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good consideration 1. Consideration based on natural love or affection or on moral duty <good consideration, being based purely on affection, does not amount to valuable consideration>. Such consideration is usu. not valid for the enforcement of a contract. Also termed meritorious consideration; moral consideration. "A good consideration is that of blood, or the natural love and affection which a person has to his children, or any of his relatives .... A good consideration is not of itself sufficient to support a promise, any more than the moral obligation which arises from a man's passing his word; neither will the two together make a binding contract; thus a promise by a father to make a gift to his child will not be enforced against him. The consideration of natural love and affection is indeed good for so little in law, that it is not easy to see why it should be called a good consider· ation ...." Joshua Williams, Principles of the Law of Personal Property 95-96 (11th ed. 1881). "Stated simply, good or meritorious consideration is nothing more than motive or moral obligation." 3 Richard A. Lord, Williston on Contracts § 7:16, at 325-26 (4th ed. 1992). 2. Loosely, valuable consideration; consideration that is adequate to support the bargained-for exchange between the parties <his agreement to pay the offering price was good consideration for the sale>.

good consideration- See CONSIDERATION (1).

good deed A deed that conveys good title as opposed to a deed that is merely good in form. Also termed lawful deed.

good deed- See DEED.

good delivery Securities. A security's delivery when the certificate (1) is in good condition, (2) belongs to the person transferring it, (3) is properly indorsed, and (4) is accompanied by any legal documents necessary for its negotiability.

good delivery- See DELIVERY.

good faith A state of mind consisting in (1) honesty in belief or purpose, (2) faithfulness to one's duty or obligation, (3) observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in a given trade or business, or (4) absence of intent to defraud or to seek unconscionable advantage. Also termed bona fides. Cf. BAD FAITH. good-faith, adj. The phrase 'good faith' is used in a variety of contexts, and its meaning varies somewhat with the context. Good faith performance or enforcement of a contract emphasizes faithfulness to an agreed common purpose and consistency with thejustified expectations of the other party; it excludes a variety of types of conduct characterized as involving 'bad faith' because they violate community standards of decency, fairness or reasonableness. The appropriate remedy for a breach of the duty of good faith also varies with the circumstances." Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 205 cmt. a (1979). "[G]ood faith is an elusive idea, taking on different meanings and emphases as we move from one context to another - whether the particular context is supplied by the type of legal system (e.g., common law, civilian, or hybrid). the type of contract (e.g., commercial or consumer), or the nature of the subject matter of the contract (e.g., insurance, employment, sale of goods, financial services, and so on)." Roger Brownsword et aI., "Good Faith in Contract," in Good Faith in Contract: Concept and Context 1, 3 (Roger Brownsword ed., 1999).

good health A state of reasonable healthiness; a state of health free from serious disease. Good health, a phrase often appearing in life-insurance policies, does not mean perfect health. Also termed sound health. "As used in policies of insurance, there is no material difference between the terms 'sound health' and 'good health,' generally it appears that the two terms are consid· ered to be synonymous. Such expressions are comparative terms, and the rule followed generally is that the term good health' or 'sound health,' when used in an insurance contract, means that the applicant has no grave, important, or serious disease, and is free from any ailment that serio ously affects the general soundness or healthfulness of his system." 43 Am.Jur. 2d Insurance § 1061, at 1069 (1982).

good health- See GOOD HEALTH.

good jury See special jury under TURY.

good jury See special jury.

good moral character 1. A pattern of behavior that is consistent with the community's current ethical standards and that shows an absence of deceit or morally reprehensible conduct. An alien seeking to be naturalized must show good moral character in the five years preceding the petition for naturalization. 2. A pattern of behavior conforming to a profession'S ethical standards and showing an absence of moral tur pitude. Good moral character is usu. a requirement ofpersons applying to practice a profeSSion such as law or medicine.

good of the order Parliamentary law. A time scheduled, usu. late in a meeting, for informal announcements, comments, and suggestions that do not seek the meeting's immediate action. - Also termed general good and welfare; open forum; open microphone.

good offices The involvement of one or more countries or an international organization in a dispute between other countries with the aim of contributing to its settlement or at least easing relations between the disputing countries.

good samaritan action A deed performed gratuitously by a person to help another who is in peril. Also termed Good Samaritan act. See GOOD SAMARITAN DOCTRINE; GOOD SAMARITAN LAW. 2. A lawsuit brought by a person or group for the benefit of all or part of a community.

good samaritan doctrine (sa-mar-i-tan). The principle that a person who is injured while attempting to aid another in imminent danger, and who then sues the one whose negligence created the danger, will not be charged with contributory negligence unless the rescue attempt is an unreasonable one or the rescuer acts unreasonably in performing the attempted rescue. Cf. EMERGENCY DOCTRINE; RESCUE DOCTRINE; LOST-CHANCE DOCTRINE.

