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landlord"s lien See LIEN.

landlord"s warrant See WARRANT (1).

landlord-and-tenant relationship See LANDI,ORD-TENANT RELATIONSHIP.

landlord's hypothec The lessor's right of security for rent in articles, furniture, and equipment (other than tools of the tenant's trade) that the tenant brought onto the leased premises. Unlike the English remedy of distress, the right of security is effected only by the lessor's application to the court for a decree of sequestration. Until 1880, a landlord could assert the lien against a tenant's crops and stock as well as personal property. See SEQUESTRATION FOR RENT.

landlord-tenant relationship The legal relationship between the lessor and lessee of real estate. The relationship is contractual, created by a lease (or agreement for lease) for a term of years, from year to year, for life, or at will, and exists when one person occupies the premises of another with the lessor"s permission or consent, subordinated to the lessor"s title or rights. There must be a landlord"s reversion, a tenant"s estate, transfer of possession and control of the premises, and (generally) an express or implied contract. Also termed landlord-and-tenant relationship. See LEASE.

landman Oil & gas. A person responsible for acquiring oil and gas leases, negotiating arrangements for development of leases, and managing leased properties. In this field, both men and women are commonly known as landmen.

landmark (bef. 12c). 1. A feature of land (such as a natural object, or a monument or marker) that demarcates the boundary of the land <according to the 1891 survey, the crooked oak tree is the correct landmark at the property"s northeast corner>. 2. A historically significant building or site <the schoolhouse built in 1898 is the county"s most famous landmark>. See MONUMENT.

landmark decision A judicial decision that significantly changes existing law. Examples are Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686 (1954) (holding that segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause), and Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928) (establishing that a defendant"s duty in a negligence action is limited to plaintiffs within the apparent zone ofdanger that is, plaintiffs to whom damage could be reasonably foreseen). Also termed landmark case. Cf. LEADING CASE.

landowner One who owns land.

landowner"s royalty See ROYALTY (2).

landowners royalty A share of production or revenues provided for the lessor in the royalty clause of the oiland-gas lease and paid at the well free of any costs of production. Traditionally, except in California, the landowners royalty has been 1/8 of gross production for oil and 1/8 ofthe proceeds received from the sale of gas. But today the size is often negotiated. Also termed leaseholder royalty.

land-poor adj. (Of a person) owning a substantial amount of unprofitable or encumbered land, but lacking the money to improve or maintain the land or to pay the charges due on it.

land-preservation agreement See land-conservation easement under EASEMENT.

landreeve A person charged with (1) overseeing certain parts of a farm or estate, (2) attending to the timber, fences, gates, buildings, private roads, and watercourses, (3) stocking the commons, (4) watching for encroachments of all kinds, (5) preventing and detecting waste and spoliation by tenants and others, and (6) reporting on findings to the manager or land steward.

Landrum-Griffin Act A federal law, originally enacted in 1959 as the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, designed to (1) curb corruption in union leadership and undemocratic conduct in internal union affairs, (2) outlaw certain types of secondary boycotts, and (3) prevent so-called hot-cargo provisions in collective-bargaining agreements. See HOT CARGO.

lands 1. At common law, property less extensive than either tenements or hereditaments. 2. By statute in some states, land including tenements and hereditaments. See HEREDITAMENTS; TENEMENT.

lands, tenements, and hereditaments Real property. The term was traditionally used in wills, deeds, and other instruments.

land-tenant See TERRE-TENANT.

land-use planning The deliberate, systematic development of real estate through methods such as zoning, environmental-impact studies, and the like. Also spelled landuse planning. Also termed urban planning.

land-use regulation An ordinance or other legislative enactment governing the development or use of real estate. Also spelled landuse regulation. "Public regulation of the use and development of land comes in a variety of forms which generally focus on four aspects of land use: (1) the type of use, such as whether it will be used for agricultural, commercial, industrial, or residential purposes; (2) the density of use, manifested in concerns over the height, width, bulk, or environmental impact of the physical structures on the land; (3) the aesthetic impact of the use, which may include the design and placement of structures on the land; and (4) the effect of the particular use of the land on the cultural and social values of the community, illustrated by community conflicts over adult entertainment, housing for service-dependent groups such as low-income families and developmentally disabled persons, and whether the term family should be defined in land use regulations to include persons who are not related by blood or marriage." Peter W. Salsich Jr., Land Use Regulation 1 (1991).

