum quantity of a product at a set price or, if they do not take…
- takeoverThe acquiring of ownership or control of a company, whether by buying its shares or assets, by a tender offer, or by…
- takeover bidAn attempt by outsiders to wrest control of a company from its existing management.
- takeover defenseA step a company takes to make itself unattractive to a hostile bidder, such as issuing new shares, buying costly ass…
- takeover offerA public offer to buy a minimum number of shares directly from a company's shareholders at a fixed price, usually wel…
- takerA person who acquires property, above all one who receives it by will, by power of appointment, or on intestacy.
- taker in defaultA person the donor names to take the property under a power of appointment if the donee never exercises the power.
- takingThe seizing of an article, with or without carrying it off, in a way that transfers possession or control.
- taking a case from the juryA judgment entered on the judge's order, the judge taking the fact-finding out of the jury's hands because the eviden…
- taking the FifthThe claiming of one's Fifth Amendment right not to give evidence against oneself.
- Takings ClauseThe Fifth Amendment provision forbidding the government to take private property for public use without paying the ow…
- talesExtra jurors, usually drawn from bystanders at the courthouse, summoned to fill a panel left short by challenges or e…
- tales-jurorA person picked from among the bystanders in court to serve as a juror when the original panel has run short; more lo…
- talesmanA person taken from among the bystanders in court to serve as a juror when the panel has fallen short.
- talismanA charm or amulet supposed to work wonders.
- tallyFormerly, a stick notched to record what was owed and then split in two, each party keeping a half so that the record…
- TalmudThe body of Jewish civil and religious law and commentary.
- TAMA ruling the national office of the tax authority issues, usually at a taxpayer's request, on some novel or difficult…
- tameOf an animal, domesticated and used to people.
- tamperTo interfere with something so as to alter it, above all in a way that is unlawful or corrupting.
- tamperingImproper meddling, above all an attempt to influence something one should not, as by interfering with a jury, a witne…
- TANA short-term obligation a state or local government issues to meet current spending, maturing when the expected tax r…
- tangibleHaving physical form; capable of being touched and seen.
- tangible assetAn asset that physically exists and can be given a value.
- tangible chattel paperChattel paper recorded on something physical, such as a paper document, rather than electronically.
- tangible costIn oil-and-gas law, an expense of drilling that produces something lasting, such as the cost of materials and land, a…
- tangible evidencePhysical evidence that can be seen and handled, offered to make testimony clearer rather than because it played any p…
- tangible personal propertyPersonal property with a physical body: property that can be seen, weighed, measured, or touched.
- tangible propertyProperty that has a physical form.
- tapperA person who approaches others for money; by extension, a thief.
- tappingElectronic or mechanical eavesdropping, usually carried out by officers under a court order, to listen to private con…
- tareThe shortfall in the weight of goods that comes of counting the container's weight along with them; also the allowanc…
- target benefit planA money-purchase plan under which contributions are set at whatever level is needed to aim at a target benefit at ret…
- target corporationA corporation that another party is trying to gain control of.
- target offenseThe crime that a conspiracy or attempt is aimed at.
- target priceA price the federal government sets for particular farm commodities. If the market price falls below it, farmers rece…
- target witnessThe person who has the knowledge an investigation is after; also a witness called before a grand jury against whom th…
- tariffA schedule of duties a government imposes on goods crossing its borders. In the United States they fall on imports on…
- taxA charge the government imposes on people, entities, or property to raise public revenue. The word covers every kind…
- tax accountingThe accounting rules and methods used in working out a taxpayer's liability.
- tax assessmentThe fixing of the amount of a tax, and the imposing of it at the established rate.
- tax assessorThe official who values property for the purpose of taxing it.
- tax auditThe IRS's review of a taxpayer's return, including examination of the books, vouchers, and records behind it.
- tax avoidanceThe arranging of one's affairs, within the law, so as to pay as little tax as possible.
- tax baseThe total property, income, or wealth on which a tax falls in a given jurisdiction.
- tax basisThe value assigned to a taxpayer's investment in property, used above all to work out gain or loss when it is sold. W…
- tax bracketA band of income taxed at a particular rate.
- tax certificateA certificate given to the buyer at a tax sale, entitling them to a tax deed and possession once the redemption perio…
- tax courtThe federal court that hears disputes over federal tax; in some states, a court hearing appeals in state tax cases.
- tax creditA sum taken straight off the tax owed, dollar for dollar, as opposed to a deduction from income.
- tax deductionA sum subtracted from gross income in arriving at adjusted gross income, or from adjusted gross income in arriving at…
- tax deedA deed recording the transfer of title to land sold because taxes on it went unpaid.
- tax deficiencyThe amount by which the tax properly due exceeds what the taxpayer's return showed.
- tax evasionThe deliberate attempt to defeat the tax law and pay less than is owed, punishable by both civil and criminal penalties.
- tax ferretA private person who makes a business of hunting out property that has escaped taxation.
- tax foreclosureA public authority's seizure and sale of property because the taxes on it went unpaid.
- tax fraudA deliberate attempt to beat or get around the tax law in order to cut one's tax bill unlawfully. It carries both civ…
- tax havenA country that taxes profits from transactions carried on there lightly or not at all.
- tax homeA taxpayer's principal place of business. Travel expenses are deductible only where the taxpayer is away from it.
- tax incentiveA tax benefit offered to encourage a particular activity, such as relief on mortgage interest to encourage home owner…
- tax injunction actThe federal statute forbidding a federal court to interfere with the assessment or collection of a state tax where th…
- tax lawThe body of federal tax legislation, contained in Title 26 of the United States Code; also the branch of legal study…
- tax leaseThe instrument or estate given to a buyer of land at a tax sale where the law allows only the sale of a term of years…
- tax levyThe imposing of a tax, and the tax so imposed.
- tax liabilityWhat a taxpayer lawfully owes once the tax has been worked out; also the amount of tax left unpaid.
- tax lienA lien the federal government places on a person's property and property rights for unpaid federal taxes; also a lien…
- tax loopholeA gap or ambiguity in the law that lets a person escape its effect without breaking its terms, above all a provision…
- tax negligenceNegligence in disregarding the tax laws, for which the Internal Revenue Service may impose a penalty measured as a pe…
- tax rateThe figure, usually a percentage, by which a tax is calculated.
- tax rebateMoney a taxpayer overpaid, which the tax authority returns.
- tax redemptionA taxpayer's recovery of property sold for unpaid taxes, by paying the overdue tax together with interest, costs, and…
- tax refundMoney a taxpayer overpaid, which the tax authority returns.
- tax returnThe form on which a person or company reports income, deductions, and exemptions and works out the tax owed.
- tax rollThe official list of the people and property subject to tax.
- tax saleA sale of property to recover unpaid taxes.
- tax shelterAn arrangement, often an investment, whose chief purpose is to reduce or postpone the tax the owner would otherwise p…
- tax situsThe state or jurisdiction whose connection with an asset is close enough for it to tax the asset.
- tax tableA schedule for finding the tax on a given amount of taxable income, according to the taxpayer's filing status.
- tax titleThe title a buyer takes to property bought at a sale for unpaid taxes.
- tax warrantAn official process for collecting unpaid taxes, under which property may be seized and sold.
- tax write-offA deduction claimed for depreciation, loss, or expense.
- tax yearThe period over which income-tax liability is worked out, usually the calendar year or a twelve-month fiscal year end…
- tax-anticipation billA short-term Treasury obligation issued to meet the government's cash-flow needs, which companies may tender at par i…
- tax-anticipation noteA short-term obligation a state or local government issues to fund current spending, usually maturing once it receive…
- tax-anticipation warrantA warrant issued to raise public money, payable out of tax receipts when they are collected.
- tax-benefit ruleThe rule that where a taxpayer recovers a loss or expense deducted in an earlier year, the recovery must be brought i…
- tax-deferredNot taxable until some future date or event.
- tax-deferred annuityAn annuity on which tax on the growth is postponed until the annuitant starts drawing payments.
- tax-deficiency noticeThe formal notice the tax authority sends a taxpayer of a deficiency. Within ninety days the taxpayer must either pay…
- tax-exemptNot subject to tax; of interest, free of income tax.
- tax-exempt bondA bond whose interest is free of tax.
- tax-freeNot subject to tax; of interest, free of income tax.
- tax-free exchangeA transfer of property that the tax law expressly exempts from income-tax consequences.
- tax-increment financingA method by which a municipality funds a commercial development, issuing bonds to meet the cost of land and other ear…
- tax-loss carrybackThe applying of a current year's loss against the profits of an earlier year, so as to recover tax already paid.
- tax-loss carryforwardA deduction, above all for a net operating loss, that cannot be used up in the year it arises and may be carried into…
- tax-loss carryoverA deduction that cannot be used up in the year it arises and may be carried into later years.
- tax-option corporationA company whose income is taxed in the shareholders' hands rather than at the company level, available only to a comp…
- tax-preference itemsItems that, though deducted in working out ordinary taxable income, must be brought back into account in calculating…
- tax-rate scheduleA schedule for finding the tax on a given amount of taxable income, according to the taxpayer's filing status.
- tax-shelteredProtected from tax, or arranged so as to reduce or postpone it.
