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falsarius (fal-sair-ee-as or fawl-). [Law Latin]. A counterfeiter. Also spelled falcarious. - Also termed falsonarius.

false adj. (12c) 1. Untrue <a false statement>. 2. Deceitful; lying <a false witness>. 3. Not genuine; inauthentic <false coinage>. What is false can be so by intent, by accident, or by mistake.

false- 1. Scots law. To make or prove false. 2. Archaic. FALSIFY (1).

false action See FEIGNED ACTION.

false advertising 1. The tortious and sometimes criminal act of distributing an advertisement that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading; esp., under the Lanham Trademark Act, an advertising statement that tends to mislead consumers about the characteristics, quality, or geographic origin of one's own or someone else's goods, services, or commercial activity. Under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act, false advertising is actionable by anyone who reasonably believes that he or she has been or is likely to be damaged by the statement. An exaggerated opinion ("puffing") is an immaterial statement and therefore not actionable. 2. At common law, a statement in a defendant's advertising about its own goods or services intended to deceive or confuse customers into buying those goods or services instead of the plaintiff's, and causing actual damage to the plaintiff, esp. the loss of sales. - Also termed (in both senses) deceptive advertising.

false answer A sham answer in a pleading. See sham pleading under PLEADING (1). 2. A person's, esp. a witness's, response to a question posed.

false answer- See ANSWER (1).

false arrest An arrest made without proper legal authority. Cf. FALSE IMPRISONMENT.

false arrest- See ARREST.

false character The crime of impersonating a servant's master or mistress. See IMPOSTOR.

false check See bad check.

false check- See bad check under CHECK.

false claim An assertion or statement that is untrue; esp., overbilling.

false claims act A federal statute establishing civil and criminal penalties against persons who bill the government falsely, deliver less to the government than represented, or use a fake record to decrease an obligation to the government. 18 USCA §§ 286-287; 31 USCA §§ 3729-3733. The Act may be enforced either by the attorney general or by a private person in a qui tam action. See QUI TAM ACTION.

false conflict of laws 1. A situation resembling but not embodying an actual conflict because the potentially applicable laws do not differ, because the laws' underlying policies have the same objective, or because one of the laws is not meant to apply to the case before the court. 2. The situation in which, although a case has a territorial connection to two or more states whose laws conflict with one another, there is no real conflict because one state has a dominant interest in having its law chosen to govern the case - hence there is no real conflict. 3. The situation in which the laws of all states that are relevant to the facts in dispute either are the same or would produce the same decision in the case. Often shortened to false conflict. 2. The body of jurisprudence that undertakes to reconcile such differences or to decide what law is to govern in these situations; the principles of choice of law. Often shortened (in sense 2) to conflicts. - Also termed (in international contexts) private international law; international private law. "The phrase [conflict of laws], although inadequate, because it does not cover questions as to jurisdiction, or as to the execution of foreign judgments, is better than any other." Thomas E. Holland, The Elements ofJurisprudence 421 (13th ed. 1924).

false conflict of laws- See CONFLICT OF LAWS.

false demonstration See FALSA DEMONSTRATIO.

false designation of origin A mark, design, or similar element that creates a misleading or erroneous impression of a good or product's source.

false evidence See false testimony under TESTIMONY.

false evidence- See false testimony under TESTIMONY.

false impersonation See IMPERSONATION.

false impersonation- The crime offalsely representing oneself as another person, usu. a law-enforcement officer, for the purpose of deceiving someone. See 18 USCA §§ 912-917. Also termed false personation.

false imprisonment A restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law misdemeanor and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention. Cf. false arrest under ARREST. "[In the phrase false imprisonment,] false is ... used not in the ordinary sense of mendacious or fallacious, but in the less common though well-established sense of erroneous or wrong; as in the phrases false quantity, false step, false taste, etc." R.F.V. Heuston, Salmond on the Law of Tons 123 n.38 (17th ed. 1977). "False imprisonment was a misdemeanor at common law and is recognized by some states today. It differs from kidnapping in that asportation is not required. If the imprisonment is secret, some jurisdictions treat it as kidnapping," Arnold H. Loewy, Criminal Law in a Nutshe.1I65 (2d ed, 1987). "Some courts have described false arrest and false impris· onment as causes of action which are distinguishable only in terminology. The two have been called virtually indistinguishable, and identical. However, the difference between them lies in the manner in which they arise. In order to commit false imprisonment, it is not necessary either to intend to make an arrest or actually to make an arrest. By contrast. a person who is falsely arrested is at the same time falsely imprisoned." 32 Am. Jur. 2d False Imprisonment § 3 (1995).