Langdell system See CASEBOOK METHOD.

langeman (lan-ja-man). A lord of a manor. PI. langemanni (lan-ja-man-i).

language 1. Any organized means of conveying or communicating ideas, esp. by human speech, written characters, or sign language <what language did they speak?>. 2. The letter or grammatical import of a document or instrument, as distinguished from its spirit <the language of the statute>.

languidus (lang-gwi-das). [Law Latin "sick"]. At common law, a return of process made by the sheriff when a defendant whom the sheriff had taken into custody was too sick to be removed.

Lanham Act (lan-am). A federal trademark statute, enacted in 1946, that provides for a national system of trademark registration and protects the owner of a federally registered mark against the use of similar marks if any confusion might result or if the strength ofa strong mark would be diluted. The Lanham Act"s scope is independent of and concurrent with state common law. 15 USCA §§ 1051 et seq. Also termed Federal Trademark Act; Trademark Act of 1946.

lapidation (lap-a-day-shan). An execution by stoning a person to death. lapidate (lap-a-dayt), vb.

lappage (lap-ij). Interference; lap and overlap; conflict. Lappage applies when two different owners claim under deeds or grants that, in part, cover the same land.

lapping An embezzlement technique by which an employee takes funds from one customer"s accounts receivable and covers it by using a second customer"s payment to pay the first account, then a third customer"s payment to pay the second account, and so on.

lapse 1. The termination of a right or privilege because ofa failure to exercise it within some time limit or because a contingency has occurred or not occurred. 2. Wills & estates. The failure of a testamentary gift, esp. when the beneficiary dies before the testator. See ANTILAPSE STATUTE. Cf. ADEMPTION.

lapse 1. (Of an estate or right) to pass away or revert to someone else because conditions have not been fulfilled or because a person entitled to possession has failed in some duty. See lapsed policy under INSURANCE POLICY. 2. (Of a devise, grant, etc.) to become void.

lapse patent A land patent substituting for an earlier patent to the same land that lapsed because the previous patentee did not claim it. 3. The right to exclude others from making, using, marketing, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention for a specified period (20 years from the date of filing), granted by the federal government to the inventor if the device or process is novel, useful, and nonobvious. 35 USCA §§ 101-103. The holding of a patent alone does not by itself grant any right to make, use, or sell anything if that activity would infringe another blocking patent. Also termed patent right; patent grant. The franchise which the patent grants consists altogether in the right to exclude everyone from making, using or vending the patented article, without the permission of the patentee. This is all he obtains by the patent." Bloomer v. McQuewan, 55 U.S. 539, 549 (1852). What, exactly, is a patent and how does it operate to foster the progress of the useful arts. In its simplest terms a patent is an agreement between an inventor and the publiC, represented by the federal government: in return for a full public disclosure of the invention the inventor is granted the right for a fixed period of time to exclude others from making, usi ng, or selling the defined invention in the United States. It is a limited monopoly, designed not primarily to reward the inventor (this mayor may not follow), but to encourage a public disclosure of inventions so that after the monopoly expires, the public is free to take unrestricted advantage of the invention. Earl W. Kintner & Jack l. Lahr, An Intellectual Property Law Primer 7-11 (2ded.1982).

lapse patent See PATENT (2).