- tax-sheltered annuityAn annuity, offered above all to employees of schools and charities, into which contributions are made out of untaxed…
- tax-straddle ruleThe rule stopping a taxpayer from deferring tax by putting a short-term gain into offsetting commodity positions so a…
- taxableSubject to tax; of legal costs, capable of being assessed.
- taxable distributionA generation-skipping transfer out of a trust to a beneficiary that is neither a direct skip nor a taxable termination.
- taxable estateA dead person's gross estate less the deductions allowed, such as administration costs. It is the figure on which the…
- taxable giftA gift large enough, after the annual exclusion and other allowances, to count against the giver's lifetime exemption…
- taxable incomeGross income less every allowable deduction and exemption. The tax rate is applied to this figure to work out what is…
- taxable terminationA taxable event arising when an interest in a generation-skipping trust ends, no interest remains in anyone of the se…
- taxable yearThe period over which income-tax liability is worked out, usually the calendar year or a twelve-month fiscal year.
- taxationThe imposing of taxes: the means by which the state raises the revenue it needs.
- taxing districtThe area - a whole state, a county, a city, or something smaller - throughout which a particular tax is apportioned a…
- taxing powerThe power of a government body to levy taxes, above all Congress's power to lay and collect them in carrying out its…
- taxpayerA person who pays a tax or is liable to one.
- taxpayer-standing doctrineIn constitutional law, the rule that a taxpayer has no standing to sue the government merely for misspending public m…
- TBCTrial before the court: a trial by a judge sitting without a jury.
- teamworkWork done by a team, above all by a team of animals forming a substantial part of a business such as farming or haula…
- tear-me-open licenseA license printed on a software package warning that opening it binds the buyer to its terms, which typically forbid…
- TECAA special federal court created in 1971 with exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the district courts about price…
- technical adjustmentA brief movement against the general trend of stock prices, such as a short rally in a falling market.
- Technical Advice MemorandumA ruling the national office of the tax authority issues, usually at a taxpayer's request, on some novel or difficult…
- technical errorAn error that does not affect a party's substantive rights or the outcome of the case, and so is no ground for reversal.
- technical mortgageA formal mortgage in the traditional form, as opposed to a document that merely operates as a mortgage in equity.
- telecopierA machine that sends and receives documents over a telephone line.
- teleological interpretationAn interpretation that looks to the purpose the law was meant to serve and the mischief it was meant to cure, rather…
- tellerA bank clerk who takes in and pays out money over the counter; also a person who counts votes at an election.
- Teller in ParliamentOne of the members of the House of Commons - two from the government and two from the opposition - whom the Speaker a…
- teller’s checkA draft one bank draws on another, or which is payable at or through a bank.
- temperanceHabitual moderation in indulging the appetites, above all in drink; also total abstinence.
- temporal lordOne of the lay peers, as opposed to the bishops, who sit in the House of Lords.
- temporalityCivil or political power, as opposed to spiritual; also the secular property and revenues of a churchman.
- temporaryLasting only for a time.
- temporary administrationAn administration in which the court appoints someone to look after a deceased person's affairs for a short period, u…
- temporary alimonyTemporary alimony ordered while a divorce or separation case is pending.
- temporary allegianceThe limited allegiance a resident alien owes a state for as long as they live there.
- temporary damagesDamages for an intermittent or occasional wrong, such as damage to land from a cause that can be removed or stopped.
- temporary detentionThe holding of a defendant before trial, either because the bail set could not be raised or because release was refused.
- temporary disabilityA disability lasting until an injured worker has recovered as fully as the nature of the injury allows.
- Temporary Emergency Court of AppealsA special federal court created in 1971 with exclusive jurisdiction over appeals about price and other economic contr…
- temporary fiduciaryA stopgap fiduciary the court appoints to serve until a permanent one can be named.
- temporary frustrationAn event that blocks performance and suspends the duty to perform while it lasts. If conditions turn out to be substa…
- temporary injunctionA temporary injunction granted before or during trial to prevent irreparable harm before the court can decide the cas…
- temporary insanityInsanity present only at the moment of the criminal act.
- temporary insiderSomeone who comes by inside information while doing professional work for a client, such as a lawyer, accountant, or…
- temporary judgeA judge assigned by the presiding judge of a region to sit temporarily on a court, usually while the regular judge is…
- temporary nuisanceA nuisance that can be put right by a reasonable outlay of money or work.
- temporary perfectionThe perfection of a security interest for a limited period without filing. A security interest in proceeds, for insta…
- temporary restraining orderA court order holding matters as they stand until an application for an injunction can be heard. It may sometimes be…
- temporary statuteA statute that by its terms is to remain in force only for a fixed period, or one that by its nature operates only on…
- temporary total disabilityA worker's complete inability to work for a period, lasting until they recover as far as the injury allows.
- temporary wardA minor under the supervision of a juvenile court whose parents' rights have not been ended.
- ten-day ruleThe rule that a seller who has sold goods on credit and then learns the buyer is insolvent may demand them back withi…
- ten-percent bondA bail bond for 10% of the sum otherwise required for a defendant's release, which usually lets the defendant arrange…
- tenancyThe holding or occupying of land by right or title, above all under a lease; also the period of that holding.
- tenancy at sufferanceThe tenancy that arises when a person lawfully in possession stays on after their interest has ended. It may harden i…
- tenancy at willA tenancy in which the tenant holds with the landlord's consent but on no fixed terms as to length or rent. Either si…
- tenancy attendant on the inheritanceA term of years vested in a trustee to hold for the owner of the inheritance.
- tenancy by the entiretyA joint tenancy arising between spouses where one instrument conveys land to both and says nothing about how they are…
- tenancy by the rodA base tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, as recorded on the manor's court rolls.
- tenancy by the vergeA base tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, as recorded on the manor's court rolls.
- tenancy for a periodA tenancy whose length is fixed in years, weeks, or days from the moment it is created.
- tenancy for a termA tenancy whose length is fixed in years, weeks, or days from the moment it is created.
- tenancy for yearsA tenancy whose length is fixed in years, weeks, or days from the moment it is created.
- tenancy from period to periodA tenancy that renews itself from period to period, usually month to month or year to year, until one side gives noti…
- tenancy in commonA tenancy by two or more people in undivided shares, equal or unequal, each entitled to possess the whole but with no…
- tenancy in coparcenaryThe estate arising where two or more people jointly inherit from one ancestor, sharing the title and possession equal…
- tenancy in grossA term of years standing on its own, unattached to the inheritance, as where it is held by a third party with no inte…
- tenancy in tailAn estate limited so that only the holder's lineal descendants can inherit it, which ends if the line runs out.
- tenancy par la vergeA base tenure under which the tenant owed the customary services of the manor, as recorded on the manor's court rolls.
- tenantA person who holds land or tenements by any kind of right or title.
- tenant by the vergeA tenant holding by copyhold tenure.
- tenant for lifeA person entitled to land for their lifetime: the holder of a life estate.
- tenant in capiteA person who held land directly of the king.
- tenant in chiefA person who held land directly of the king.
- tenant in commonOne of two or more tenants who hold the same land by unity of possession but under separate titles, each entitled to…
- tenant in demesneA feudal tenant who holds land of, and owes services to, a tenant in service.
- tenant in serviceA feudal tenant who has granted an estate to another and is therefore entitled to services from them.
- tenant par la vergeA tenant holding by copyhold tenure.
- tenant-rightA tenant's right, when the tenancy ends, to be paid for improvements made to the holding whose value has not been use…
- tenant's fixturePersonal property a tenant attaches to the leased premises but may detach and take away at the end of the term.
- tenantable repairA repair sufficient to make premises fit to live in now.
- tenantlikeIn keeping with a tenant's rights and duties, as in matters of repair and waste.
- tenantryThe body of tenants on an estate.
- tendTo be inclined toward something, or to contribute in some degree to a result.
- tenderAn unconditional offer of money or performance to satisfy a debt or obligation. It may save the party offering from a…
- tender of deliveryA seller's placing conforming goods at the buyer's disposal and giving whatever notice the buyer reasonably needs to…
- tender of issueIn common-law pleading, the formal offer attached to a traverse by which the party denying an allegation submits the…
- tender of performanceAn offer to perform, usually needed before the party in default can be held liable for breach.
- tender offerA public offer to buy a minimum number of shares directly from a company's shareholders at a fixed price, usually wel…
- tender-years doctrineIn family law, the rule that custody of very young children should generally go to the mother on a divorce unless she…
- tender, plea ofAt common law, a plea that the defendant has always been ready to pay the sum demanded, has offered it to the claiman…
- tenementProperty, above all land, held by freehold.
- tenement houseA low-rent apartment building, usually in poor repair and meeting at best the minimum standards of safety and sanitat…
- tenendumThe clause in a deed stating the tenure by which the thing granted is to be held.
- Tennessee Valley AuthorityThe government-owned corporation created in 1933 to develop the resources of the Tennessee Valley, whose work covers…
- tentative trustA bank account a depositor holds in trust for another, revocable at will, the balance passing to the named person on…
- Tenth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, leaving to the states or the people any power…
- tenureThe right or manner of holding land under a superior. In feudal times nearly all land was held this way, and the word…
- tenure by divine serviceA tenure obliging the tenant to perform a defined religious service, such as singing a set number of masses or giving…
- tenure in capiteTenure by which land is held directly of the king rather than of an intermediate lord.
