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adult disabled person See PERSON (1).

adult disabled person A child over the age of 18 for whom a parent continues to have a duty of support.

adult offender See OFFENDER.

Adult Protective Services A governmental agency with responsibility for investigating allegations of elder abuse and neglect and for responding appropriately . Every state has such an agency. Abbr. APAS.

adulter (a-dol-tar), n. [Latin]. Roman law. An adulterer; a man guilty of adultery.

adultera (a-dal-ta-ra), n, [Latin] Roman law. An adulteress; a woman guilty of adultery.

adulterate (a-dal-ta-rayt), vb. To debase or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance. adulteration, n.

adulterated drug See DRUG.

adulterated drug- A drug that does not have the strength, quality, or purity represented or expected.

adulterator (a-dal-ta-ray-tar), n. [Latin fro adulterare "to adulterate"]. Civil law. A corrupter; a forger; a counterfeiter, as in adulteratores monetae ("counterfeiters of money").

adulterine (a-dal-ta-rin), adj. 1. Characterized by adulteration. 2. Illegal; unlicensed. 3. Born of adultery. 4. Of or involving adultery' adulterous,

adulterine- Archaic. An illegitimate child.

adulterine bastard See BASTARD.

adulterine bastard- A child born to a married woman whose husband is not the father of the child . The rebuttable presumption is generally that a child born of the marriage is the husband's child. A child born to a woman by means of artificial insemination may be termed an adulterine bastard, but most jurisdictions prohibit a husband who has consented to the artificial insemination from denying paternity and responsi-bility for the child. Cf. ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION.

adulterine gnild A group of traders who act like a corporation without a charter and who pay an annual fine for permission to exercise their usurped privileges.

adulterini (a-dal-ta-ri-ni). [Law Latin] Hist. Children begotten adulterously. Cf. INCESTUOSI.

adulterium (ad-al-teer-ee-am), n. [Latin]. Roman & civil law. L The crime of adultery. 2. A punishment imposed for the offense of adultery. "Adulterium .... [A]dultery ... was considered a criminal offense only when committed by a married woman (adultera). .. [Before the Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis of 18 B.C.], customary law admitted only immediate revenge of the husband .... Under the Julian statute, the father of the adulterous woman was permitted to kill her and her partner (adulter) if he surprised them in his or her husband's house. The husband's rights were rather limited: he was forced to divorce her, for otherwise he made himself guilty of matchmaking [panderingl .. . Besides, he or his father had to accuse the adulteress of adulterium which now became a public crime prosecuted before a criminal court.' Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law 352 (1953).

adulterous If a statute provided for the punishment of adultery without definition of the term, this gave rise to a difficulty as to the meaning ofthe word. In England, (1) the commonlaw meaning of the word was sex with another'S wife, but this was not a common-law offense: (2) as the name of an offense it referred to sex by a married person with one other than the spouse, but that was recognized only in the ecclesiastical court." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law455 (3d ed. 1982). "In some states, sexual intercourse between two married persons, who are not married to each other, constitutes adultery on the part of both; sexual intercourse between a married person and an unmarried person likewise constitutes adultery on the part of both. In other states, adultery can be committed only by a married person. Thus, sexual intercourse between two married persons, who are not married to each other, constitutes adultery on the part of both; but if only one party to the sexual intercourse is married, the intercourse constitutes adultery on the of the married person and fornication on the part of unmarried person.In other states, sexual intercourse constitutes adultery only where the woman is the married party. Thus, sexual intercoutse between a married woman and a married man ather than her spouse or sexual intercourse between a married woman and an umarried man constitures aduitery on the part of adultery even if the man is married 2 Charies E. Torcia, Wharton's Criminal Law $211, at 531 (15th ed.1994).