false judgment A writ filed to obtain review of a judgment of a court not of record. "After judgment given, a writ also of false judgment lies to the courts at Westminster to rehear and review the cause, and not a writ of error; for this is not a court of record ...." 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 34 (1768).

false light 1. Torts. In an invasion-of-privacy action, a plaintiff's allegation that the defendant attributed to the plaintiff views that he or she does not hold and placed the plaintiff before the public in a highly offensive and untrue manner. If the matter involves the public interest, the plaintiff must prove the defendant's malice. See invasion ofprivacy byfalse light under INVASION OF PRIVACY. 2. (usu. pl.) Maritime law. A signal displayed intentionally to lure a vessel into danger. 18 USCA § 1658(b). - Also termed false light or signal.

false making See FORGERY (I).

false memory syndrome foundation An organization of parents who claim that their adult children have falsely accused them ofchildhood sexual abuse. The organization was formed for the purpose of aiding persons who claim to have been wrongly accused as a result of the recovery of repressed memories. - Abbr. FMSP. Cf VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE LAWS.

false misrepresentation See MISREPRESENTATION. This phrase is redundant because misrepresentation includes the idea of falsity.

false news The misdemeanor of spreading false information that causes discord between the monarch and the people or between important people in the realm. 3 Edw., ch. 34.

false oath See PERJURY.

false oath See PERJURY.

false personation See false impersonation under IMPERSONATION.

false plea See sham pleading under PLEADING (1).

false pretenses The crime of knowingly obtaining title to another's personal property by misrepresenting a fact with the intent to defraud. Although unknown to English common law, false pretenses became a misdemeanor under a statute old enough to make it common law in the United States. Modern American statutes make it either a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the property's value. - Also termed obtaining property by false pretenses; fraudulent pretenses. Cf. larceny by trick under LARCENY; EMBEZZLEMENT.

false promise A promise made with no intention of carrying it out. Cf. promissory fraud under FRAUD.

false promise See PROMISE.

false report The criminal offense of informing law enforcement about a crime that did not occur.

false representation See MISREPRESENTATION.

false representation See MISREPRESENTATION.

false return 1. A process server's or other court official's recorded misrepresentation that process was served, that some other action was taken, or that something is true. See RETURN (2). 2. A tax return on which taxable income is incorrectly reported or the tax is incorrectly computed. See TAX RETURN.

false return See FALSE RETURN (2).

false statement 1. An untrue statement knowingly made with the intent to mislead. See PERJURY. 2. Anv one of three distinct federal offenses: (1) falsifying or concealing a material fact by trick, scheme, or device; (2) making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent representation; and (3) making or using a false document or writing. 18 USCA § 1001.

false statement See STATEMENT.

false swearing See PERJURY.

false testimony See TESTIMONY.

false token See TOKEN.

false verdict See VERDICT.

false weight (usu. pl.) A weight or measure that does not comply with governmentally prescribed standards or with the prevailing custom in the place and business in which the weight or measure is used.

false-association claim Intellectual property. A claim based on the wrongful use ofa distinctive name, mark, trade dress, or other device to misrepresent sponsorship, origin of goods or services, or affiliation. The power to assert a false-association claim is not limited to trademark registrants. Any person who claims an injury caused by deceptive use of a trademark or its equivalent may have standing to bring suit. See 15 USC A § 112S(a)(l)(A).

falsehood 1. See LIE. 2. See PERJURY.

false-implication libel See LIBEL.

false-memory syndrome The supposed recovery of memories of traumatic or stressful episodes that did not actually occur, often in session with a mentalhealth therapist. This term is most frequently applied to claims by adult children that repressed memories of prolonged and repeated child sexual abuse, usu. by parents, have surfaced, even though there is no independent evidence to substantiate the claims. Cf REPRESSED-MEMORY SYNDROME.

falsi crimen See crimen falSi under CRIMEN.

falsify 1. To make something false; to counterfeit or forge <the chiropractor falsified his records to help the plaintiff>. - Also termed (archaically) false. See COUNTERfEIT; FORGERY. 2. Rare. To prove something to be false or erroneous <their goal in the appeal was to falsify the jury's verdict>. falsification, n.

falsifying a record The crime of making false entries or otherwise tampering with a public record with the intent to deceive or injure, or to conceal wrongdoing. 18 USCA §§ 1506,2071,2073; Model Penal Code § 224.4.

falsing of dooms See APPEAL (I).

falsity 1. Something (such as a statement) that is false. See LIE. 2. The quality of being false. See FALSE.