- tenured facultyThe teachers of a school who hold their posts for life or until retirement and may be dismissed only for cause.
- termA word or phrase, above all one with a fixed meaning in a particular field; also a stipulation in a contract.
- term bondA bond maturing on the same date as the others in its issue.
- term feeA sum a solicitor may charge the client, and which a successful client may recover from the loser, for each term in w…
- term for deliberatingThe time allowed a beneficiary to decide whether to accept or refuse an inheritance.
- term for yearsA tenancy whose length is fixed in years, weeks, or days from the moment it is created.
- term in grossA term of years standing on its own, unattached to any estate or inheritance.
- term life insuranceLife insurance covering the insured only for a stated period.
- term loanA loan with a fixed due date, usually more than a year off. Repaying it early normally costs a penalty.
- term of artA word or phrase with a precise meaning in a particular field, distinct from its ordinary sense. “And his heirs” and…
- term of courtThe period during which a court sits to conduct business.
- term of officeThe period for which an elected or appointed officer holds office and exercises its functions.
- term of yearsA life policy giving cover for a stated period only, with no cash or reserve value.
- term policyA life policy giving cover for a stated period, with no cash or reserve value.
- term probatoryThe period allowed the promoter of a church suit to produce witnesses and prove the case.
- term sheetIn securities law, a document setting out the material information about an offering that the prospectus or confirmat…
- term to concludeA deadline the judge sets by which the parties must give up putting in any further exhibits or allegations.
- term to propound all thingsA deadline the judge sets by which the parties must produce all the evidence supporting their positions.
- term-of-art canonIn statutory construction, the rule that a word which has acquired a technical meaning in a particular field is presu…
- termed grant-in-aidA payment a tenant made to their lord in times of difficulty. Originally discretionary, such payments hardened into m…
- terminable interestAn interest that may come to an end with the passing of time or on some condition being met.
- terminable propertyProperty, such as a leasehold, whose duration is limited or which may end on the happening of an event.
- terminal disclaimerIn patent law, a patentee's giving up of part of a patent's term, usually filed to overcome a rejection for double pa…
- termination hearingIn family law, a hearing to decide whether to take parental rights away from the parents of a child who has become a…
- termination of conditional contractThe bringing to an end of everything still to be performed under a conditional contract.
- termination of employmentThe complete ending of the relationship between employer and employee.
- termination proceedingAn administrative proceeding to end a person's or company's status or licence, as where a banking regulator moves to…
- terminerTo determine: the second word of the old commission of oyer and terminer, to hear and determine.
- termorA person holding land for a term of years or for life.
- termtimeThe part of the year during which a court sits.
- terra nulliusLand belonging to no country, and therefore open to acquisition.
- terre-tenantA person actually in possession of land; also a person with an interest in a judgment debtor's land taken after the c…
- territorialHaving to do with a particular geographical area.
- territorial courtA federal court set up in a U.S. territory, such as the Virgin Islands, serving as both a federal and a local court.
- territorial jurisdictionJurisdiction over cases arising in, or involving people living in, a defined territory; also the territory over which…
- territorial lawLaw applying to everyone within a given territory, whatever their citizenship.
- territorial propertyThe land and water over which a state has jurisdiction, whether the title is public or private. Lakes and rivers whol…
- territorial seaThe belt of sea adjoining a country's coast over which it exercises sovereignty. It now extends twelve nautical miles…
- territorial watersThe belt of sea adjoining a country's coast over which it exercises sovereignty, now extending twelve nautical miles…
- territorialismThe older approach to choice of law, under which the place where the injury happened or the contract was made settles…
- territoryAn area within a particular government's jurisdiction: the part of the earth's surface a state exclusively possesses…
- territory of a judgeThe area over which a particular court has jurisdiction.
- terrorismThe use or threat of violence to frighten or cause panic, above all as a way of affecting political conduct.
- terroristic threatA threat to harm another or their property, above all one that curtails the other's freedom to act as they choose.
- Terry stopA police officer's brief detention of a person, with questioning and a pat-down for weapons, where the officer reason…
- tertenantA person actually in possession of land; also a person with an interest in a judgment debtor's land taken after the c…
- tertius gaudensA rejoicing third party: someone who profits from a quarrel between two others.
- test actionOne case chosen from several that rest on the same facts and evidence, raise the same question of law, and share a co…
- test caseA lawsuit brought to settle an important point of law or right, often by the parties' agreement on agreed facts. The…
- test oathAn oath required as a condition of holding office, voting, or practicing a profession, framed so as to exclude those…
- test-paperIn Pennsylvania, a document shown to the jury as evidence.
- testableCapable of being tested; also capable of making a will, or of passing by will.
- testacyThe state of having left a valid will at one's death.
- testamentary capacityThe mental ability a person must have to make a valid will: knowing who their natural beneficiaries are, what their p…
- testamentary classA group of people described in a will not by name but by a shared description, such as “my grandchildren”, whose memb…
- testamentary giftA gift made by will, taking effect on the testator's death.
- testamentary guardianA guardian whom a parent appoints by will to care for a child after the parent's death.
- testamentary heirA person to whom a will leaves property, as opposed to one who takes on intestacy.
- testamentary intentA testator's intention that a particular document serve as their will. Without it the will is not valid.
- testamentary power of appointmentA power of appointment created by a will.
- testamentary successionSuccession under a will properly executed in the form the law requires.
- testamentary trustA trust created by a will, which takes effect only on the testator's death.
- testamentary trusteeA trustee appointed by a will, or acting under one, to carry out a trust the will creates.
- testateHaving left a will at death.
- testate successionThe passing of rights or property by will.
- testationThe disposing of property by will, and the power to do so; in older usage, the witnessing of a document.
- testatorA person who has made a will, above all one who dies leaving one. The word now covers both sexes, and testatrix has f…
- testatrixA woman who leaves a will. Modern usage calls anyone who does so a testator, whatever their sex.
- testatumA writ issued in the county where a defendant or their property lies when the venue is elsewhere, allowing seizure of…
- testatum writA writ issued in the county where the defendant or the defendant's property is found, when the action itself lies in…
- testatusHaving made a will; dying testate.
- testeIn drafting, the clause naming a witness and recording the act of witnessing.
- testifierA person who gives evidence.
- testifies against his or her accomplicesAn agent or bailiff, especially someone who manages a farm or estate for another.
- testifyTo give evidence as a witness.
- testifying expertAn expert a party names as a possible witness at trial. In federal court a party must give the other parties a wide r…
- testimonial evidenceA person's testimony offered to prove the truth of what it asserts, especially evidence drawn out of a witness in court.
- testimonial immunityImmunity barring the use of a witness's compelled testimony against them, though information traced from that testimo…
- testimonial incapacityThe lack of legal capacity to give evidence.
- testimonial privilegeA right not to give evidence, which overrides a witness's ordinary duty to disclose what they know, whether at trial…
- testimonial proofThe establishing or refuting of an alleged fact by evidence, and the effect that evidence has on the mind of the fact…
- testimonium clauseThe clause at the end of an instrument, above all a will, reciting when and by whom it was signed and in what capacit…
- testimonyEvidence a competent witness gives on oath or affirmation at trial, or in an affidavit or deposition.
- testimony de bene esseEvidence taken in advance because it may be lost before the trial, usually because the witness is dying or about to l…
- testing clauseIn Scots law, the clause by which a formal deed is authenticated, traditionally naming the writer of the deed, the nu…
- textbook digestA legal text setting out the law of a subject in condensed form, with little criticism of the authorities cited and n…
- textualismThe view that a judge should read a document or statute according to its words as written, without looking beyond the…
- thalwegThe line following the lowest part of a valley, usually submerged; also the middle of the main navigable channel of a…
- Thayer presumptionA presumption that requires the party it works against to produce evidence rebutting it, but that does not shift the…
- the Court of ArchdeaconA church court held in a large diocese by the bishop's commissary in an outlying district, exercising the chancellor'…
- The FederalistThe series of eighty-five essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, written under the name Publius i…
- the income approachA way of valuing property by working out the income it produces and capitalizing that income at an appropriate rate.
- theftThe taking of another's property meaning to deprive the owner of it. Modern codes use the word broadly, gathering und…
- theft by deceptionThe obtaining of another's property by deception.
- theft by false pretextThe obtaining of another's property by a false pretext.
- theft of servicesThe obtaining of services from another by deception, threat, stealth, tampering, or a false token or device.
- theft-boteTaking a payment from a thief in return for a promise not to prosecute. The payment might be a bribe or the return of…
- theftuousOf an act, amounting to theft; of a person, given to stealing.
- thenceFrom that place or time. In surveying, the word before each course means that the course continues from the one befor…
- thence down the riverFollowing the windings of a river. The phrase appears in surveyors' field notes, showing that the survey follows the…
- theocracyGovernment of a state by those held to be acting under the direct guidance of God; also a state in which churchmen ho…
- Theodosian CodeThe compilation of imperial legislation made at the command of Theodosius and published in 438. It displaced all impe…
- theolonioA writ concerning the payment of toll, by which a person claimed exemption from it or recovered toll wrongly taken.
- theory of lawThe legal principle or set of principles on which a case rests.