adultery (a-dal-ta-ree), n. Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than the person's spouse . In many jurisdictions, adultery is a crime, but it is rarely prosecuted. In states that still permit fault divorce, proof of adultery is a ground on which a divorce may be granted. A court may also use proof of adultery as a reason to reduce the offending spouse's marital-property award in a property division. Judges traditionally viewed adultery as a reason for denying the offending spouse primary custody of a child in a child-custody dispute. But today, only the deleterious effect of immoral behavior on the child is typically considered relevant. Formerly also termed spouse-breach; avowtry. Cf. FORNICATION; INFIDELITY. - adulterer, adulteress, n. "Returning to the question of adultery, evidently this word cannot be interpreted today in precisely the meaning it bore for the Old Testament patriarchs. On Old Testament principles one may marry several wives, even two sisters; and a married man may and should beget children for his dead brother. When Sarah found herself childless, she advised her husband Abraham to go in unto her maid, so that she might obtain children by the maid. Such acts, though evidently not adulterous within the original meaning of the Decalogue, would be regarded as adulterous by the laws and customs of Western society at the present day." Glanville Williams, The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law 134 (1957).

advance 1. The furnishing of money or goods before any consideration is received in return. 2. The money or goods furnished.

advance bill See BILL (6).

advance bill- A bill of exchange drawn before the shipment of the goods.

advance directive 1. A document that takes effect upon one's incompetency and deSignates a surrogate decision-maker for healthcare matters. The Uniform Health-Care Decision Act (1993) states that the power of attorney for healthcare must be in writing and signed by the principal. Unless otherwise stated, the authority is effective only upon a determination that the principal lacks capacity, and it ceases to be effective once the principal regains his capacity. The agent must make decisions in accordance with the principal's relevant instructions, if there are any, or in the principal's best interests. - Also termed power of attorney for healthcare; healthcare proxy. See POWER OF ATTORNEY; UNIFORM HEALTH-CARE DECISION ACT. 2. A legal document explaining one's wishes about medical treatment if one becomes incompetent or unable to communicate. Often shortened to directive. - Also termed medical directive; physician's directive; written directive. See NATURAL-DEATH ACT; PROXY DIRECTIVE. Cf. LIVING WILL. 3. DO-NOT-RESUSCITATE ORDER.

advance payment See PAYMENT.

advance payment A payment made in anticipation of a contingent or fixed future liability or obligation.

advance premium A payment made before the start of the period covered by the insurance policy.

advance premium See PREMIUM (1).

advance pricing agreement Tax. A usu. binding arrangement made between a multinational company and one or more national tax authorities about what method the company will use to calculate transfer prices. The agreement's purpose is to reduce or eliminate double taxation. - Abbr. APA.

advance sheets A softcover pamphlet containing recently reported opinions by a court or set of courts. Advance sheets are published during the interim between an opinion's announcement and its inclusion in a bound volume oflaw reports. Cf. slip opinion (1) under OPINION (1); REPORT (3). "As a bound volume of any series of reports is not published until sufficient matter has accumulated to fill it, it neces· sarily results in the holding of the first decisions rendered after the preceding volume has been issued, until there are enough more to justify the publication of the next volume. Even after enough material has been accumulated to fill a volume, there is necessarily considerable time consumed in its printing, indexing, and binding before the book is ready for delivery. Hence, it is customary. as soon as a part of the volume has come from the press, to issue such part in pamphlet form; and these paper-bound copies are known as 'advance sheets.' They are portions of the next volume issued in advance offinal publication, being paged as they will appear in the bound volume. Advance sheets enable the enterprising lawyer to obtain the decisions right down almost to the date of his search for the law." Frank Hall Childs, Where and How to Find the Law 21 (1922).

Advanced Television Enhancement Forum A standard- setting organization that defines the protocols for HTML-based enhanced television. The organiza tion is an alliance of representatives from broadcast and cable networks, the consumer electronics and personalcomputer industries, and television-transport companies. - Abbr. ATVEF.

advance-decline index See INDEX (2).

advance-decline index- A stock-market indicator showing the cumulative net difference between stockprice advances and declines.

advance-fee fraud See FRAUD.

advance-fee fraud- A criminal fraud in which the victim is persuaded by the perpetrator to pay "fees" in anticipation of receiving a much larger benefit that is ultimately never delivered. The perpetrator usu. claims to have, or to represent someone with, a large sum of money that must be immediately transferred out of a foreign country for some compelling reason, such as to avoid seizure by a government. The criminal promises the victim a portion of the money in return for the victim's agreement to open a bank account in the victim's name. The victim then must pay "up front fees" to the designated "bank" and others. Although the Internet has become a favorite tool for this fraud, it has been around for years, beginning with handwritten or typed letters and later faxes. Because advancefee fraud is believed to have Originated in Nigeria, it is also termed 419fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code designed to punish those who defraud by this method.

