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foreigner 1. A person not an inhabitant of a particular city under discussion. 2. A citizen of another country.

foreign-exchange market See MARKET.

foreign-exchange rate The rate at which the currency of one country is exchanged for the currency of another country.

foreign-relations law See INTERNATIONAL LAW.

forejudge 1. To prejudge; to judge beforehand. 2. Loosely, FORJUDGE.

foreman 1. See presidingjuror under JUROR. 2. A person who directs the work of employees; an overseer, crew chief, or superintendent. foremanship, n.

forematron The presiding juror in an all-woman jury.

forensic (fa-ren-sik also -zik), adj. [fr. Latin forensis "public," fro Latinforum "court"], 1. Used in or suitable to courts of law or public debate <forensic psychiatry>. 2. Rhetorical; argumentative <Tietjen's considerable forensic skills>. 3. Hist. Exterior; foreign. See FORENSIS.

forensic pathology The specific branch of medicine that establishes or interprets evidence deating with diseases and disorders of the body, esp. those that cause death.

forensic engineering The use of engineering principles or analysis in a lawsuit, usu. through an expert witness's testimony.

forensic evidence Evidence used in court; esp., evidence arrived at by scientific or technical means, such as ballistic or medical evidence.

forensic evidence- See EVIDENCE.

forensic linguistics The science or technique that evaluates the linguistic characteristics of written or oral communications, usu. to determine identity or authorship.

forensic medicine The branch of medicine that establishes or interprets evidence using scientific or technical facts, such as ballistics. - Also termed medical jurisprudence.

forensic services In feudal law, the payment of extraordinary aids or the rendition of extraordinary military services.

forensics (fa-ren-siks also -ziks). 1. The art of argumentative discourse. 2. The branch oflaw enforcement dealing with legal evidence relating to firearms and ballistics.

forensis (fa-ren-sis), adj. [fr. Latin forum "court"], Roman law. Of or relating to a court of law. An advocate, for example, was sometimes known as a homo forensis. See FORENSIC.

foreperson See presidingjuror under JUROR.

foreseeability The quality of being reasonably anticipatable. Foreseeability, along with actual causation, is an element of proximate cause in tort law. foreseeable, ad).

foreseeable damages See DAMAGES.

foreseeable damages- Damages that a breaching party knew or should have known when the contract was made would be likely to result from a breach.

forest A tract of land, not necessarily wooded, reserved to the king or a grantee, for hunting deer and other game.

forest law The body of law protecting game and preserving timber.

forest service An agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for managing the nation's national forests. The Forest Service also operates the Youth Conservation Corps and the Volunteers in the ational Forest programs.

forestall (for-stawl), vb. (bef. 12c), 1. To prevent (an event, result, etc.). 2. To intercept or obstruct (as a person on a royal highway). 3. Hist. To prevent (a tenant) from coming on the premises. 4. To intercept (as a deer reentering a forest). 5. To buy (goods) for the purpose of reselling at a higher price. At common law, this was an indictable offense. See FORESTALLING THE MARKET. - Also spelled forstall. "[A] growing town in England might have placed a higher lalue on grain than a neighboring town with a static population, yet traditional patterns of business might continue to send the same amount of grain to both towns. A forestaller would bid against the traditional buyer in the smaller town, obtain the grain, and resell it where it could command a higher price in the larger town. Forestalling did not harm allocative efficiency. Indeed, it was a highly effective means of reallocating scarce goods to their most highly valued uses -- the \lery definition of efficiency. Rather, forestalling was objectionable, and thus prohibited as a restraint of trade, because the bidding process necessarily resulted in higher grain prices in many parts of the country." Stephen F. Ross, Principles ofAntitrust Law 12 (1993).

forestaller 1. A person who forestalls. 2. One guilty of the offense of forestalling. See FORESTALL (5).

forestalling the market 1. The taking possession of commodities on their way to the market. 2. The purchase of goods on their way to the market, with the intention of reselling them at a higher price. 3. The deterrence of having sellers offer their goods at market at a reasonable price; specif., the crime of inhibiting normal trading by persuading sellers to raise their prices on goods or dissuading them from offering the goods in a particular market, or by purchasing as much as possible of certain goods before they reach the market to drive up prices.

forestry right A land interest under which a person has the right to enter the land, establish and maintain a crop of trees, harvest them, and construct works for that purpose.