good time See TIME.

good title See TITLE (2).

good-faith bargaining Negotiations between an employer and a representative of employees, usu. a union, in which both parties meet and confer at reasonable times with open minds and with a view to reaching an agreement. The National Labor Relations Act requires good-faith bargaining, and failure to bargain in good faith is considered an unfair labor practice. 29 USCA §§ 151-169. See UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE.

good-faith exception Criminal procedure. An exception to the exclUSionary rule whereby evidence obtained under a warrant later found to be invalid (esp. because it is not supported by probable cause) is nonetheless admissible if the police reasonably relied on the notion that the warrant was valid. The Supreme Court adopted the good-faith exception in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405 (1984).

good-faith improver A person who makes improvements to real property while actually and reasonably believing himself or herself to be the owner or lawful occupant. The improver may be entitled to recover the value of the improvements from the true owner or to remove them. See IMPROVEMENT.

good-faith margin See MARGIN.

good-faith purchaser See bona fide purchaser under PURCHASER (1).

good-faith purchaser See bona fide purchaser.

good-guy clause See good-guy guaranty under GUARANTY.

good-guy guaranty See GUARANTY.

good-guy guaranty- A limited guaranty by a third-person that leased property or collateral will be kept in good condition and returned to the lessor or lender if a default occurs. - Good-guy guaranties are most commonly associated with real-property leases. Also written good-guy guarantee. - Also termed good-guy clause.

good-right A name sometimes used as a fictitious plaintiff in an ejectment action .o "John Doe" was used more frequently. - Also termed Goodtitle. Cf. JOHN DOE.

goods (bef. 12c) 1. Tangible or movable personal property other than money; esp., articles of trade or items of merchandise <goods and services>. The sale of goods is governed by Article 2 of the UCC. 2. Things that have value, whether tangible or not <the importance of social goods varies from society to society>. "'Goods' means all things (including specially manufactured goods) which are movable at the time of identification to the contract for sale other than the money in which the price is to be paid, investment securities, (Article 8), and things in action. 'Goods' also includes the unborn young of animals and growing crops and other identified things attached to realty as described in the section on goods to be severed from realty (Section 2·107)." UCC § 2-lO5(1).

goods and chattels (chat-alz), Loosely, personal property of any kind; occasionally, tangible personal property only. - Also termed goods and effects; goods and merchandise.

good-samaritan law A statute that exempts from liability a person (such as an off-duty physician) who voluntarily renders aid to another in imminent danger but negligently causes injury while rendering the aid. Some form of good-samaritan legislation has been enacted in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia. - Also written Good Samaritan law. Also termed good-samaritan statute. Cf. GOOD SAMARITAN DOCTRINE. "The so-called 'Good Samaritan Statutes' ... do not require aid to be given. They merely encourage doctors to stop and give aid to strangers in emergency situations by providing that no physician who in good faith renders such aid shall be liable in civil damages as a result of acts or omissions in rendering such aid. Some states have enacted statutes that require a person who is able to do so with no danger or peril to himself to come to the aid of another who is exposed to grave physical harm." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 661 (3d ed. 1982),

good-soldier defense An excuse theory based on the assertion that a defendant was following orders, esp. of a military or corporate superior. The term is a derisive label rather than a valid defense. Following an order does not relieve a defendant of responsibility for wrongful acts unless there are circumstances that would amount to coercion.

good-time law A statute allowing a prisoner's sentence to be reduced by a stated number of days for each month or year of good behavior while incarcerated. Also termed good-time statute.

goodwill (bef. 12c) A business's reputation, patronage, and other intangible assets that are considered when appraising the business, esp. for purchase; the ability to earn income in excess of the income that would be expected from the business viewed as a mere collection of assets. Because an established business's trademark or servicemark is a symbol of goodwill, trademark infringement is a form of theft: ofgoodwill. By the same token, when a trademark is assigned, the goodwill that it carries is also assigned. - Also written good will. Also termed enterprise goodwill; commercial goodwill; practice goodwill; economic goodwill. Cf. going-concern value under VALUE (2). "[Goodwill] is only another name for reputation, credit, honesty, fair name, reliability." Harry D. Nims, The Law of Unfair Competition and Trade-Marks 36 (1929). "Good will is to be distinguished from that element of value referred to variously as going-concern value, going value, or going business. Although some courts have stated that the difference is merely technical and that it is unimportant to attempt to separate these intangibles, it is generally held that going-concern value is that which inheres in a plant of an established business." 38 Am. Jur. 2d Good Will § 2, at 913 (1968).

goose case See WHITEHORSE CASE.