lapse patent A land patent substituting for an earlier patent to the same land that lapsed because the previous patentee did not claim it. 3. The right to exclude others from making, using, marketing, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention for a specified period (20 years from the date of filing), granted by the federal government to the inventor if the device or process is novel, useful, and nonobvious. 35 USCA §§ 101-103. The holding of a patent alone does not by itself grant any right to make, use, or sell anything if that activity would infringe another blocking patent. Also termed patent right; patent grant. The franchise which the patent grants consists altogether in the right to exclude everyone from making, using or vending the patented article, without the permission of the patentee. This is all he obtains by the patent. Bloomer v. McQuewan, 55 U.S. 539, 549 (1852). What, exactly, is a patent and how does it operate to foster the progress of the useful arts. In its simplest terms a patent is an agreement between an inventor and the publiC, represented by the federal government: in return for a full public disclosure of the invention the inventor is granted the right for a fixed period of time to exclude others from making, usi ng, or selling the defined invention in the United States. It is a limited monopoly, designed not primarily to reward the inventor (this mayor may not follow), but to encourage a public disclosure of inventions so that after the monopoly expires, the public is free to take unrestricted advantage of the invention. Earl W. Kintner & Jack l. Lahr, An Intellectual Property Law Primer 7-11 (2ded.1982).

lapse statute See ANTILAPSE STATUTE.

lapsed devise See DEVISE.

lapsed devise A devise that fails because the testator outlives the named recipient. Also termed failed devise;failed gift.

lapsed legacy See LEGACY.

lapsed policy See INSURANCE POLICY.

lapsed policy 1. An insurance policy on which there has been a default in premium payments. 2. An insurance policy that, because of statutory provisions, remains in force after a default in premium payments. Statutes normally provide a 30- or 31-day grace period after nonpayment of premiums.

lapsus bonis (lap-sas boh-nis). [Latin]. Scots law. Reduced in worldly circumstances. The phrase appeared in reference to a person who was having temporary financial difficulties.

larcenable (lahr-sa-na-bal), adj. Subject to larceny <because it cannot be carried away, real estate is not larcenable>.

larcenist One who commits larceny. See LARCENY.

larcenous (lahr-sa-nas), adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characterized by larceny <a larcenous taking>. 2. (Of a person) contemplating or tainted with larceny; thievish <a larcenous purpose>.

larcenous intent See INTENT (1).

larcenous intent A state of mind existing when a person (1) knowingly takes away the goods ofanother without any claim or pretense of a right to do so, and (2) intends to permanently deprive the owner of them or to convert the goods to personal use. See LARCENY.

larceny (lahr-sa-nee). The unlawful taking and carrying away of someone else"s personal property with the intent to deprive the possessor of it permanently. Common-law larceny has been broadened by some statutes to include embezzlement and false pretenses, all three of which are often subsumed under the statutory crime of "theft. Cf. ROBBERY. "The criminal offence of larceny or theft in the Common Law was intimately connected with the civil wrong of trespass. "Where there has been no trespass," said Lord Coleridge, "there can at law common be no larceny." Larceny. in other words, is merely a particular kind of trespass to goods which, by virtue of the trespasser"s intent, is converted into a crime. Trespass is a wrong, not to ownership but to possession, and theft, therefore, is not the violation of a person"s right to ownership, but the infringement of his possession, accompanied with a particular criminal intent." 4 Stephen"s Commentaries on the Laws of Eng/and 72-73 (l. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950). "[T]he distinctions between larceny, embezzlement and false pretenses serve no useful purpose in the criminal law but are useless handicaps from the standpoint of the administration of criminal justice. One solution has been to combine all three in one section of the code under the name of "larceny. This has one disadvantage, however, because it frequently becomes necessary to add a modifier to make clear whether the reference is to common-law larceny or to statutory larceny." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 389 (3d ed. 1982).

larceny by a constructive trespass Larceny that occurs when a property owner mistakenly gives another person more property than is due, and the recipient knows about the error but does not disclose it before taking the excess property with the intent ofconverting it to his or her own use.

larceny by bailee Larceny committed by a bailee who converts the property to personal use or to the use of a third party.

larceny by extortion See theft by extortion under THEFT.

larceny by fraud and deception See larceny by trick.