forfeiture (for-fi-char), 1. The divestiture of property without compensation. 2. The loss of a right, privilege, or property because of a crime, breach of obligation, or neglect of duty. Title is instantaneously transferred to another, such as the government, a corporation, or a private person. 3. Something (esp. money or property) lost or confiscated by this process; a penalty. - forfeit, vb. - forfeitable, adj.

forfeiture clause 1. A contractual provision stating that, under certain circumstances, one party must forfeit something to the other. Forfeiture clauses are often held to be void, although they are similar to conditions and other qualifications of estates in land. 2. NO-CONTEST CLAUSE.

forfeiture of marriage A penalty exacted by a lord from a ward who married without the lord's consent. The penalty was a money payment double the value that the marriage would otherwise have been worth to the lord.

forfeiture of pay A punishment depriving the guilty party of all or part of his or her military pay. 4. A destruction or deprivation of some estate or right because of the failure to perform some contractual obligation or condition. "[When a condition], is not likely to occur until the obligee has relied on the expected exchange by, for example, performing or preparing to perform, ... nonoccurrence of the condition results in the obligee's loss of its reliance interest when the obligee loses the right to that exchange. This loss of reliance interest is often described as 'forfeiture.'" E. Allan Farnsworth, Contracts § 8.4, at 533 (3d ed. 1999).

forfeiture restraint An attempt by an otherwise effective conveyance or contract to cause a later conveyance to terminate or to make some or all of the later conveyance subject to termination. Sometimes shortened to restraint.

forgavel (for-gav-al). A small reserved rent in money; quit-rent.

forgery 1. The act offraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as ifgenuine <the contract was void because of the seller's forgery>. Though forgery was a misdemeanor at common law, modern statutes typically make it a felony. Also termed false making. 2. A false or altered document made to look genuine by someone with the intent to deceive <he was not the true property owner because the deed was a forgery>. Also termed fake. 3. Under the Model Penal Code, the act of fraudulently altering, authenticating, issuing, or transferring a writing without appropriate authorization. Under the explicit terms of the Code, writing can include items such as coins and credit cards. Model Penal Code § 224.1(1). - forge, vb. forger, n. "While it is true that there is a distinction between fraud and forgery, and forgery contains some elements that are not included in fraud, forgeries are a species of fraud. In essence, the crime of forgery involves the making, altering, or completing of an instrument by someone other than the ostensible maker or drawer or an agent of the ostensible maker or drawer." 37 c.J.S. Forgery § 2, at 66 (1997).

fori disputationes (for-i dis-pyoo-tay-shee-oh-neez). [Latin "arguments of the court"]. Roman law. Arguments or discussions before a court.

forinsec service (fa-rin-sik). The feudal services owed by a mesne (i.e., intermediate) lord, esp. those of a military nature. Also termed foreign service;forinsecum servitium. Cf. INTRINSEC SERVICE . "The terminology of Bracton's day and of yet earlier times neatly expresses the distinction between the service which the tenant owes to his immediate lord by reason of the bargain which exists between them, and the service which was incumbent on the tenement whilst it was in the lord's hand. The former is intrinsec service, the latter forinsec service; the former is the service which is created by, which (as it were) arises within, the bargain between the two persons, A and B, whose rights and duties we are discuss ing; the latter arises outside that bargain, is 'foreign' to that bargain .... [T]he term is a relative one; what is 'intrinsec' between A and B is 'forinsec' as regards c." 1 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I 238, 239 n.2 (2d ed. 1898).

forinsecus (fa-rin-sa-kas), adv. [fr. Latin foris "without"]. On the outside.

forinsecus- (fa-rin-sa-kas), n. [Latin]. A foreigner; someone from another jurisdiction.

foris (for-is), adj. [Latin], Abroad; outdoors; without.

forisbanitus (for-is-ban-a-tas). See FORBANNITUS.

forisbannire (for-is-ba-ni-ree), vb. [Law Latin "to banish"]. To expel from a certain territory; to banish.

forisfacere (for-is-fay-sa-ree), vb. [fr. Latin foris "without" +facere "to make"]. 1. To forfeit (an estate or other property). Literally, this means to make the property foreign to oneself. 2. To violate the law; to do a thing against or without the law.

forisfactum (for-is-fak-tam), adj. [Law Latin]. (Of property) forfeited.

forisfactus (for-is-fak-tas). [Law Latin]. A criminal; esp., one who has forfeited his or her life by committing a capital offense.

forisfactus servus (for-is-fak-tas sar-vas). [Law Latin]. A freed slave who has forfeited his or her freedom by committing a crime.