falso retorno brevium (fal-soh [or fawl-soh] ri-tor-noh bree-vee-am). [Law Latin]. A writ against a sheriff for falsely returning a writ.

falsonarius See FALSARHJS.

falsum (fal-sam or fawl-sam), n. [Latin] Roman law. 1. A false statement. See crimen falsi under CRIMEN. 2. A crime involving forgery or falsification. Until the later Roman empire, the term applied to both documents and counterfeited coins.

falsus in uno doctrine (fal-sas [or fawl-sas] in yoo-noh). [fr. Latin falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus "false in one thing, false in all"] The principle that if the jury believes that a witness's testimony on a material issue is intentionally deceitful, the jury may disregard all of that witness's testimony. "[T]here is an old maxim 'falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus' (false in one thing, false in all), which is often much overemphasized by counsel, though it is recognized by many courts in their charges to the jury. But this is only primitive psychology, and should be completely discarded." John H. Wigmore, A Students' Textbook of the Law of Evidence 181 (1935).

faltering-company exception A provision in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act exempting an employer from giving the required 60-day notice for a plant shutdown if (1) at the time notice was due, the employer was seeking capital or resources that would have allowed the employer to avoid a shutdown, and (2) the employer reasonably believed that providing the notice would have precluded the employer from obtaining the necessary capital or other resources. 29 USCA § 2102(b)(I). See WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND RETRAINING NOTIFICATION ACT.

fama publica (fay-ma pab-li-ka). [Latin "public repute"]. A person's reputation in the community. A person's fama publica could be used against him or her in a criminal proceeding. Cf. ILL FAME. "Now in the thirteenth century we find in the sheriff's turn a procedure by way of double presentment, and we may see it often, though not always, when a coroner is holding an inquest over the body of a dead man. The fama publica is twice distilled. The representatives of the vilis make presentments to ajury of twelve freeholders which represents the hundred, and then such of these presentments as the twelve jurors are willing to 'avow,' or make their own, are presented by them to the sheriff. ... From the very first the legal forefathers of our grand jurors are not in the majority of cases supposed to be reporting crimes that they have witnessed, or even to be the originators of the fama publica. We should be guilty of an anachronism if we spoke of them as 'endorsing a bill' that is 'preferred' to them; but still they are handing on and 'avowing' as their own a rumour that has been reported to them by others." 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I 643 (2d ed. 1899).

familia (fa-mil-ee-a), n. [Latin] Roman law. 1. All persons, free and slave, in the power of a paterfamilias. See PATERFAMILIAS. 2. One's legal relations through and with one's family, including all property, ancestral privileges, and duties. "The testator conveyed to him outright his whole 'familia,' that is, all the rights he enjoyed over and through the family; his property, his slaves, and all his ancestral privileges, together, on the other hand, with all his duties and obligations." Henry S. Maine, Ancient Law 170 (17th ed. 1901). 3. A family, including household servants. "Familia.... A family or household, including servants, that is, hired persons (mercenarii or conductitii,) as well as bondsmen, and all who were under the authority of one master, (dominus.) Bracton uses the word in the original sense, as denoting servants or domestics." 1 Alexander M. Burrill, A Law Dictionary and Glossary 603-04 (2d ed. 1867).

familiae emptor (fo-mil-ee-ee emp-tor). [Latin "estate purchaser"], Roman law. A trustee who received an inheritance by a fictitious purchase and distributed it as the testator instructed. Also termed emptor familiae. See mancipatory will under WILL. "At some date, probably long before the XII Tables, men on the point of death, unable to make a true will because there was no imminent sitting of the Comitia, adopted the practice of conveying all their property ... to a person who is described as the familiae emptor, and who is said by Gaius to be in loco heredis. Instructions were no doubt given to him as to the disposal of the property or part of it, but it is not clear that these were enforceable ...." w.w. Buckland, A Manual of Roman Private Law 175 (2d ed. 1953).

familiae erciscundae (fa-mil-ee-ee ar-sis-kan-dee). See actio familiae erciscundae under ACTIO.

familiares regis (fa-mil-ee-air-eez ree-jis). [Law Latin]. 1. Persons of the king's household. 2. 1he ancient title of the six clerks of chancery in England.

family 1. A group of persons connected by blood, by affinity, or by law, esp. within two or three generations. 2. A group consisting of parents and their children. 3. A group of persons who live together and have a shared commitment to a domestic relationship. See RELATIVE. familial, adj.

family violence See domestic violence under VIOLENCE.