goosehorn A bawdy house; a house of prostitution. See DISORDERLY HOUSE.

gore- (gor), n. (bef. 12c), 1. A small, narrow slip of land. 2. A small (often triangular) piece of land, such as may be left between surveys that do not close. 3. In some New England states (such as Maine and Vermont), a county's subdivision that has little population and thus is not organized as a town.

gothland sea laws See LAWS OF VISBY.

govern (Of a precedent) to control a point in issue <the Smith case will govern the outcome of the appeal>.

governing body 1. GOVERNMENT (2). 2. A group of (esp. corporate) officers or persons having ultimate control <the board of directors is the governing body of XYZ, Inc.>.

governing document Parliamentary law. A document that defines or organizes an organization, or grants or establishes its authority and governance. An organization's governing documents may include a charter, articles of incorporation or association, a constitution, bylaws, and rules. A charter or articles of incorporation or association, if they have been granted or adopted, are an organization's most authoritative governing document, followed by the constitution, bylaws, and rules, in that order. Also termed document ofauthority. See CHARTER (4), (5); ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION; ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION (2); CONSTITUTION (4); BYLAW (1); SUBORDINATION (2).

governing document- See DOCUMENT.

government 1. The structure of principles and rules determining how a state or organization is regulated. 2. The sovereign power in a nation or state. 3. An organization through which a body of people exercises political authority; the machinery by which sovereign power is expressed <the Canadian government>. In this sense, the term refers collectively to the political organs ofa country regardless of their function or level, and regardless of the subject matter they deal with. Cf. NATION; STATE.

government agency See AGENCY (3).

government agent 1. An employee or representative of a governmental body. 2. A law-enforcement official, such as a police officer or an FBI agent. 3. An informant, esp. an inmate, used by law enforcement to obtain incriminating statements from another inmate. An accused's Sixth Amendment right to counsel is triggered when the accused is questioned by a government agent.

government agent- See AGENT (2).

government bond 1. See savings bond. 2. See government security under SECURITY.

government bond- 1. See savings bond under BOND (3). 2. See government security under SECURITY.

government contract A contract to which a government or government agency is a party, esp. for the purchase of goods and services. See procurement contract.

government contract- See CONTRACT.

government corporation See public corporation (3).

government corporation- See public corporation (3) under CORPORATION.

government de facto See de facto government.

government de facto- See de facto government under GOVERNMENT.

government de jure See de jure government.

government de jure- See de jure government under GOVERNMENT.

government enterprise See governmental enterprise under ENTERPRISE.

government immunity See sovereign immunity under IMMUNITY (1).

government immunity- See sovereign immunity.

government insurance See INSURANCE.

government insurance Life insurance underwritten by the federal government to military personnel, veterans, and government employees.

government land See public land.

government land See public land under LAND.

government national mortgage association A federally owned corporation in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development responsible for guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities composed of FHA-insured or VA-guaranteed mortgage loans. The Association purchases, on the secondary market, residential mortgages originated by local lenders; it then issues federally insured securities backed by these mortgages. - Abbr. GNMA. Also termed Ginnie Mae.

government of laws The doctrine that government must operate according to established, consistent legal principles and not according to the interests of those who happen to be in power at a given time; esp., the doctrine that judicial decisions must be based on the law, regardless of the character of the litigants or the personal predilections of the judge.

government plan See governmental plan under EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN.

government printing office An office in the legislative branch of the federal government responsible for printing and distributing congressional publications and publications of other agencies of the United States government. The Office is supervised by the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing. It began operating in 1860. Abbr. GPO.

government secret See STATE SECRET.

government security A security issued by a government, a government agency, or a government corporation; esp., a security (such as a Treasury bill) issued by a U.S. government agency, with the implied backing of Congress. Also termed government-agency security; agency security; government bond.

government security See SECURITY.

government survey A survey made by a governmental entity of tracts of land (as of townships and sections and quarter-sections of land). - Also termed (when conducted by the federal government) congressional survey.

government survey See SURVEY.

government tort See TORT.

government-agency defense An affirmative defense that immunizes a contractor from liability upon proof that the contractor acted on the government's behalf as an agent or as a government officer. This defense is extremely limited because of the difficulty of establishing the government-agent relationship. See Yearsley v. WA. Ross Constr. Co., 309 U.S. 18, 20-22,60 S. Ct. 413, 414-15 (1940). Cf. GOVERNMENTCONTRACTOR DEFENSE; CONTRACT-SPECIFICAnON DEFENSE.

government-agency security See government security under SECURITY.

governmental act See GOVERNMENTAL F1:NCTION.

governmental activity See GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION.

governmental employee benefit plan See governmental plan under EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN.

