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family-autonomy doctrine See PARENTAL-AUTONOMY DOCTRINE.

family-car doctrine See FAMILY-PURPOSE RULE.

family-court judge See JUDGE.

family-court judge A judge who sits on a court that has jurisdiction exclusively over matters involving domestic relations, such as divorce and child-custody matters.

family-expense statute 1. A state law that permits a charge against the property of a spouse for family debts such as rent, food, clothing, and tuition. 2. A section of the federal tax code providing that a person may not deduct expenses incurred for family, living, or personal purposes. IRC (26 USCA) § 262. See NECESSARIES.

family-farmer bankruptcy See CHAPTER 12 (2).

family-farmer bankruptcy- See CHAPTER 12 (2).

family-income insurance An agreement to pay benefits for a stated period following the death of the insured. At the end of the payment period, the face value is paid to the designated beneficiary.

family-income insurance See INSURANCE.

family-partnership rules Laws or regulations designed to prevent the shifting of income among partners, esp. family members, who may not be dealing at arm's length.

family-pot trust See TRUST.

family-purpose rule The principle that a vehicle's owner is liable for injuries or damage caused by a family member's negligent driving. Many states have abolished this rule. - Also termed family-purpose doctrine;family-automobile doctrine;family-car doctrine. Cf. GUEST STATUTE. "A number of jurisdictions have adopted the so·called family purpose' doctrine, under which the owner of a motor vehicle purchased or maintained for the pleasure of his family is liable for injuries inflicted by the negligent operation of the vehicle while it is being used by members of the family for their own pleasure, on the theory that the vehicle is being used for the purpose or business for which it was kept, and that the person operating it is therefore acting as the owner's agent or servant in using it." 8 Am. Jur. 2d Automobiles and Highway Traffic § 715, at 296 (1997).

famosus (fa-moh-sas), adj. [Latin], 1. (Of a statement) having a defamatory character. 2. (Of an action) involving infamy if the defendant lost the case.

famosus libellus (fa-moh-sas li-bel-as). [Latin] Roman law. 1. A libelous writing. 2. The species of injury that is caused by libel.

famous mark See famous mark under TRADEMARK.

famous trademark See TRADEMARK.

fanciful mark See fanciful trademark under TRADEMARK.

fanciful term See fanciful trademark under TRADEMARK.

fanciful trademark See TRADEMARK.

fannie mae (fan-ee may). See FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION.

FAPE abbr. Free appropriate public education. This is a right of children with disabilities to have access to free education, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. See 34 C.P.R. § 100.33; 34 C.F.R. § 300.13.

FAR (often pl.) abbr. FEDERAL AVIATION REGULATION <the pilot violated several FARs before the crash>.

farley (fahr-Iee). Money paid by a tenant in lieu of a chattel (or heriot). The term invariably referred to a tenant in the west of England. See HERIOT.

farm 1. Land and connected buildings used for agricultural purposes. 2. By extension, the term came to mean the land for which the rent was paid. Also termed and spelled ferm; fearm; firme.

farm- 1. To cultivate land; to conduct the business of farming. 2. To lease. See FARM OUT.

farm credit administration An independent federal agency that regulates and examines the borrowerowned banks and cooperative associations that make up the Federal Farm Credit System. The agency was created in 1929 under the title "Federal Farm Board," became an agency in the Department of Agriculture in 1933, and again became independent in 1971. -Abbr. FCA. See FEDERAL FARM CREDIT SYSTEM.

farm let To lease; to let land for rent. To farm let is a phrasal verb that commonly appeared in realproperty leases; it corresponds with its Latin root, ad firmam tradidi. "A lease is properly a conveyance of any lands or tenements, (usually in consideration of rent or other annual recompense) made for life, for years, or at will, but always for a less time than the lessor hath in the premises: for if it be for the whole interest, it is more properly an assignment than a lease. The usual words of operation in it are, 'demise, grant, and to farm let; dimisi, concessi, et ad firmam tradidi." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 317-18 (1766).

farm out 1. To turn over something (such as an oil-and-gas lease) for performance by another. The term evolved from the Roman practice of transferring the right to collect taxes to a third party for a fee. That practice continued in England, Scotland, and France, but it has been long abolished. 2. To lease for a term. 3. To exhaust farmland, esp. by continuously raising a single crop.

farm products Crops, livestock, and supplies used or produced in farming or products of crops or livestock in their unmanufactured states, if they are in the possession of a debtor engaged in farming. UCC § 9-102(a) (34). Cf. growing crops under CROPS.

farm service agency An agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for administering farm-commodity, crop-insurance, and resource-conservation programs for farmers and ranchers and for making or guaranteeing farm emergency and operating loans through a network of state and county offices. Abbr. FSA.

farmee See FARMOUTEE.

farmer A person whose business is farming.