- theory of the caseThe ordered arrangement of facts and principles by which an advocate seeks a judgment for their client: the line of r…
- theory-of-pleading doctrineThe now-abandoned rule that a party must prove their case exactly as pleaded. Modern rules of procedure allow pleadin…
- therapeutic abortionAn abortion carried out for medical reasons.
- therapeutic reliefRelief aimed at curing the underlying problem rather than merely compensating for it, as where a court orders treatme…
- thereaboutNear that time or place.
- thereafterAfterward.
- thereatAt that place or time; also on that account.
- therebyBy that means.
- thereforFor that thing or action.
- thereforeFor that reason.
- therefromFrom that.
- thereinIn that place or time; also within that thing.
- thereinafterLater in that document or speech.
- thereofOf that.
- thereonOn that.
- theretoTo that.
- theretoforeUp to that time.
- thereunderUnder that.
- thereuntoTo that.
- thereuponAt once, without delay; also on that, or for that reason.
- Thibodaux abstentionA federal court's decision to hold off so that state courts can decide difficult questions of public importance, wher…
- thiefA person who steals, above all without force or violence.
- thieveTo steal.
- thin capitalizationThe position of a business carrying a high ratio of debt to capital.
- thin corporationA corporation carrying too much debt in proportion to its share capital.
- thin marketA market in which there are relatively few bids or offers, so that a single trade can move the price sharply.
- thingAnything that can be the subject of a right of ownership. Things are divided into those that are real or immovable, s…
- thing in actionA right enforceable against a person rather than by taking possession, such as a debt, a share in a company, or a cla…
- thing in possessionPersonal property of which the owner also has possession.
- things personalMovable property: goods, money, and other property that is not land.
- things realProperty that is fixed and immovable, such as land and buildings.
- Third AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, forbidding the quartering of soldiers in priv…
- third cousinSomeone related to another by descent from the same great-great-grandparent.
- third degreeThe extracting of a confession by prolonged questioning, threats, or physical ill-treatment.
- third partyA person who is not a party to a lawsuit, agreement, or transaction but is somehow caught up in it.
- third possessorA person who acquires mortgaged property without becoming personally bound by the debt the mortgage secures.
- Third WorldThe group of developing countries, above all in Africa and Asia, aligned with neither the Western democracies nor the…
- Third World countryA country less developed economically than the main industrial powers, most such countries lying in Africa, Asia, the…
- third-degree instructionA further direction the judge gives a deadlocked jury after long deliberation, urging them to reach a verdict.
- third-degree murderA degree of murder that a few states have added to the usual two, covering killings that are less culpable than secon…
- third-partyOf or involving someone who is not one of the principal parties to a transaction or suit.
- third-party actionA claim separate from the main one, in which the defendant brings in someone not already party to the case who may be…
- third-party beneficiarySomeone who is not a party to a contract but stands to gain from its performance. If Ann and Bob agree that Bob will…
- third-party checkA check the payee indorses over to someone else, as where a customer's check is passed on to a supplier. Someone who…
- third-party complaintA complaint the defendant files against someone not yet in the case, claiming that person may be liable for some or a…
- third-party defendantA party the original defendant brings into a lawsuit.
- third-party equity leaseA lease that itself secures the loan the lessor took out to buy the leased asset, and that gives the lender its only…
- third-party insuranceAn agreement to cover a loss arising from the insured's liability to someone else, as where a driver injures a pedest…
- third-party plaintiffA defendant who files a pleading to bring an outsider into the suit.
- third-party practiceThe procedure by which a third party is brought into a lawsuit, above all by a defendant seeking to shift liability t…
- third-party record-custodian summonsA summons from the tax authority to a bank or other record-keeper for records about a taxpayer, rather than to the ta…
- third-party standingStanding claimed by a person who seeks to protect not their own rights but those of someone else.
- third-party-beneficiary contractA contract that directly benefits someone outside it, giving that person the right to sue either of the original part…
- Thirteenth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1865, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude.
- thirty-day letterThe letter that accompanies a revenue agent's report after an audit or the refusal of a refund claim, setting out how…
- threatA stated intention to harm another or their property, above all one that curtails the other's freedom to act as they…
- threatened speciesA species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a large part of its range.
- three estates, theThe lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the commons. In feudal Europe they were the clergy, the nobles, and the…
- three wicked sistersInformally, the three doctrines - contributory negligence, the fellow-servant rule, and assumption of risk - by which…
- three-judge courtA court of three judges, especially a panel of three federal judges convened where a statute is challenged on constit…
- three-mile limitThe old boundary of a country's territorial waters, one marine league from shore. The limit is now generally twelve n…
- three-strikes lawA statute imposing a much heavier sentence, often life imprisonment, on a repeat offender's third felony conviction.…
- thrift institutionA financial institution, often chartered like a bank, that lends mainly on home mortgages but also keeps checking acc…
- through bill of ladingA bill of lading under which a carrier undertakes to take goods to a stated destination even though part of the journ…
- through rateThe total cost of shipping where two or more carriers are involved.
- throw outTo dismiss a claim or lawsuit.
- throwback ruleIn the taxation of trusts, the rule that any distribution in a year beyond that year's income is treated as though ma…
- thumbprintThe pattern of ridges on a thumb, and the impression it makes, above all the inked impression taken when a person is…
- ticketA certificate showing that the holder is entitled to some right or privilege; also a police order to appear before a…
- ticket speculatorA person who buys tickets and resells them above face value.
- ticket-of-leave manA convict released on a ticket of leave, a form of parole under which the holder must observe stated conditions.
- tidalAffected by the tides. A river counts as tidal so far up as the ordinary tides reach it.
- tideThe regular rise and fall of the sea produced by the pull of the sun and moon, apart from the effect of particular wi…
- tidelandThe strip of land between the ordinary high and low tide lines, which the tides cover and uncover in turn.
- tidesmanA customs officer appointed to stay aboard a ship until the duties are paid, boarding her as she comes into the river…
- tidewaterWater that rises and falls with the tide. The phrase is used of coves, bays, and rivers rather than of the open sea.
- tieAn equal number of votes for each candidate, or for and against a measure. In the Senate the Vice President casts the…
- tie-in arrangementA seller's agreement to sell one product only if the buyer takes a second one as well. The product the buyer wants is…
- tied productThe product a buyer must take as the price of getting the one they actually want under a tying arrangement.
- tiered partnershipAn ownership structure in which a parent partnership is itself a partner in one or more subsidiary partnerships.
- tightOf a note, mortgage, or lease, framed in strict terms giving the creditor summary remedies on default.
- TILAThe federal statute requiring lenders to disclose the true cost of consumer credit, including the annual percentage r…
- till-tappingInformally, the theft of money from a cash register.
- tillageLand under cultivation, as opposed to land lying fallow or in pasture.
- timber easementAn easement allowing the holder to cut and remove timber from another's land.
- timber leaseA lease of land under which the tenant is expected to cut timber on it.
- timber rightsA right to go onto another's land to cut and remove timber.
- timeA measure of duration; also the point or period at which something is said to have happened, and, informally, a convi…
- time arbitrageBuying a commodity while selling the identical commodity for future delivery, especially buying and selling securitie…
- time billA draft payable on a stated date rather than on demand.
- time charterA charter for a set period rather than a particular voyage. The owner goes on managing and crewing the ship while the…
- time depositA bank deposit that must stay for a set period, or on which notice must be given to the bank before it can be withdrawn.
- time draftA draft payable on a stated date rather than on demand.
- time immemorialA time so far back that no living person can say otherwise, so that a right or custom is taken to have existed always…
- time insuranceIn marine insurance, cover running for a stated period rather than for a particular voyage.
- time is of the essenceA stipulation that performance by the stated date is essential, so that being late is itself a breach going to the ro…
- time letter of creditA letter of credit the issuer honors by accepting drafts drawn under it, so that payment falls due later rather than…
- time loanA loan with a fixed due date, usually more than a year off, which generally cannot be repaid early without a penalty.
- time noteA note payable only at a stated time and not on demand.
- time orderAn order that turns into a market or limited-price order at a stated time.
- time out of memoryA time so far back that no living person can say otherwise, so that a right or custom is taken to have existed always.
- time out of mindA time so far back that no living person can say otherwise, so that a right or custom is taken to have existed always.
- time policyA policy in force only during a stated period.
- time unityThe requirement that the interests of all joint tenants vest at the same moment.
- time valueThe part of an investment's price attributable to the time the investor must wait before it matures or produces income.
- time-barA bar to a claim because the time allowed for bringing it has run out, above all under a statute of limitations.
- time-bargainAn agreement to buy or sell a standardized asset at a fixed price for delivery at a future time, of the kind traded o…
- time-place-or-manner restrictionA government limit on when, where, or how a speech or assembly may take place, as opposed to a limit on what is said.…
- time-price differentialThe difference between the cash price of an item and what it costs to buy on credit.
- time-sharingThe joint ownership or renting of property, such as a holiday apartment, by several people who occupy it in turn.
- timesheetA lawyer's daily record of billable and non-billable hours, from which clients' bills are drawn.