advancement A payment or gift to an heir (esp. a child) during one's lifetime as an advance share of one's estate, with the intention of reducing or extinguishing or diminishing the heir's claim to the estate under intestacy laws. In some jurisdictions, the donor's intent is irrelevant if all the statutory elements of an advancement are present. A few jurisdictions define the relationship between the donor and donee to include inter vivos transfers between ancestors and descendants. See SATISFACTION (4). Cf. ADEMPTION. - advance, vb. "It is sometimes difficult to know whether money which a parent has given to his child is an advancement or not, but, generally speaking, an advancement is money which is given either to start a child in life or to provide for him, and does not include casual payments, so that a child is not bound to account for every sum received from a parent." G.c. Cheshire, Modern Law of Real Property 784 (3d ed. 1933).

advancing market See bull market under MARKET.

advantagium (ad-van-tay-jee-am), n. [Law Latin]. Hist. An advantage.

advena (ad-va-na). n. [Latin] Roman law. One who has come from abroad, esp. for a temporary stay; a sojourner.

adventitia bona (ad-ven-tish-ee-a boh-na).See BONA ADVENTITIA.

adventitia dos (ad-ven-tish-ee-a dohs), n. [Latin]. Civil law. A dowry given by someone other than the wife's paterfamilias. PI. adventitiae dotes.

adventitious property See PROPERTY.

adventitious property 1. Roman law. Property coming to a son or daughter from anyone other than the paterfamilias. - Also termed peculium adventitium. 2. Property coming to one from a stranger or collateral relative.

adventura (ad-ven-t[y]oor-a). n. [Law Latin]. Hist. An adventure. Flotsam, jetsam, and lagan were styled adventurae maris ("adventures of the sea").

adventure 1. A commercial undertaking that has an element of risk; a venture. Cf. JOINT VENTURE. 2. Marine insurance. A voyage involVing financial and insurable risk, as to a shipment of goods. Often shortened to venture.

adventurer A person who undertakes a hazardous action or enterprise; one with a stake in a commercial adventure.

adversarius (ad-var-sair-ee-as). n. [Latin]. Roman law. An adversary in a lawsuit.

adversary (ad-var-ser-ee), n. An opponent; esp., opposing counsel. - adversary, adversarial, adj.

adversary procedure See ADVERSARY SYSTEM.

adversary proceeding 1. A hearing involving a dispute between opposing parties <Judge Adams presided over the adversary proceeding between the landlord and tenant>. 2. Bankruptcy. A lawsuit that is brought within a bankruptcy proceeding, governed by special procedural rules, and based on conflicting claims usu. between the debtor (or the trustee) and a creditor or other interested party <the Chapter 7 trustee filed an adversary proceeding against the party who received $100,000 from the debtor one week before the bankruptcy filing>.

adversary system A procedural system, such as the Anglo-American legal system, involving active and unhindered parties contesting with each other to put forth a case before an independent decision-maker.Also termed adversary procedure; (in criminal cases) accusatorial system; accusatory procedure. Cf. INQUISITORIAL SYSTEM. "The term adversary system sometimes characterizes an entire legal process, and sometimes it refers only to criminal procedure. In the latter instance, it is often used interchangeably with an old expression of continental European origin, 'accusatorial procedure,' and is juxtaposed to the 'inquisitorial,' or 'nonadversary,' process. There is no precise understanding, however, of the insti· tutions and arrangements denoted by these expressions." Mirjan Damaska, "Adversary Procedure," in 1 Encyclope dia of Crime and Justice 24, 24-25 (Sanford H. Kadish ed., 1983).

adverse 1. Against; opposed (to). 2. Having an opposing or contrary interest, concern, or position. 3. Contrary (to) or in opposition (to). 4. HOSTILE.

adverse dominion 1. See ADVERSE-DOMINATION DOCTRINE. 2. Torts. Rare. The unlawful exercise of authority or control over goods so that the true owner is dispossessed. See CONVERSION (2). 3. Rare. See ADVERSE POSSESSION.

adverse job action See ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTION.

adverse action A decision or event that unfavorably affects a person, entity, or association. Common examples of adverse actions include a decrease in one's pay by an employer or a denial of credit by a lender.