farmer bankruptcy See CHAPTER 12 (2).

farmer bankruptcy- See CHAPTER 12 (2).

farmers' home administration An agency, formerly in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, responsible for making mortgages and insuring loans to farmers and for funding rural public-works projects. The agency was abolished in 1994, and its functions were assumed by other agencies in the Department - Abbr. FmHA; FHA.

farminee See FARMOUTEE.

farming operation Bankruptcy. A business engaged in farming, tillage of soil, dairy farming, ranching, raising of crops, poultry, or livestock, and production of poultry or livestock products in an unmanufactured state. 11 USCA § 101(21). See CHAPTER 12.

farminor See FARMOUTOR.

farmor See FARMOUTOR.

farmout agreement Oil & gas. An agreement by which one who owns an oil-and-gas lease (the farmoutor or farmor) agrees to assign to another (the farmoutee or farmee) an interest in the lease in return for drilling and testing operations on the lease. For the farmor, the agreement either (1) maintains the lease by securing production or complying with the implied covenant to develop or offset, or (2) obtains an interest in pro duction without costs. For the farmee, the agreement obtains acreage that is not otherwise available or at lower cost than would otherwise be possible. A farmout agreement may also serve as a device to keep people and equipment gainfully employed. Often shortened to farmout. - Also written farm out agreement; farm-out agreement. See ASSIGNMENT.

farmoutee (fahrm-ow-tee). An oil-and-gas sublessee to whom the lease is assigned for purposes of drilling a well. Also termedfarmee;farminee.

farmoutor (fahrm-ow-tor or -tar). An oil-and-gas lessee who assigns the lease to another, who agrees to drill a well. - Also spelled farmouter. - Also termed farmor; farminor.

farthing of land (fahr-thing). An area of land measured as one-quarter of a larger area (much as a farthing was one-quarter of a penny). - A farthing of land ranged from a quarter of a hide to a quarter of an acre.

farvand (fahr-vand). Maritime law. Voyage or passage by water under a charterparty.

faryndon's Inn The ancient name of Serjeants' Inn. See SERJEANTS' INN.

FAS abbr. 1. FREE ALONGSIDE SHIP. 2. FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME. 3. FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE.

fas (fas), n. [Latin] Roman law. 1. Moral law of divine origin; divine law. Jus, by contrast, is created by man. See JUS. 2. What is right, proper, lawful, and permitted. Cf. NEFAS. "The first element to be noted in the Roman composite existing in primitive times, when religion and law were not distinguished, is fas - the will of the gods, embodied in rules that regulated not only ceremonials but the conduct of all men as such." Hannis Taylor, The Science ofJurisprudetice 6S (1908). "It is true that the two spheres of ius and fas overlapped. , .. All this, however, concerned merely the question of where to draw the line between ius and fas; it did not blur the distinction between the two. From the standpoint of the history of Roman law. this distinction, consciously made from very early times, was of great importance, since it enabled the Romans to delimit the scope and the contents of strictly legal rules. This attitude may occasionally have caused a certain cold aloofness from purely human problems, but it undoubtedly contributed to the clarity of the legal system." Hans Julius Wolff, Roman Law: An Historical Introduction 51-52 (1951).

FASB (faz-bee). abbr. FINANCIAL ACCOVNTING STANDARDS BOARD.

FASB statement An official pronouncement from the Financial Accounting Standards Board establishing a given financial-accounting practice as acceptable.

fascism A totalitarian political ideology under which all economic and social aspects of life come under rigid government control or direction, and the state's interests supersede individual interests.

fast estate See real property under PROPERTY.

fast estate- See real property under PROPERTY.

fast land See LAND.

fast land (often pl.) Land that is above the highwater mark and that, when flooded by a government project, is subjected to a governmental taking. Owners of fast lands are entitled to just compensation for the taking. See TAKING (2).

fasti (fas-ti). [Latin], Roman law. 1. The days on which court can be held. In this sense,fasti is a shortened form of dies fasti. 2. A calendar of days on which court can be held. See dies fasti under DIES.

fast-tracking A court's method of accelerating the disposition of cases in an effort to clear its docket. For example, a judge might order that all discovery must be finished within 90 days and that trial is set for 30 days later. See ROCKET DOCKET. fast-track, vb.

fatal 1. Of or relating to death; producing death <the decision had fatal consequences> <fatal blow>. 2. Providing grounds for legal invalidity <a fatal defect in the contract>.

fatal defect A serious defect capable of nullifying a contract.

fatal defect- See DEFECT.

fatal error See reversible error.

fatal error- See reversible error under ERROR (2).

fatal variance See VARIANCE (1).

fate and transport Environmental law. Ihe physical condition and migration of contaminants and hazardous materials along environmental pathways such as air, water, and soil.

father (bef. 12c) A male parent. See PARENT.

fatherly power See patria potestas under POTESTAS.

fatherly power See patria potestas under POTESTAS.