- timocracyA government in which political rights depend on property, or in which the rulers are moved above all by the love of…
- tin parachuteA term in an employment contract giving an employee below executive level severance benefits if the company is taken…
- tipA piece of special information, above all advance or inside information about securities passed from one person to an…
- tip-staveA messenger of the marshal of the King's Bench, sent out to summon people to court.
- tippeeIn securities law, a person who receives material non-public information from someone owing a duty to the company it…
- tipperIn securities law, a person holding material inside information who passes it on selectively, for trading or other pe…
- tippling houseA house licensed to sell alcohol to be drunk on the premises.
- tipstaffAn officer who attends a court, keeps order, and carries out the judge's directions.
- titheA tenth part of the yearly produce of land or labor, formerly due to the church.
- tithe of agistmentA church charge on grazing land, paid by the occupier rather than by the owner of the cattle grazed on it.
- tithingA district of ten freeholding families. Each freeholder was bound by frankpledge to produce any wrongdoer living amon…
- titleThe union of everything - ownership, possession, and custody - that makes up the right to control and dispose of prop…
- title by descentA title acquired by law as heir of a deceased owner.
- title by prescriptionA title acquired by long use, the law presuming a grant that can no longer be proved.
- title companyA company that examines land titles for burdens, claims, or other flaws, and issues title insurance.
- title deedA deed proving a person's legal ownership of property.
- title defective in formA title with a defect apparent on the face of the deed, which cannot serve as the basis of prescription.
- title insuranceAn agreement to indemnify against loss from a defect in the title to land, usually issued to the buyer by the company…
- title jurisdictionIn property law, the idea that a mortgage passes legal title to the lender, who holds it until the mortgage is paid o…
- title memberA partner whose name appears in the firm's name.
- title of recordThe title as it appears in the public records once the deed has been properly recorded.
- title of rightA judgment that itself creates, transfers, or ends rights, rather than merely giving a remedy - a decree of divorce,…
- title opinionA lawyer's or title company's opinion on the state of title to a piece of land, saying whether the title is clear and…
- title registrationA system under which title to land is registered with a public registry rather than proved by a chain of deeds.
- title retentionA lien in the nature of a chattel mortgage, by which the seller keeps title to secure payment of the price.
- title searchAn examination of the public records to find any defects or encumbrances in a property's chain of title, usually made…
- title standardsThe criteria by which a title to land is judged defective or marketable. Many states have adopted them through associ…
- title stateA state that treats a mortgage as passing legal title to the lender until the debt is paid, rather than as creating a…
- title theoryThe idea that a mortgage passes legal title to the lender, who holds it until the debt is paid off or the mortgage fo…
- title transactionA transaction that affects the title to an interest in land.
- title unityThe requirement that all joint tenants take their interests under the same instrument.
- title-guaranty companyA company that examines titles to land for encumbrances or defects and issues title insurance.
- title, abstract ofA short statement, usually prepared for a buyer or lender, summarizing the history of a piece of land and every conve…
- title, action to quietA proceeding to establish the claimant's title to land by compelling anyone with an adverse claim either to prove it…
- title, chain ofThe history of ownership of a piece of land, from the first owner to the present one; also the run of indorsements on…
- title, cloud onA defect or possible defect in an owner's title arising from some claim or encumbrance, such as a lien, an easement,…
- title, color ofThe appearance of a good title where none truly exists, as under a deed that seems valid but is in fact defective. Po…
- title, covenant forA covenant binding the grantor to make good the completeness and security of the title conveyed, usually taking in th…
- title, document ofA document describing goods and entitling the holder to receive, hold, and dispose of both the document and the goods…
- title, indicia ofA document that shows ownership of property.
- title, muniment ofDocumentary evidence of title, such as a deed or a judgment about the ownership of property.
- title, root ofThe recorded transaction, usually at least forty years old, from which a search of title starts.
- title, warranty ofA warranty that the seller has title to the property, that the transfer is rightful, and that there are no liens or e…
- to appear in courtTo hold someone for trial, or to hand a defendant over to a sheriff or warden pending further proceedings. A court ma…
- To fall downTo fall due, or by extension to befall or happen to someone.
- to witThat is to say; namely.
- to-have-and-to-hold clauseThe part of a deed defining the extent of the interest granted and any conditions on it, beginning with the words “to…
- tokenA sign or mark evidencing that something is so; also an indication of intent, as where a buyer places a small order t…
- tollA payment for the use of something, above all for using a road or bridge; also a charge for a long-distance telephone…
- tollageThe paying of a toll, the money so paid, and the right to charge one.
- tolling agreementAn agreement by which a prospective defendant allows the limitation period on a claim to be extended, usually so that…
- tolling statuteA statute that stops the limitation period running in stated circumstances, as where the defendant cannot be served w…
- toltFormerly, a writ for moving a case from a court baron to the county court.
- tombstoneIn securities law, a newspaper advertisement for a public offering, describing the security and naming the sellers. I…
- tonA measure of weight, either two thousand pounds or twenty hundredweight of one hundred and twelve pounds each.
- ton mileIn transport, the carrying of one ton of freight for one mile.
- tonnageA ship's capacity to carry cargo, reckoned in tons; also a country's or port's total shipping capacity, and a charge…
- tonnage dutyA charge for bringing a ship into port, assessed on her tonnage. The Constitution forbids the states to levy one.
- tonnage taxA charge for bringing a ship into port, assessed on her tonnage.
- tonnage-rentA rent reserved by a mining lease consisting of a royalty on every ton of mineral taken out.
- tonsureThe shaving of the head, above all a cleric's. Serjeants-at-law were said to wear the coif to hide theirs.
- tontineAn arrangement in which a group share the benefits until all but one have died or dropped out, when the whole goes to…
- tontine policyAn insurance policy under which a group of holders share the benefits, each defaulter's or decedent's share passing t…
- top leaseA lease of land already under a mineral lease, which takes effect only if the earlier lease runs out or ends.
- top managementThe highest level of a company's management, where major policy decisions and long-term plans are made.
- top-hat planAn unfunded pension plan an employer maintains chiefly to provide deferred pay to a select group of managers or highl…
- topographical surveyA survey that fixes the elevation and contours of land above sea level.
- torpedo doctrineIn tort law, the rule that someone whose land holds a dangerous thing likely to attract children must guard them agai…
- Torrens systemA system of registering title to land, under which the state guarantees the title as it appears on the register, so t…
- tort reformA movement to reduce tort litigation, usually by legislation restricting remedies or capping damages, above all punit…
- tortfeasorA person who commits a tort.
- tortiousAmounting to a tort; wrongful.
- tortious batteryA battery for which the injured person may sue in tort, whether or not the act is also a crime.
- tortious interference with contractual relationsA third party’s deliberate inducing of a contracting party to break the contract, damaging the relationship between t…
- tortureThe inflicting of severe pain of body or mind, whether to punish, to force out a confession or information, or for th…
- totalWhole and complete; also utter or absolute.
- total assignmentAn assignment giving the assignee power to enforce the whole right, for the benefit of the assignor or of others. Ass…
- total breachA material breach of contract giving rise to a claim for damages covering all the injured party's remaining rights to…
- total disabilityA worker's inability to do any work of the kind their employment requires, because of physical or mental impairment.
- total evictionAn eviction that deprives the tenant of every right in the premises.
- total failure of considerationA situation where the contract cannot be split up, so that a complete absence of consideration undoes the whole thing.
- total incorporationApplying the whole of the Bill of Rights to the states at once. Justice Hugo Black first pressed this approach.
- total lossDestruction of insured property so complete that nothing of value is left and the thing no longer exists in its origi…
- total repudiationAn outright refusal by a party to do what the contract requires, which entitles the other party to stop performing.
- total-disability insuranceDisability insurance paying benefits only where the insured cannot do any job they are qualified for.
- totality-of-the-circumstances testIn criminal procedure, the standard for judging whether hearsay, such as an informant's tip, is reliable enough to es…
- Totten trustA bank account a depositor holds in trust for another, revocable at will, the balance passing to the named person on…
- touchIn marine insurance, to call briefly at a port.
- touch and stayIn marine insurance, the insurer's leave for the ship to stop and remain at named points on the voyage. The permissio…
- tout courtSimply, and without qualification.
- towageThe towing of ships, usually by a tug; also the charge for it.
- towardIn the direction of, or shortly before.
- townA settlement larger than a village but traditionally not incorporated as a city; also the area it covers and the peop…
- town clerkThe officer who keeps a town's records, calls its meetings, and acts as secretary to its government.
- town collectorThe town officer charged with collecting the taxes the town assesses.
- town commissionerA member of the board of officers who manage a town's business.
- town crierA town officer who makes public proclamations of town business.
- town hallThe building housing a town's government offices.
- town meetingA meeting of a town's qualified voters to conduct local government or pass local laws, common in some New England sta…
- town orderA written direction by a town's auditing officers telling the treasurer to pay a sum of money.
- town purposeA municipal project or expense that serves the town as a whole.
- town treasurerThe officer who keeps and pays out a town's funds.
- town warrantA written direction by a town's auditing officers telling the treasurer to pay a sum of money.
- town-bonding actA statute authorizing a town or other municipal body to issue bonds, often to help finance the building of a railroad.
- townhouseA dwelling of two or three stories, often joined to a like one by a shared wall, the surrounding grounds sometimes be…
- townshipIn a government survey, a square tract six miles on a side, containing thirty-six square miles; in some states, a civ…
- township trusteeOne of the board of officers to whom, in some states, a township's affairs are committed.