adverse authority See AUTHORITY (4).

adverse authority- Authority that is unfavorable to an advocate's position .o Most ethical codes require counsel to disclose adverse authority in the controlling jurisdiction even if the opposing counsel has not cited it.

adverse easement See prescriptive easement under EASEMENT.

adverse easement- See prescriptive easement.

adverse employment action An employer's decision that substantially and negatively affects an employee's job, such as a termination, demotion, or pay cut. Also termed adverse job action.

adverse enjoyment See ENJOYMENT.

adverse enjoyment- The possession or use of land under a claim of right against the property owner.

adverse impact See DISPARATE IMPACT.

adverse inference See INFERENCE.

adverse inference- A detrimental conclusion drawn by the fact-finder from a party's failure to produce evidence that is within the party's control. Some courts allow the inference only if the party's failure is attributable to bad faith. Also termed adverse presumption. Cf. SPOLIATION (1). 2. The process by which such a conclusion is reached; the process of thought by which one moves from evidence to proof. infer, vb. inferential, adj. inferrer, n.

adverse interest An interest that is opposed or contrary to that of someone else.

adverse opinion See OPINION (2).

adverse opinion An outside auditor s opinion that a company s financial statements do not conform with generally accepted accounting principles or do not accurately reflect the company s financial position.

adverse party A party whose interests are opposed to the interests of another party to the action. Cf. hostile witness under WITNESS.

adverse party See PARTY (2).

adverse possession 1. The enjoyment of real property with a claim of right when that enjoyment is opposed to another person's claim and is continuous, exclusive, hostile, open, and notorious. In Louisiana, it is the detention or enjoyment of a corporeal thing with the intent to hold it as one's own. La. Civ. Code art. 3421. Also termed adverse dominion. Cf. PRESCRIPTION (5).

adverse possession See ADVERSE POSSESSION.

adverse presumption See adverse inference under INFERENCE.

adverse presumption See adverse inference under INFERENCE.

adverse title See TITLE (2).

adverse use See USE (1).

adverse witness See hostile witness under WITNESS.

adverse-agent doctrine The rule that an agent's knowledge will not be imputed to the principal if the agent is engaged in fraudulent activities that are concealed as part of the fraud.

adverse-domination doctrine The equitable principle that the statute of limitations on a breach-of-fiduciaryduty claim against officers and directors (esp. a corporation's action against its own officers and directors) is tolled as long as a corporate plaintiff is controlled by the alleged wrongdoers. The statute is tolled until a majority of the disinterested directors discover or are put on notice of the claim against the wrongdoers. The purpose of this doctrine is to prevent a director or officer from successfully hiding wrongful or fraudulent conduct during the limitations period. FDIC v. Shrader & York, 991 F,2d 216, 227 (5th Cir. 1993). This doctrine is available only to benefit the corporation. - Also termed adverse dominion; doctrine ofadverse domination.

adverse-inference rule See ADVERSE-INTEREST RULE.

adverse-interest rule The principle that ifa party fails to produce a witness who is within its power to produce and who should have been produced, the judge may instruct the jury to infer that the witness's evidence is unfavorable to the party's case. - Also termed empty-chair doctrine; adverse-inference rule.

adversus (ad-var-sas), prep. [Latin] Against. The first letter of this term was formerly used in law reports in place of the more commonly used v. ("versus"). Abbe. a.

adversus bonos mores See CONTRA BONOS MORES.

advertent negligence See NEGLIGENCE.

advertising 1.The action of drawing the public's attention to something to promote its sale. 2. The business of producing and circulating advertisements.

advertising injury See INJURY.

advertising injury Harm resulting from (1) oral or written speech that slanders or libels a person, or disparages a persons goods, products, or services; (2) oral or written speech that violates a persons right of privacy; (3) misappropriation of advertising ideas or style of doing business; or (4) infringement of copyright, esp. in a name or slogan.

advertiSing substantiation A doctrine of the Federal Trade Commission making it an unfair and deceptive act to put out an advertisement unless the advertiser first has a reasonable basis for believing that each claim in the advertisement is true.

advice (ad-vis). 1. Guidance offered by one person, esp. a lawyer, to another. See ADVICE OF COUNSEL. 2. Notice of the drawing of a draft for goods or services. See LETTER OF ADVICE; ADVICE OF CREDIT. - advise (ad-viz), vb.