forisfamiliate (for-is-fa-mil-ee-ayt), vb. Latin foris "outside" +familia "family"]. To emancipate (a son) from paternal authority by a gift of land. This act usu. rendered the son ineligible to inherit more property. Also termed (archaically) forisfamiliare.

forisfamiliated (for-is-fa-mil-ee-ay-tid), adj. (Of a son) emancipated from paternal authority and in possession of a portion of family land in lieu of inheritance. "If our English law at any time knew an enduring patria potestas which could be likened to the Roman, that time had passed away long before the days of Bracton, Bracton, it is true. has copied about this matter some sentences from the Institutes which he ought not to have copied; but he soon forgets them, and we easily see that they belong to an alien system. Our law knows no such thing as 'emancipation,' it merely knows an attainment of full age .... In old times a forisfamiliated son, that is, one whom his father had enfeoffed, was excluded from the inheritance. This is already antiquated, yet Bracton can find nothing else to serve instead of an emancipatio." 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward /438, 438 n.3 (2d ed.1899),

forisfamiliation The liberation of a child from the father's tutelage, as when a child under the age of majority left home, was given seisin in a part of the father's land, or accepted something as a settled inheritance. Cf. EMANCIPATION (2).

forisjudicatio See FORJUDGER.

forisjudicatus See FORJUDGER.

forisjurare (for-is-ja-rair-ee), vb. [Law Latin]. To forswear; to renounce under oath. Also termed forjurer.

forisjurare parentilam (for-is-ja-rair-ee pa-ren-ta-lam), vb. [Law Latin], To renounce parental authority. One who did so lost all rights of heirship.

forisjurare provinciam (for-is-ja-rair-ee pra-vin-shee-am), vb. [Law Latin]. To renounce under oath allegiance to one's country.

forjudge 1. To expel a person, esp. an officer or attorney, from court for some offense or misconduct. 2. To deprive (a person) of a thing by a judgment; to condemn (a person) to lose a thing. Also spelled (loosely) forejudge.

forjudger (for-jaj-ar), n. . 1. A judgment that deprives a person of a thing. 2. A judgment of expulsion or banishment. - Also termed forisjudicatio; forisjudicatus.

forjurer See FORISJURARE.

forjurer royalme (for-zha-ray roy-ohm), vb. [Law French]. To renounce the kingdom under oath; to abjure the realm.

form 1. The outer shape or structure of something, as distinguished from its substance or matter <courts are generally less concerned about defects in form than defects in substance>. 2. Established behavior or procedure, usu. according to custom or rule <the prosecutor followed the established form in her closing argument>. 3. A model; a sample; an example <attorneys often draft pleadings by using a form instead of starting from scratch>. 4. The customary method of drafting legal documents, usu. with fixed words, phrases, and sentences <Jones prepared the contract merely by following the state bar's form>. 5. A legal document with blank spaces to be filled in by the drafter <the divorce lawyer used printed forms that a secretary could fill in>.

form of action The common-law legal and procedural device associated with a particular writ, each of which had specific forms of process, pleading, trial, and judgment. The 11 common-law forms of action were trespass, trespass on the case, trover, ejectment, detinue, replevin, debt, covenant, account, special assumpsit, and general assumpsit. "Forms of action are usually regarded as different methods of procedure adapted to cases of different kinds, but in fact the choice between forms of action is primarily a choice between different theories of substantive liability, and the scope of the actions measures the existence and extent of liability at common law .... The development and extension of the different forms of action is the history of the recognition of rights and liability in the law of torts, contracts, and property, and the essentials of rights of action." Benjamin j. Shipman, Handbook of Common-Law Pleading §§ 27, 30 at 54, 60 (Henry Winthrop Ballantine ed., 3d ed. 1923).

Form 10-K See 10-K.

Form 10-Q See 10-Q.

Form 8-K See 8-K.

Form S-1 See S-1.

forma (for-ma). [Latin "form"]. The prescribed form of judicial proceedings.

forma et figura judicii (for-ma et fig-yar-a joo-dish-ee-I). [Latin]. The form and shape of judgment. A form prescribed by statute.

forma pauperis See IN FORMA PAUPERIS.

forma verborum (for-ma var-bor-am). [Latin], The form of the words.

formal 1. Pertaining to or following established procedural rules, customs, and practices. 2. Ceremonial. formality, n.

formal abandonment See express abandonment.

formal abandonment- See express abandonment under ABANDO~MENT (10).