governmental enterprise An enterprise undertaken by a governmental body, such as a parks department that creates a public park. Also termedgovernrnent enterprise. 2. Under federal anti-racketeering law, an individual, partnership, corporation, association, union, other legal entity, or group of individuals associated in fact, although not a legal entity. The enterprise must be ongoing and must exist as an entity separate from the allegedly illegal activity that it engages in. 18 USCA § 1961(4). See RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT. 3. One or more persons or organizations that have related activities, unified operation or common control, and a common business purpose .o Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employee who is employed by an enterprise is entitled to minimum-wage and overtime benefits. 29 USCA §§ 201 et seq.

governmental enterprise- See ENTERPRISE.

governmental function A government agency's conduct that is expressly or impliedly mandated or authorized by constitution, statute, or other law and that is carried out for the benefit of the general public. Generally, a governmental entity is immune from tort liability for governmental acts. - Also termed governmental act; governmental activity. See PUBLICFUNCTION TEST. Cf. PROPRIETARY FUNCTION. "[A]ctivities of police or firefighters, though tortious, are usually considered governmental in the sense that they involve the kind of power expected of the government, even if its exercise in the specific case is wrongful. The city is immune as to such activities for this reason. On the other hand, if the city operates a local electric or water company for which fees are charged, this looks very much like private enterprise and is usually considered proprio etary.... The difficult distinction between governmental and proprietary functions is even more troubling where the city's conduct combines both kinds of function at once. For example, operation of a sanitary sewer may be deemed governmental, but operation of a storm sewer may be deemed proprietary." Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 131, at 1053-54 (W. Page Keeton ed., 5th ed. 1984).

governmental immunity See sovereign immunity under IMMUNITY (1).

governmental instrumentality A constitutionally or legislatively created agency that is immune from certain kinds of liability, as for taxes or punitive damages.

governmental plan Under ERISA, an employee benefit plan established or maintained for its employees by the federal government, state or local governments, or their agencies or instrumentalities. 29 USC A § 1002(32). If a collective-bargaining agreement between a labor union and a governmental entity includes a benefit plan, that plan may be a governmental plan if it is funded by and covers only employees of the governmental entity. - Also termed governmental employee benefit plan; government plan.

governmental plan- See EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN.

governmental secret See STATE SECRET.

governmental trust See TRUST.

governmental unit A subdivision, agency, department, county, parish, municipality, or other unit of the government of a countrv or a state. The term includes an organization with a'separate corporate existence only if the organization can legally issue debt obligations on which interest is exempt from income taxation under national law. UCC § 9-102(a)(45).

governmental-function theory A principle by which private conduct is characterized as state action, esp. for due-process and equalprotection purposes, when a private party is exercising a public function. Under this theory, for example, a political party (which is a private entity) cannot exclude voters from primary elections on the basis of race. Also termed public-function rationale.

governmental-interest-analysis technique See INTEREST-ANALYSIS TECH:-IIQUE.

government-annuity society One of several organizations formed in England to enable the working class to provide for themselves by purchasing, on advantageous terms, a government annuity for life or for a term of years.

government-contractor defense An affirmative defense that immunizes a government contractor from civil liability under state law when the contractor complies with government specifications. Immunization is extended when two conditions are satisfied: (1) the supplier warned the government about any dangers presented by the goods about which the supplier had knowledge but the government did not, and (2) the government itself is immune from liability under the Feres doctrine. Essentially, this federal common-law defense, which has been applied in cases of negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty, extends sovereign immunity over the contractor. The leading case on this defense is Boyle v. United Techs. Corp., 487 U.S. 500, 108 S.Ct. 2510 (1988). Also termed Boyle defense; government-contract defense; governmentcontract-specification defense; (in military context) military-contractor defense. See FERES DOCTRINE. Cf. GOVERNMENT-AGENCY DEFENSE.

government-contract-specification defense See GOVERNMENT-COKTRACTOR DEFENSE.

government-controlled corporation See quasi-governmental agency under AGENCY (3).

government-in-exile An individual or group of individuals residing in a foreign country while (1) claiming supreme authority over a country, (2) being recognized by the hosting country as the supreme authority over that other country, and (3) being organized to perform and actually performing some acts of state on behalf of the home country.

government-securities interdealer broker A broker engaged exclusively in the business of transacting in government securities for parties who are themselves government brokers or dealers.

government-securities interdealer broker- See BROKER.

government-survey system A land-description method that divides the United States into checks or tracts of ground, which are further broken down into smaller descriptions, such as metes and bounds.

governor The chief executive official of a U.S. state . Governors are elected and usu. serve a two- or fouryear term.

GPARM See graduated-payment adjustable-rate mortgage under MORTGAGE.