family allowance A portion of a decedent's estate set aside by statute for a surviving spouse, children, or parents, regardless of any testamentary disposition or competing claims . Every state has a statute authorizing the probate court to award an amount for the temporary maintenance and support of the surviving spouse (and often for dependent children). The allowance may be limited for a fixed period (18 months under the Uniform Probate Code) or may continue until all contests are resolved and a decree of distribution is entered. This support, together with probate homesteads and personal-property allowances, is in addition to whatever interests pass by the will or by intestate succession. See probate homestead under HOMESTEAD. Cf. spousal allowance.

family allowance- See ALLOWANCE (1).

family and medical leave act A 1993 federal statute providing that employees may take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family reasons, as when a family member is sick or when a child is born. 29 USCA §§ 2601 et seq. The statute applies to businesses with 50 or more employees. An employee may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year under the FMLA. Abbr. FMLA. Cf. FAMILY LEAVE.

family arrangement An informal agreement among family members, usu. to distribute property in a manner other than what the law provides for. Also termed family settlement.

family compact An agreement to further common interests made between related people or within a group that behaves as a family. Historically, some international treaties among nations ruled by monarchs have been called family compacts because of intermarriage among the royal houses.

family compact- See COMPACT.

family corporation See close corporation under CORPORATION.

family council See FAMILY MEETING.

family court A court having jurisdiction over matters involving divorce, child custody and support, paternity, domestic violence, and other family-law issues. Also termed domestic-relations court; court of domestic relations; domestic court.

family court- See COURT.

family disturbance See DOMESTIC DISPUTE.

family division A section of the High Court that has jurisdiction over family matters such as divorce and custody and over uncontested probate matters.

family educational rights and privacy act An act that prescribes minimum standards for the maintenance and dissemination of student records by edu cational institutions. 20 USCA § 1232g. It applies only to schools that receive federal funding. - Abbr. FERPA. - Also termed Buckley Amendment.

family farmer See FARMER.

family farmer- A person or entity whose income and debts primarily arise from a family-owned and -operated farm; esp., a person who received more than 80% of gross income from a farm in the taxable year immediately preceding a Chapter 12 filing. Only a family farmer can file for Chapter 12 bankruptcy. 11 USCA § 101(18). See CHAPTER 12.

family home A house that was purchased during marriage and that the family has resided in, esp. before a divorce. In some jurisdictions, the court may award the family home to the custodial parent until (1) the youngest child reaches the age of 18 or is otherwise emancipated, (2) the custodial parent moves, or (3) the custodial parent remarries. In making such an award, the court reasons that it is in the best interests of the child to remain in the family home. - Also termed marital home; marital residence.

family law 1. The body of law dealing with marriage, divorce, adoption, child custody and support, child abuse and neglect, paternity, juvenile delinquency, and other domestic-relations issues. - Also termed domestic relations; domestic-relations law. 2. (More broadly) the bodies oflaw dealing with wills and estates, property, constitutional rights, contracts, employment, and finance as they relate to families.

family leave An unpaid leave of absence from work taken to have or care for a baby or to care for a sick family member. See FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT.

family meeting 1. An advisory council called to aid the court in a family-law matter, such as arrangement of a guardianship for a minor or an incompetent adult. If a person had no relatives, the court could summon friends of the person instead. 2. A council of relatives of a minor assembled to advise the minor in his or her affairs and to help administer the minor's property. - Also termed family council.

family of marks A group of trademarks that share a recognizable characteristic so that they are recognized by consumers as identifying a single source. An example of a family of marks is the variety of marks beginning with Mc- and identifying items served at Mcdonald's restaurants.

family of nations The community of countries to which international law applies. This term is now obsolescent. It is increasingly rejected as Eurocentric. '''The family of nations' is an aggregate of States which, as the result of their historical antecedents, have inherited a common civilisation, and are at a similar level of moral and political opinion." Thomas E. Holland, The Elements of jurisprudence 396 (13th ed. 1924).

family partnership See PARTNERSHIP.

family partnership A business partnership in which the partners are related. IRC (26 USCA) § 704(e). In this phrase, the term family includes a person spouse, ancestors, lineal descendants, siblings, and any trusts established primarily for the benefit of those persons. See FAMILY-PARTNERSHIP RULES.

family reunification See REUNIFICATION.

family settlement See FAMILY ARRANGEMENT.

family shelter See women's shelter under SHELTER.

family support See FAMILY SUPPORT.

family support A combined award of child support and alimony that does not apportion the amount of each.

family support act of 1988 A federal statute requiring states to develop and implement child-support gUidelines. 42 USCA § 667. See CHILD-SUPPORT GUIDELINES.

family trust See TRUST.

family-automobile doctrine See FAMILY-PURPOSE RULE.