advice and consent The right of the U.S. Senate to participate in making and ratifying treaties and appointing federal officers, provided by U.S. Const. art II, § 2. As to treaties, the Senate's advice and consent generally includes Senate involvement in the negotiation process, and the need for a two-thirds majority of the Senate for ratification. As to public officers, the Senate's advice and consent generally includes the right to vote on approval of an appointment.

advice of counsel 1. 1be guidance given by lawyers to their clients. 2. A defense in which a party seeks to avoid liability or punishment by claiming that he or she acted reasonably and in good faith on the attorney's advice. Such a defense usu. requires waiver of the attorney-client privilege, and the attorney cannot have knowingly participated in implementing an illegal plan. 3. In a malicious-prosecution lawsuit, a defense requiring both a complete presentation of facts by the defendant to his or her attorney and honest compliance with the attorney's advice. See MALICIOUS PROSECUTION. "Advice of counsel is a defense to a limited number of torts involving lack of probable cause, bad faith, or malice as an element of the cause of action. By far the most frequent cause of action against which the defense is asserted is malicious prosecution. The defense may also be asserted to avoid liability for punitive damages on the reasoning that good faith reliance on advice of counsel defeats the malice necessary to an award of punitive damages. In civil matters, the advice is typically obtained from the defendant's own attorney; when the underlying proceeding is criminal, the advice may be obtained from the district attorney'S office or similar source and may take the form of action by that officer rather than advice followed by action by the defendant." 4 Ann Taylor Schwing, California Affirmative Defenses § 41:26, at 82 (2d ed. 1996).

advice of credit Notice by an adviSing bank of the issuance of a letter of credit. Cf. ADVICE.

advice-of-counsel defense Patents. In an action for infringement, an assertion that after learning of the owner's rights, the defendant sought, obtained, and relied on an attorney's well-reasoned opinion before continuing the challenged act. Courts treat the assertion as a factor in determining whether an act was willful (to support enhanced damages). It is not a true defense. Cf. willful infringement under INFRINGEMENT.

advisare (ad-vi-zair-ee), vb. [Law Latin]. To consult, deliberate, or consider. See CURIA ADVISARI VULT.

advisement (ad-viz-mant). Careful consideration; deliberation <the judge took the matter under advisement and promised a ruling by the next day>.

advisory action Patents. See advisory office action under OFFICE ACTION. 4. A civil or criminal judicial proceeding. Also termed action at law. "An action has been defined to be an ordinary proceeding in a court of justice. by which one party prosecutes another party for the enforcement or protection of a right. the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offense. But in some sense this definition is equally applicable to special proceedings. More accurately, it is defined to be any judicial proceeding, which. if conducted to a determination. will result in ajudgment or decree. The action is said to terminate at judgment." 1 Morris M. Esree's Pleadings, Practice. and Forms § 3, at 1 (Carter Pomeroy ed., 3d ed. 1885). "The terms 'action' and 'suit' are nearly if not quite synony· mous. But lawyers usually speak of proceedings in courts of law as 'actions,' and of those in courts of equity as 'suits.' in olden time there was a more marked distinction, for an action was considered as terminating whenjudgmentwas rendered, the execution forming no part of it. A suit, on the other hand, included the execution. The word 'suit,' as used in the Judiciary Act of 1784 and later Federal statutes, applies to any proceeding in a court of justice in which the plaintiff pursues in such court the remedy which the law affords him." Edwin E. Bryant, The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of Civil Procedure 3 (2d ed. 1899). "'Action' in the sense of a judicial proceeding includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity, and any other proceedings in which rights are determined: UCC § 1-201(1).

advisory action- Patents. See advisory office action under OFFICE ACTION.

advisory committee A committee formed to make suggestions to an executive or legislative body or to an official; esp., anyone of five committees that propose to the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure amendments to federal court rules, the five committees being responsible for appellate, bankruptcy, dvil, criminal, and evidence rules.

advisory counsel See COUNSEL

advisory counsel- An attorney retained merely to give advice on a particular matter, as distinguished from one (such as trial counsel) actively participating in a case. 2. See standby counsel.

advisory jury See JURY.