- townsitePart of the public domain set apart by proper authority as the site for a town.
- toxicPoisonous, or produced by a poison.
- toxic tortA civil wrong arising from exposure to a poisonous substance such as asbestos, radiation, or hazardous waste, remedie…
- toxic wastePoisonous substances whose handling, transport, and disposal are regulated by the states and by federal statutes such…
- toxicantA poison, or any substance capable of poisoning.
- toxicateTo poison.
- toxicologyThe branch of medicine concerned with poisons, their effects, their recognition, and their treatment.
- toxinAny poison; in medicine, a diffusible poisonous substance, above all one produced by disease-causing bacteria.
- tracesMarks or remnants left behind by an act, such as fingerprints or residue, from which the act and its doer may be infe…
- tracingThe following of property's ownership or character from its origin to the present; also a copy made by following the…
- tractA defined parcel of land.
- tract indexAn index, usually kept by the county recorder, listing recorded transactions by the parcel of land they affect, with…
- tradeThe buying, selling, or bartering of goods or services.
- trade acceptanceA bill of exchange for the amount of a particular purchase, drawn on the buyer and accepted by them for payment at a…
- trade agreementAn agreement between two or more countries about the terms on which they will trade with each other, such as the Nort…
- trade and commerceEvery occupation carried on for a living or for profit that involves bargain and sale, barter, or exchange.
- trade associationAn association of businesses with similar concerns in the same field, formed for mutual protection, the exchange of i…
- trade deficitIn economics, the excess of goods imported over goods exported in a given period.
- trade discountA discount off the list price offered to all customers of a particular kind, as where a lumber dealer gives one to bu…
- trade disputeA dispute between countries over tariffs or other matters of international commerce; also a dispute between an employ…
- trade dressThe overall look and feel of a product or business in the market - a product's packaging and labeling, a business's d…
- trade embargoA restriction, imposed by one country or several together, on trade with a particular country, for political or secur…
- trade fixtureRemovable property a tenant attaches to rented premises for business purposes, such as a display counter. Despite the…
- trade gapThe excess of merchandise imports over merchandise exports over a given period.
- trade libelA false statement that disparages someone's goods, services, or business and causes them financial loss.
- trade meaningThe recognition a mark or name has come to carry in the trade as identifying one trader's goods, which makes it prote…
- trade or businessIn tax law, an activity a taxpayer carries on with the aim of making a profit. If that aim is shown, the expenses of…
- trade secretBusiness information kept confidential so as to keep an advantage over competitors - a formula, pattern, program, met…
- trade surplusThe excess of merchandise exports over merchandise imports over a given period.
- trade unionA union of workers in the same or allied trades.
- trade usageA practice so regularly followed in a place, trade, or calling that people dealing there may fairly expect it to be o…
- trademarkA word, phrase, logo, or other symbol a trader uses to distinguish its goods from other people's. To gain federal pro…
- trademark infringementUsing a trademark, or a confusingly similar name, word, or symbol, without permission, on the same or related goods o…
- tradenameA name or symbol identifying a company or business, rather than a particular product or service: the name a business…
- traderA merchant who buys goods to sell at a profit, above all one who sells them in much the form they were bought; also a…
- tradingThe business of buying and selling, above all of commodities and securities.
- trading corporationA corporation whose business is buying and selling goods.
- trading partnershipA partnership whose ordinary business is buying and selling.
- trading voyageA voyage on which the ship is to call at various ports to buy, sell, or exchange goods on the owners' and shippers' a…
- trading with the enemyThe federal offense of carrying on commerce with a country the United States is at war with, or with its subjects or…
- traditionCustom and usage handed down, which shapes present practice; also the handing over of an item or an estate.
- traditional public forumPublic property that has long been used by the public for assembly and expression, such as a street, sidewalk, or par…
- traditionary evidenceEvidence drawn from what a dead person once said, or from their reputation. It is admissible to prove ancestry, ancie…
- traduceTo slander.
- trafficCommerce or trade, and the passing of goods from one person to another for money or its equivalent; also the movement…
- traffic balanceThe balance of money taken in payment for carrying passengers and freight.
- traffic regulationA rule governing traffic, meant to keep it moving safely and in order.
- traitorA person who commits treason against their country; also, more loosely, anyone who betrays a trust.
- trampA person who wanders from place to place, begging or living without work or visible means of support.
- tramp corporationA corporation chartered in a state where it does no business.
- tramp steamerA ship with no fixed schedule, which calls at whatever ports she has cargo for.
- trancheA portion of an issue of bonds backed by a pool of similar debts, differing from the other portions in maturity or ra…
- transactTo carry business or negotiations through to a conclusion; in civil law, to settle a dispute by mutual concession.
- transactionThe doing of business or other dealings, and the thing done; in civil law, an agreement by which the parties end or f…
- transaction causationIn securities law, proof that the investor would not have made the trade at all had the other side told the truth whe…
- transaction costA cost of doing a deal rather than of the thing itself: a broker's commission, the effort of arranging it, or the exp…
- transaction slipThe form confirming a purchase or sale of a security, usually sent by the broker to the investor.
- transaction-or-occurrence testThe test for deciding whether a counterclaim arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the claim, and so mu…
- transactional immunityImmunity from prosecution for any event or transaction the compelled testimony describes. It is the broadest form of…
- transactional lawyerA lawyer whose practice is chiefly deals rather than litigation, such as licensing agreements, mergers, acquisitions,…
- transcribeTo make a written or typed copy of spoken material, above all of evidence.
- transcriptA written copy of evidence given orally, above all the official record of a trial or hearing taken down by the court…
- transcript of proceedingsThe compilation of all the documents relating to a bond issue - notices, affidavits, the authorizing resolution, the…
- transcriptionThe making of a transcript, and the transcript itself.
- transeunt cum universitateFormerly, they pass with the whole estate.
- transferAny way of parting with an asset or an interest in one, whether by payment, release, lease, or the creating of a lien…
- transfer agentAn organization, such as a bank or trust company, that handles share transfers for a publicly held company by issuing…
- transfer in contemplation of deathA gift made in the expectation of the giver's imminent death. It requires that the gift be made in view of a present…
- transfer in fraud of creditorsA conveyance made to keep the transferor's creditors from reaching the property.
- transfer of a caseThe moving of a case from one court or judge to another by lawful authority.
- transfer of venueThe moving of a lawsuit from one place to another, or from one court to another in the same district, usually so that…
- transfer paymentA government payment to someone who has given neither goods nor services nor money in return, such as unemployment co…
- transfer priceThe charge put on goods or services exchanged between units of the same company.
- transfer taxA tax on the passing of property, above all by will, inheritance, or gift. The federal estate-and-gift tax is called…
- transfer warrantyAn implied promise about the title to an instrument and the standing of those liable on it, made by whoever transfers…
- transferableCapable of being transferred, with all the rights the original holder had.
- transferable letter of creditA letter of credit the beneficiary may pass to someone else, who may then draw on it in their place.
- transfereeThe person to whom an interest in property is conveyed.
- transferee liabilityIn tax law, the liability of a person who receives property to pay tax the transferor owed, limited to the value of w…
- transferorA person who conveys an interest in property.
- transferred intentIntent carried across from the wrong the actor meant to commit to the one actually committed, as where a person aimin…
- transferred maliceMalice aimed at one person or object that instead harms another in the way intended for the first. The law treats the…
- transferred-intent doctrineThe rule that where a person means to harm one person but unintentionally harms another, the intent toward the first…
- Transfers to Minors ActA uniform law, adopted in most states, allowing property to be transferred to a minor and held by a custodian, who ma…
- transgressionA wrong done in breach of the law; in older pleading, a trespass.
- transgressive trustA trust that offends the rule against perpetuities, because an interest under it may vest too remotely.
- transientPassing quickly; not permanent.
- transient foreignerA person who visits a country without meaning to stay.
- transient jurisdictionPersonal jurisdiction over a defendant served with process while only passing through the forum state.
- transient merchantA trader who sells from a temporary place without meaning to settle there permanently.
- transient personA person with no settled residence in the jurisdiction, for the purposes of a venue statute.
- transitThe carrying of goods or people from one place to another.
- transit passageIn international law, the right of a ship or aircraft to navigate or fly over a strait solely for continuous and spee…
- transitive covenantA covenant whose burden passes from the original covenantor to their personal representatives.
- transitoryAble to pass, or to be moved, from one place to another.
- transitory actionAn action that may be brought in any place where the defendant can be personally served with process.
- transitory wrongA wrong which, once done, belongs wholly to the past, such as defamation.
- translationThe rendering of a book, document, or speech into another language; in older usage, the transfer of property; in chur…
- translativeCausing a transfer or conveyance.
- translative factA fact that moves a right from one person to another, doing two jobs at once: ending one person's right to a thing an…
- transmissionThe passing of an inheritance to an heir.
- transmitTo send something from one person or place to another.
- transmittal letterA letter of no substance that records a delivery, such as one telling a court clerk that a pleading is enclosed for f…
- transnational lawThe general principles of law that civilized nations recognize; also the blend of domestic and international principl…
- transportTo carry something from one place to another.