Fatico hearing See FATICO HEARING.

fatico hearing (fat-a-koh). Criminal procedure. A sentencing hearing at which the prosecution and the defense may present evidence about what the defendant's sentence should be. United States v. Fatico, 603 F.2d 1053 (2d Cir. 1979).

fatuum judicium (fach-oo-am joo-dish-ee-am). [Latin], A foolish judgment or verdict.

fauces terrae (faw-seez ter-ee). [Latin "narrow passage of the land"], A body of water that experiences tides and is partially enclosed by land. - Ihis includes inlets, rivers, harbors, creeks, bays, basins, and similar aquatic bodies.

fault 1. An error or defect of judgment or of conduct; any deviation from prudence or duty resulting from inattention, incapacity, perversity, bad faith, or mismanagement. See NEGLIGENCE. Cf. LIABILITY. 2. Civil law. The intentional or negligent failure to maintain some standard of conduct when that failure results in harm to another person.

fault divorce A divorce granted to one spouse on the basis of some proven wrongful act (grounds for divorce) by the other spouse. Although all states now have some form of no-fault divorce, some jurisdictions still consider a spouse's fault in precipitating the divorce, esp. when dividing marital property or when awarding alimony. Traditionally, the common grounds for a fault divorce were adultery, abandonment, imprisonment, and physical or mental cruelty; the defenses to alleged fault in a petition for divorce were condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, and insanity. Section 303(e) of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act has abolished the defenses to divorce. Cf. noJault divorce.

fault divorce- See DIVORCE.

fault liability See LIABILITY.

fault of omission Negligence resulting from a negative act. See negative act under ACT; NONFEASANCE.

fault-based liability See fault liability under FAULT.

fault-first method A means by which to apply a settlement credit to a jury verdict, by first reducing the amount of the verdict by the percentage of the plaintiff's comparative fault, then subtracting from the remainder the amount ofany settlements the plaintiff has received on the claim. See SETTLEMENT CREDIT. Cf. SETTLEMENT-FIRST METHOD.

faultless pardon A pardon granted because the act for which the person was convicted was not a crime.

faultless pardon See PARDON.

fauntleroy doctrine The principle that a state must give full faith and credit to another state's judgment, if the other state had proper jurisdiction, even though the judgment is based on a claim that is illegal in the state in which enforcement is sought. Fauntleroy v. Lum, 210 U.S. 230, 28 S.Ct. 641 (1908).

fautor (faw-tar). 1. An abettor or supporter; an active partisan. 2. A person who encourages resistance to execution of process.

faux (foh), adj. [Law French]. False or counterfeit.

faux- (foh), n. [French "false"]. Civil law. The fraudulent alteration of the truth. See CRIMEN FALSI.

faux action A false action. See PLEADING.

faux money Counterfeit money.

faux peys (foh pay). [French] False weights. See FALSE WEIGHT.

faux serement (foh ser-mahn). [French], A false oath.

favor See BIAS.

favor legitimationis (fay-var la-jit-a-may-shee-oh-nis). [Latin "(in) favor of legitimacy"] The principle that a court should attempt to uphold a child's legitimacy.

favor matrimonii (fay-var ma-tra-moh-nee-i). [Latin "(in) favor of marriage"], The principle that a court should attempt to uphold the validity of a marriage.

favor negotii (fay-var ni-goh-shee-i). [Latin "(in) favor of business"], The principle that favors upholding a contract against a construction that would render the contract illegal or unenforceable.

favor solutionis (fay-var sa-Ioo-shee-oh-nis). [Latin "(in) favor of payment"], Conflict of laws. The principle that a contract should be interpreted according to the applicable law governing performance.

favor testamenti (fay-var tes-ta-men-ti). [Latin "(in) favor of the testament"], The principle that a court should attempt to uphold a will's validity.

favored beneficiary A beneficiary of a will who receives disproportionate amounts of the testator's property as compared with others having equal claims to the property, raising the specter of the beneficiary's undue influence over the testator. See UNDUE INFLUENCE.

favored beneficiary- See BENEFICIARY.

favored nation See MOST FAVORED NATION.

favored-nation clause See MOST-FAVORED-NATION CLAUSE.

favorite of the law A person or status entitled to generous and preferential treatment in legal doctrine. "It has long been said that the surety is a favorite ofthe law and his contract strictissimi-juris." Laurence P. Simpson, Handbook on the Law ofSuretyship 94 (1950).

favoritism Preference or selection, usu. invidious, based on factors other than merit. See NEPOTISM; PATRONAGE. Cf. DISCRIMINATION.

favorpaternitatis (fay-var pa-tar-na-tay-tis). [Latin "(in) favor of paternity"], The principle that a court should interpret facts so as to uphold the paternity of a child.