larceny by trick Larceny in which the taker misleads the rightful possessor, by misrepresentation of fact, into giving up possession of (but not title to) the goods. Also termed larceny by trick and deception; larceny by trick and device; larceny by fraud and deception. Cf. FALSE PRETENSES; cheating by false pretenses under CHEATING.

larceny from the person Larceny in which the goods are taken directly from the person, but without violence or intimidation, the victim usu. being unaware of the taking. Pickpocketing is a typical example. This offense is similar to robbery except that violence or intimidation is not involved. Cf. ROBBERY.

larceny of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake See theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake under THEFT.

larger parcel A portion of land that is not a complete parcel, but is the greater part of a bigger tract, entitling the owner to damages both for the parcel taken and for its severance from the larger tract. To grant both kinds of damages, a court generally requires the owner to show unity of ownership, unity of use, and contiguity of the land. But some states and the federal courts do not require contiguity when there is strong evidence of unity of use. See ECONOMIC UNIT.

laron (lar-an). [Law French]. A thief.

Larrison rule (lar-a-san). The doctrine that a defendant may be entitled to a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence of false testi-mony by a government witness if the jury might have reached a different conclusion without the evidence and it unfairly surprised the defendant at trial. Larrison v. United States, 24 F.2d 82 (7th Cir. 1928). "The most usual rule in cases in which it is claimed that there was false testimony at the trial or that the witness has since recanted is the "Larrison rule," taking its name from the Seventh Circuit case in which it was announced. This is that three requirements must be met before a new trial will be granted on this ground: (a) [That the] the court is reasonably well satisfied that the testimony given by a material witness [was] false. (b) That without it the jury might have reached a different conclusion. (c) That the party seeking the new trial was taken by surprise when the false testimony was given and was unable to meet it for it did not know of its falsity until after the trial."" 3 Charles Alan Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure § 557.1, at 343 (2d ed. 1982) (quoting Larrison, 24 F.2d at 87-88).

lascivious (la-siv-ee-as), adj. (Of conduct). tending to excite lust; lewd; indecent; obscene.

lascivious cohabitation See illicit cohabitation.

lascivious cohabitation See illicit cohabitation under COHABITATION.

last 1. A burden. 2. A measure of weight used for bulky commodities.

last antecedent, rule of the See RULE OF THE LAST ANTECEDENT.

last heir The person either the loar of the man or the sovereign to whom lands come by escheat when there is no lawful heir.

last illness The sickness ending in the person"s death. Also termed last sickness.

last resort, court of See court of last resort under COURT.

last sickness See LAST ILLNESS.

last will and testament See last will under WILL.

last-dear-chance doctrine The rule that a plaintiff who was contributorily negligent may nonetheless recover from the defendant if the defendant had the last opportunity to prevent the harm but failed to use reasonable care to do so (in other words, if the defendant"s negligence is later in time than the plaintiff"s). This doctrine allows the plaintiff to rebut the contributory-negligence defense in the few jurisdictions where contributory negligence completely bars recovery. Also termed discovered-peril doctrine; humanitarian doctrine; last-opportunity doctrine; subsequent-negligence doctrine; supervening-negligence doctrine; doctrine of ultimate negligence; doctrine of discovered peril; doctrine of subsequent negligence.

last-employer rule The doctrine that liability for an occupational injury or illness falls to the employer who exposed the worker to the injurious substance just before the first onset of the disease or injury. Also termed last-injurious-exposure rule.

last-in, first-out An accounting method that assumes that the most recent purchases are sold or used first, matching current costs against current revenues. Abbr. LIFO. Cf. FIRST-IN, FIRST-OUT; NEXT-IN, FIRST-OUT.

last-injurious-exposure rule See LAST-EMPLOYER RULE.

last-in-time-marriage presumption A presumption that the most recently contracted marriage is valid. This presumption generally arises in a situation similar to this: A person, believing himself or herself to be divorced, remarries. This person dies, and the new spouse makes a claim for the decedent"s pension benefits. Then a former spouse, claiming that there was never a valid divorce, also claims the right to receive the benefits. The last-in-time-marriage presumption operates so that the former spouse bears the burden of proving that there was no valid divorce.