- transportationThe moving of goods or people by a carrier; in criminal law, the old punishment of sending an offender out of the cou…
- transshipmentThe taking of cargo out of one ship and loading it into another.
- trapA device for catching animals; also any contrivance by which someone may be caught unawares. In tort law, a hidden an…
- trashingIn critical legal studies, the taking apart of a legal text or doctrine to expose the assumptions and contradictions…
- travaux préparatoiresThe materials used in preparing the final text of an agreement or statute, above all of a treaty; the equivalent of a…
- Travel ActThe federal statute forbidding travel in interstate or foreign commerce to further unlawful gambling, prostitution, e…
- travel expenseThe cost of meals, lodging, and transport incurred while away from home on business.
- travel-accident insuranceHealth insurance confined to injuries suffered while traveling.
- traveled placeA place over which the public has in some way acquired a right to travel.
- travelerA person who goes from place to place, for whatever reason.
- traveler’s checkA check the buyer signs when buying it and countersigns when cashing it, payable on demand and drawn on or payable th…
- traveler's letter of creditA letter of credit addressed to a correspondent bank abroad, letting the holder draw funds in the local currency on p…
- traverseIn common-law pleading, a formal denial of a fact alleged in the other side's pleading.
- traverse juryThe jury, usually of six or twelve, summoned and sworn to try a particular case.
- treacheryA deliberate betrayal of trust.
- treasonThe offense of attempting to overthrow the government to which one owes allegiance, whether by making war against it…
- treason felonyAn act showing an intention to commit treason, with nothing further done to carry the intention out. It usually bring…
- treasonable misdemeanorAn act likely to endanger or alarm the monarch, or to disturb the public peace in the monarch's presence.
- treasure troveValuables, usually gold or silver, found hidden in the ground or another private place, whose owner is unknown. At co…
- treasurerThe officer of a company or government who receives, keeps, invests, and pays out funds.
- TreasuriesDebt obligations of the federal government, backed by its full faith and credit.
- treasuryA place where wealth is kept, above all where public revenue is held and from which government expenses are paid; als…
- Treasury BenchIn the House of Commons, the front row of seats to the Speaker's right, occupied by the First Lord of the Treasury an…
- Treasury billA short-term federal debt security, sold at a discount and maturing within a year, the return being the difference be…
- Treasury bondA long-term debt security issued by the federal government, maturing in 10 to 30 years. Such bonds are regarded as ri…
- treasury certificateA federal obligation maturing in a year, on which interest is paid by coupon.
- Treasury DepartmentThe federal department, created in 1789, that frames financial and tax policy, acts as the government's financial age…
- treasury noteA medium-term federal debt security maturing in two to ten years. Such notes are treated as free of credit risk and p…
- Treasury RegulationA regulation the Treasury issues to explain or interpret a section of the tax code. Such regulations bind all taxpayers.
- treasury securityA security a company has issued and bought back, which it holds rather than cancels.
- treasury shareA share a company issued and then bought back, which it holds rather than cancels.
- treasury stockStock a company issued and then bought back, either cancelling it or holding it. Some states have dropped the categor…
- treasury warrantAn order, in the form of a check, on which government payments are made.
- Treasury, First LordThe chief officer in charge of the Treasury, an office now held by the Prime Minister.
- treating-physician ruleThe rule that a treating physician's findings about how far a social-security claimant is impaired bind the administr…
- treatyA formal agreement between states, made in writing and governed by international law. It is both law within each stat…
- Treaty ClauseThe constitutional provision giving the President power to make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, t…
- treaty of peaceA treaty made between heads of state to bring a war to an end.
- treaty of reinsuranceA standing, usually long-term, reinsurance contract covering whole classes of the reinsured's business, under which t…
- treaty powerThe President's constitutional power to make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate.
- treaty reinsuranceReinsurance under a standing agreement covering every risk of a given class as soon as the original insurer takes it on.
- treaty-created lawLaw made by agreement between the parties themselves, binding them as a special law that supplements or replaces the…
- treaty-made lawLaw made by agreement between the parties themselves, which binds them as a special law supplementing or replacing th…
- treble damagesDamages that a statute fixes at three times the sum the fact-finder decides is owed.
- trebucketA device for punishing scolds by ducking them repeatedly under water.
- trendA long-run pattern of prices, whether in the market generally or in a particular stock.
- trespassAn unlawful act against another's person or property, above all a wrongful entry on another's land; also, at common l…
- trespass ab initioAn entry on land that began innocently or under a privilege but is treated as a trespass from the first because the e…
- trespass by relationA trespass committed while the claimant had the right to immediate possession but had not yet taken it. Once they tak…
- trespass de bonis asportatisThe wrongful carrying away of goods; also, at common law, the action for damages for it.
- trespass for mesne profitsAn action, supplementing ejectment, brought against a tenant in possession to recover the profits wrongfully taken du…
- trespass on the caseAt common law, an action for damage that was not the immediate result of a wrongful act but a later consequence. It w…
- trespass quare clausum fregitAn unlawful entry on another's enclosed land, committed by going onto it, staying on it, or putting anything on it wi…
- trespass to chattelsDirect physical interference with goods in another's possession, without lawful justification.
- trespass to landAt common law, an action for damages for another's unlawful entry on one's land.
- trespass to personal propertyThe wrongful carrying away of goods; also, at common law, the action for damages for it.
- trespass to real propertyAt common law, an action for damages for another's unlawful entry on one's land.
- trespass to try titleIn some states, an action to recover property wrongfully withheld from an owner entitled to immediate possession, whi…
- trespass vi et armisAt common law, an action for damages for a direct and forcible injury to person or property - assault, battery, wound…
- trespasserA person who enters another's property intentionally, without consent or privilege. A landowner owes no duty to a tre…
- triableCapable of being tried in court.
- triable either wayOf an offense, triable either in the Crown Court or before magistrates.
- trialA formal examination of evidence and determination of claims between opposing parties before a court.
- trial at barA trial before all the judges of the court in which it takes place.
- trial at nisi priusFormerly, a trial before the justices of assize in the county where the facts were said to have happened, and from wh…
- trial before the courtA trial before a judge sitting without a jury, who decides the facts as well as the law.
- trial briefCounsel's written submission, usually just before trial, setting out the issues and arguing one side's case.
- trial by battleThe old mode of trial in which the parties, or their champions, fought, the outcome being taken as the judgment of God.
- trial by certificateA trial in which the issue was decided on certificates from witnesses stating what each of them knew.
- trial by combatThe old mode of trial in which the parties, or their champions, fought, the outcome being taken as the judgment of God.
- trial by inspectionA trial in which the judge decided the dispute by their own observation and inquiry, without a jury.
- trial by juryA trial in which a jury, not the judge, decides the questions of fact.
- trial by oathA trial in which the defendant produced supporters, often eleven, who swore that they believed the defendant was tell…
- trial by ordealAn early mode of trial in which the accused underwent a dangerous or painful test, the result being taken as God's re…
- trial by recordA trial in which, one party having pleaded a record and the other denied it, the record itself is inspected to settle…
- trial by the countryTrial by jury.
- trial by the recordA trial in which one party insists that a record exists supporting its claim and the other denies it. If the record c…
- trial by wager of battleThe old mode of trial in which the parties, or their champions, fought, the outcome being taken as the judgment of God.
- trial calendarThe court's list of cases set down for trial, with the dates on which each is to be heard.
- trial counselA lawyer who represents a party at trial, as opposed to on appeal. In military law it means the officer who prosecute…
- trial courtThe court where a case starts and where the evidence is first heard and weighed.
- trial de novoA fresh trial of the whole case, on both the facts and the law, conducted as though there had been no trial before.
- trial examinerAn officer who presides at an administrative hearing, with power to administer oaths, take evidence, rule on its admi…
- trial franchiseA franchise granted for a short opening term, such as one year.
- trial judgeThe judge who tried the case, a term used most often on appeal from that judge's rulings.
- trial juryThe jury, usually of six or twelve, summoned and sworn to try a particular case.
- trial on the meritsA trial of the substance of a case, as opposed to a hearing on a motion or some interim matter.
- trial per paisTrial by jury.
- trial to the benchA trial before a judge sitting without a jury, who decides the facts as well as the law.
- trial-setting preferenceA preferential place on the court's calendar, usually kept for older cases or those the law gives priority.
- trial-type hearingA hearing before an administrative agency conducted much like a trial, usually to decide a dispute though sometimes t…
- triangular mergerA merger in which the target is absorbed into a subsidiary of the buyer, and the target's shareholders take stock in…
- tribal landPart of an Indian reservation held as the tribe's common land rather than allotted to individual members.
- tribunalA court or other body that decides disputes; also the bench or place where a judge sits.
- tributaryA stream flowing, directly or through others, into a river.
- tributeAn acknowledgment of respect; also a contribution a sovereign raises from its subjects to meet the expenses of state,…
- tributumIn Roman law, originally a war tax, later a regular tax on land or on persons.
- trier of factThe person or people - jurors, or a judge sitting alone - who hear the evidence and decide the questions of fact.
- trifurcated trialA trial split into three stages, such as liability, general damages, and special damages.
- trigamyThe offense of marrying a third person while already married to one and bigamously married to another.
- tripartiteMade up of, or divided into, three parts.