formal acknowledgment 1.A father's recognition of a child as his own by a formal, written declaration that meets a state's requirements for execution, typically by signing in the presence of two witnesses . In Louisiana law, this recognition may also be made by a mother. La. Civ. Code art. 203. 2. A father's recognition of a child as his own in the child's registry of birth or at the child's baptism. In this sense, a formal acknowledgment typically occurs when a man signs the birth certificate or baptismal certificate as the father or announces at the baptismal service that he is the father. The fact that a man is named as the father on a certificate ofbirth or baptism is not a formal acknowledgment unless the father signs the document.

formal acknowledgment- See ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

formal agreement An agreement for which the law requires not only the consent of the parties but also a manifestation ofthe agreement in some particular form (e.g., a signed writing), in default of which the agreement is unenforceable. Cf. formal contract under CONTRACT.

formal agreement- See AGREEMENT.

formal contract A contract made through the observance of certain prescribed formalities. Among the formal contracts are the contract under seal, the recognizance, the negotiable instrument, and the letter of credit. Cf. informal contract; formal agreement under AGREEMENT.

formal contract- See CONTR ACT.

formal drawing A drawing that complies with the formatting requirements of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as set forth in 37 CFR 1.84, and is stamped "Approved" by the PTa Drafter. Cf. informal drawing.

formal drawing- See DRAWING.

formal fallacy A fallacy involving flaws in the form of the argument, such as a violation of the formal rules of syllogistic reasoning.

formal fallacy- See FALLACY.

formal impeachment 1. See IMPEACHMENT (1). 2. See IMPEACHMENT (2).

formal impeachment- 1. The discrediting of a witness's testimony by confronting the witness with his or her specific untruthful acts, prior convictions, prior inconsistent statements, or the like. 2. See IMPEACHMENT (1).

formal law Procedural law. "Procedure is by many German writers inappropriately called 'formal law.'" Thomas E. Holland, The Elements of Jurisprudence 358 n.2 (13th ed. 1924).

formal party See nominal party.

formal party See nominal party under PARTY (2).

formal rejection Rejection of a patent claim because of an error in format rather than substance. A formal rejection is actually an objection rather than a rejection, since it requires no substantive change in the claim. Also termed nonart rejection.

formal rejection See REJECTION.

formal rulemaking Agency rulemaking that, when required by statute or the agencys discretion, must be on the record after an opportunity for an agency hearing, and must comply with certain procedures, such as allowing the submission of evidence and the cross-examination of witnesses. Cf. informal rulemaking.

formal rulemaking See RULEMAKING.

formality 1. A small point of practice that, though seemingly unimportant, must usu. be observed to achieve a particular legal result. 2. (pl.) Robes worn by magistrates on solemn occasions. 3. Copyright. (usu. pl.) A procedural requirement formerly required before receiving U.S. copyright protection. Formalities included (1) a copyright notice appearing on the work. (2) actual publication, (3) registration with the Copyright Office, and (4) deposit of the work with the Library of Congress. The formality reqUirements eroded during the 20th century. Today, none are required, although registration remains a prerequisite for an infringement suit by U.S. authors in the United formal law 724 States.

formata (for-may-ta). [Law Latin]. Eccles. law. Canonical letters.

formata brevia See BREVIA FORMATA.

formbook A book that contains sample legal documents, esp. transaction-related documents such as contracts, deeds, leases, wills, trusts, and securities disclosure documents.

formed design Criminal law. The deliberate and fixed intention to kill, though not necessarily a particular person. See PREMEDITATION. 3. The pattern or configuration of elements in something, such as a work of art. 4. Patents. The drawing or the depiction of an original plan for a novel pattern, model, shape, or configuration that is chiefly decorative or ornamental. If it meets other criteria, a design may also be protect able as a trademark. - design, vb.

formed design- See DESIGN.

formedon (for-ma-don). [fro Latin forma doni "form of the gift"). A writ of right for claiming entailed property held by another. A writ of formedon was the highest remedy available to a tenant in tail. Also termed writ of formedon. "Called formedon, because the writ comprehended the form of the gift. It was of three kinds, in the descender, in the re.mainde.r, and in the reverter." 1 Alexander M. Burrill, A Law Dictionary and Glossary 650 (2d ed. 1867).

formedon in the remainder A writ of formedon brought by a remainderman under a grant or gift in tail to recover possession of the land.

formedon in the descender A writ offormedon brought by the issue in tail to recover possession of the land.

formedon in the reverter A writ of formedon brought by a reversioner or donor of the grant or gift in tail to recover possession of the land.