last-link doctrine The rule that an attorney need not divulge nonprivileged information if doing so would reveal information protected by the attorney-client privilege, particularly if the information would provide essential evidence to support indicting or convicting the client of a crime. This doctrine is often relied on as an exception to the rule that a client"s identity is not privileged. For example, ifdivulging the client"s name would supply the last link of evidence to indict or convict that client, the attorney need not disclose the client"s name.

last-opportunity doctrine See LAST-CLEAR-CHANCE DOCTRINE.

last-proximate-act test A commonlaw test for the crime of attempt, based on whether the defendant does the final act necessary to commit an offense (such as pulling the trigger of a gun, not merely aiming it). Most courts have rejected this test as being too lenient. See ATTEMPT (2).

last-straw doctrine The rule that the termination of employment may be justified by a series of incidents of poor performance, not one of which alone would justify termination, followed by a final incident showing a blatant disregard for the employer"s interests.

last-survivor insurance See last-survivor life insurance under LIFE INSURANCE.

last-survivor life insurance See LIFE INSURANCE.

last-treatment rule The doctrine that, for an ongoing physician-patient relationship, the statute of limitations on a medical-malpractice claim begins to run when the treatment stops or the relationship ends.

lata culpa (lay-ta kal-pa). [Latin "grave fault"]. Gross negligence amounting to bad faith (dolus). This phrase occurs most commonly in bailment law and in the law of the transport of persons. Also termed culpa lata. See gross negligence under NEGLIGENCE.

lata culpa See CULPA.

lata neglegentia (lay-ta neg-la-jen-shee-a). See NEGLEGENTIA.

latching A survey of a mine; an underground survey.

late adj. (bef. 12c) 1. Tardy; coming after an appointed or expected time <a late filing>. 2. (Of a person) only recently having died <the late Secretary of State>.

late charge An additional fee assessed on a debt when a payment is not received by the due date.

late charge See CHARGE.

latecomer See JUNIOR USER.

latens (lay-tenz), adj. [Latin]. Hidden or unapparent.

latent (lay-tant), adj. Concealed; dormant <a latent defect>. Cf. PATENT.

latent ambiguity An ambiguity that does not readily appear in the language of a document, but instead arises from a collateral matter when the document's terms are applied or executed <the contract contained a latent ambiguity: the shipping terms stated that the goods would arrive on the Peerless, but two ships have that name>. Also termed extrinsic ambiguity; equivocation; ambiguitas latens. "Instead of this word 'equivocation,' the phrase 'latent ambiguity' is sometimes used by courts, 'latent' because it does not develop until we seek to apply it and then discover the equivocation. This phrase was invented by Lord Bacon, in one of his maxims, and it long held sway; but it has only served to confuse discussion, and his other word for the same thing, 'equivocation,' is more suitable, and has come into general use since Professor Thayer's masterly analysis of the subject some fifty years ago: John H. Wigmore, A Students' Textbook of the Law of Evidence 529 (1935). ~ In fact, the usual term today is latent ambiguity. ~ Eds.

latent ambiguity See AMBIGUITY.

latent deed A deed kept in a strongbox or other secret place, usu. for 20 years or more.

latent deed See DEED.

latent defect See hidden defect.

latent defect See hidden defect under DEFECT.

latent equity See EQUITY.

latent equity (lay-tant). An equitable claim or right known only by the parties for and against whom it exists, or that has been concealed from one who is interested in the subject matter. Also termed secret equity.

latent intent See dormant legislative intent under LEGISLATIVE INTENT.

latent intention See dormant legislative intent under LEGISLATIVE INTENT.

lateral departure In the federal sentencing guidelines, a sentence allowing a defendant to avoid incarceration through community or home confinement. - Also termed lateral sentencing.

lateral departure See DEPART1lRE.