- triple damagesDamages that a statute fixes at three times the sum the fact-finder assesses.
- triple net leaseA lease under which the tenant pays all the outgoings, including interest and repayment of the mortgage, so that the…
- triple triggerIn insurance law, the theory that every insurer on the risk from the claimant's first exposure to a harmful product,…
- triverbial daysDays on which the courts might lawfully sit and justice be administered.
- trivialTrifling, or of little importance.
- TROA court order holding matters as they stand until an application for an injunction can be heard, sometimes granted wi…
- troverA common-law action for damages for the conversion of goods, the damages usually being the value of the goods.
- truancyThe willful and unjustified failure of a child required to attend school to do so.
- truancy officerAn officer responsible for enforcing the laws requiring children to attend school.
- truceIn international law, a temporary halt to hostilities agreed between the warring powers.
- true admissionA formal waiver of proof, which frees the other side from having to prove the admitted fact and stops the party who m…
- true and correctAccurate and unaltered.
- true billA grand jury's endorsement that a charge is supported by enough evidence to go to trial.
- true copyA copy close enough to the original that anyone reading it can understand what the original said, though not necessar…
- true residueThe income from the funds used to pay a dead person's debts, the costs of administration, and the general legacies.
- true valueThe price a willing seller would take and a willing buyer would pay on the open market, neither being under pressure.
- true verdictA verdict reached freely, even if some jurors have compromised their views, and not forced by any arbitrary rule or o…
- true-billTo endorse a bill of indictment as a true bill.
- true-value ruleThe rule that a subscriber for shares must pay their par value in money or its equivalent, so that the company's real…
- trustA relationship in which one person, the trustee, holds the legal title to property for the benefit of another, the be…
- trust agreementThe document that creates a trust and sets out its terms.
- trust certificateA security, usually issued by a railroad, to pay for new equipment. A trustee keeps the title to the equipment until…
- trust companyA company that acts as trustee for individuals and organizations, and that sometimes also does ordinary banking busin…
- trust de son tortA trust the law imposes on someone who has obtained property by their own wrong, so that they cannot keep the benefit…
- trust deedA deed transferring title to land to a trustee as security for a loan, which is reconveyed once the loan is repaid.
- trust distributionThe cash or other property paid or credited to a beneficiary of a trust.
- trust estateThe property a trustee is responsible for: the capital of the trust.
- trust ex delictoA trust the law imposes on someone who has obtained property by a wrong, so that they cannot keep the benefit of it.
- trust ex maleficioA trust the law imposes on someone who has obtained property by fraud or other wrongdoing, so that they cannot keep t…
- trust fundThe property a trustee holds in trust.
- trust in invitumA trust the law imposes against a person's will, to prevent them keeping property they obtained by wrongdoing.
- trust indentureThe document setting out the terms governing a trustee's conduct and the beneficiaries' rights.
- Trust Indenture ActThe federal statute of 1939 protecting bondholders by requiring that the trust indenture be approved by the regulator…
- trust indorsementAn indorsement making the payee a trustee for someone else, as in words such as pay A in trust for B.
- trust instrumentThe document that creates a trust and sets out its terms.
- trust legacyA gift by will of personal property to trustees to hold on trust, usually paying the income to a named beneficiary.
- trust officerThe officer of a trust company responsible for administering the funds it holds as trustee.
- trust ownershipA trustee's interest in trust property: legal title with none of the benefit.
- trust processIn some states, above all in New England, the name for garnishment or foreign attachment.
- trust propertyThe property a trustee is responsible for: the capital of the trust.
- trust receiptA security device by which title to goods passes to a bank or other lender, which delivers them to a dealer holding t…
- trust territoryIn international law, a territory governed under the United Nations trusteeship system, administered by the United Na…
- trust under willA trust created by a will, which takes effect only on the testator's death.
- trust-fund doctrineThe principle that the assets of an insolvent company, including unpaid subscriptions for its shares, are held as a f…
- trustbusterA person, above all a federal officer, who seeks to break up combinations under the antitrust laws.
- trusteeA person who holds the legal title to property for another's benefit and owes that beneficiary a fiduciary duty. A tr…
- trustee ad litemA trustee whom the court appoints for the purposes of a particular action.
- trustee de son tortSomeone who, without being properly appointed, takes it upon themselves to act as a trustee, and whom the law therefo…
- trustee ex maleficioA person guilty of fraud or other wrongdoing whom equity holds to a trustee's duty over the property concerned, so th…
- trustee in bankruptcyThe person appointed to take charge of and administer a debtor's estate during bankruptcy proceedings.
- trustee processA procedure by which a creditor reaches a debtor's property in a third person's hands, answering to garnishment.
- trusteeshipThe office or function of a trustee; in international law, the administration of a territory by one or more countries…
- trustorA person who creates a trust.
- trustyA prisoner whom the authorities consider trustworthy and who is therefore given special privileges.
- truthAn accurate account of what happened; in defamation law, the defense that the statement complained of is substantiall…
- Truth in Lending ActThe federal statute requiring lenders to disclose the true cost of consumer credit, including the annual percentage r…
- tryTo examine and decide a dispute by means of a trial.
- try titleThe judicial examination of a title to land.
- TSCAThe federal statute regulating the manufacture, use, and disposal of chemical substances that may present a risk to h…
- Tucker ActThe federal statute of 1887 extending the Court of Claims' jurisdiction to claims founded on the Constitution, a fede…
- turn state’s evidenceTo cooperate with the prosecution and give evidence against one’s fellow defendants, usually in return for a lighter…
- turncoat witnessA witness whose evidence was expected to help the party calling them but who turns hostile, usually in the course of…
- turnkeyOf a product, supplied ready for immediate use.
- turnkey contractA contract under which the builder undertakes to complete a project entirely, so that the buyer need only take posses…
- turnover dutyA shipowner's duty to hand the ship over to the stevedores in a safe condition and to warn them of any hidden hazards…
- turnover orderAn order requiring a judgment debtor to hand over particular property to the judgment creditor, or to the sheriff on…
- turntable doctrineThe rule that an occupier who keeps on their land something dangerous and likely to attract children must guard them…
- turpitudeConduct contrary to justice, honesty, or morality. In legal ethics, offenses involving moral turpitude, such as fraud…
- tutelaIn Roman law, guardianship, whether of those below the age of puberty or of women. The guardian was the tutor and the…
- tutelageThe protecting or guiding of another; in international law, the position of a people under the care of an internation…
- tutorA private teacher; in civil law, the guardian of a minor, appointed to care for the minor's person and property.
- tutorshipThe office and power of a tutor: the authority to care for someone who cannot care for themselves. It may arise by na…
- tutorship by natureTutorship of a child belonging by right to the surviving parent, or to the parent with whom the child has been placed…
- tutorship by willTutorship created by the will of the last surviving parent, or by that parent's declaration made before a notary and…
- TVAThe government-owned corporation created in 1933 to develop the resources of the Tennessee Valley, whose work covers…
- Twelfth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1804, that changed the electoral college by requiring separate ballots for…
- Twelve TablesThe earliest surviving Roman legislation, set out on twelve tablets in the fifth century B.C., covering debt, family,…
- twelve-day ruleIn some places, the rule that a person charged with a felony must be given a preliminary examination within twelve da…
- twelve-month liquidationA winding up completed within 12 months of adopting the liquidation plan, which under tax law lets the company avoid…
- Twentieth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1933, that moved the presidential inauguration from March 4 to January 20 a…
- Twenty-fifth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1967, settling how the presidency and vice presidency are filled on death,…
- Twenty-first AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1933, that repealed Prohibition and returned the regulation of alcohol to t…
- Twenty-fourth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1964, forbidding the federal government or any state to condition the right…
- Twenty-second AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1951, forbidding anyone to be elected President more than twice, or more th…
- Twenty-seventh AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1992, under which no pay raise for members of Congress takes effect until a…
- Twenty-sixth AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1971, setting the minimum voting age at eighteen in all state and federal e…
- Twenty-third AmendmentThe constitutional amendment, ratified in 1961, allowing residents of the District of Columbia to vote in presidentia…
- twistingAn insurance agent's misstating or half-stating the facts, or comparing policies unfairly, so as to persuade a policy…
- two-dismissal ruleThe rule that a notice of voluntary dismissal counts as a decision on the merits, rather than a dismissal without pre…
- two-issue ruleThe rule that where several issues went to the jury and at least one was free of error, the appellate court should pr…
- two-stage trialA trial split into two stages, such as guilt and punishment, or liability and damages.
- two-tier offerA two-step takeover in which the bidder first makes a cash tender offer and then, in a merger, gives the target's rem…
- two-witness ruleThe rule that a perjury conviction needs two independent witnesses, or one witness with corroboration, to prove the f…
- tyingIn antitrust law, of an arrangement under which a seller will sell one product only if the buyer takes another as well.
- tying arrangementA seller's agreement to sell one product only if the buyer takes a second one as well. The product the buyer wants is…
- tying productThe product a buyer actually wants, which the seller will supply only if a second product is taken as well.
- tyrannyArbitrary or despotic government: the harsh exercise of sovereign power, whether held lawfully by one ruler or seized…
- tyrantA ruler, lawful or not, who uses power unjustly and arbitrarily to oppress the people.