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phylacist (fi-la-sist), n. Archaic. A jailer. Also spelled phylasist.

physical child endangerment Reckless behavior toward a child that has caused or could cause serious physical injury. Sometimes shortened to physical endangerment.

physical child endangerment See CHILD ENDANGERMENT.

physical cruelty See CRUELTY.

physical cruelty As a ground for divorce, actual personal violence committed by one spouse against the other.

physical custody See PHYSICAL CUSTODY (1).

physical custody 1. Custody of a person (such as an arrestee) whose freedom is directly controlled and limited. 2. Family law. The right to have the child live with the person awarded custody by the court. Also termed residential custody.3. Possession of a child during visitation.

physical custody- 1. PHYSICAL CUSTODY (2). 2. PHYSICAL CUSTODY (3).

physical diagnosis A diagnosis from physical examination only.

physical diagnosis See DIAGNOSIS.

physical disability An incapacity caused by a physical defect or infirmity, or by bodily imperfection or mental weakness.

physical disability See DISABILITY (2).

physical endangerment See physical child endangerment under CHILD ENDANGERMENT.

physical evidence See real evidence (1) under EVIDENCE.

physical fact See FACT.

physical force See actual force under FORCE.

physical force See actual force.

physical harm Any physical injury or impairment of land, chattels, or the human body.

physical harm See HARM.

physical hazard A hazard that has its inception in the material world, such as location, structure, occupancy, exposure, and the like. 3. An unlawful dice game in which the chances of winning are complicated by arbitrary rules.

physical hazard See HAZARD (2).

physical impossibility See factual impossibility under IMPOSSIBILITY.

physical incapacity See IMPOTENCE.

physical injury See bodily injury.

physical injury See bodily injury under INJURY.

physical inventory accounting method A method of counting a company's goods at the close of an accounting period.

physical necessity See NECESSITY.

physical neglect See NEGLECT.

physical shock See SHOCK.

physical shock Shock caused by agitation of the physical senses, as from a sudden violent blow, impact, collision, or concussion.

physical taking A physical appropriation of an owners property by an entity clothed with eminent-domain authority. - Also termed actual taking.

physical taking See TAKING (2).

physicalfact A fact having a physical existence, such as a fingerprint left at a crime scene.

physical-facts rule The principle that oral testimony may be disregarded when it is inconsistent or irreconcilable with the physical evidence in the case. Also termed doctrine of incontrovertible physical facts; incontrovertible-physical-facts doctrine.

physical-impact rule See IMPACT RULE.

physical-inventory accounting method See ACCOUNTINGMETHOD.

physical-proximity test A common-law test for the crime of attempt, focusing on how much more the defendant would have needed to do to complete the offense. See ATTEMPT (2).

physician s directive See ADVANCE DIRECTIVE (2).

physician-assisted suicide See assisted suicide.

physician-assisted suicide See assisted suicide under SUICIDE.

physician-client privilege See doctor-patient privilege under PRIVILEGE (3).

physician-client privilege See doctor-patient privilege.

physician-patient privilege See doctor-patient privilege under PRIVILEGE (3).

pI abbr. PLACITUM (8).

pia fraus (pi-a fraws). [Latin "pious fraud"] A subterfuge or evasion considered morally justifiable; esp., evasion or disregard of the law in the interests of a religious institution, such as the church s circumventing the mortmain statutes.

piacle (pi-a-kal), n. Archaic. A serious crime.

picaroon (pik-a-roon). A robber or plunderer.

pickery Scots law. Petty theft.

picketing The demonstration by one or more persons outside a business or organization to protest the entity s activities or policies and to pressure the entity to meet the protesters demands; esp. an employees demonstration aimed at publicizing a labor dispute and influencing the public to withhold business from the employer. Picketing is usu. considered a form of fair persuasion of third persons if access to the place of business is not materially obstructed. Cf. BOYCOTT; STRIKE.

pickpocket A thief who steals money or property from the person of another, usu. by stealth but sometimes by physical diversion such as bumping into or pushing the victim.

pickpocketing See larceny from the person under LARCENY.

pickup tax A state death tax levied in an amount equal to the federal death-tax credit. Also termed sponge tax; slack tax.

pickup tax. See TAX.

pictorial, graphic, and sculptural work See WORK (2).

PIE ratio abbr. PRICE-EARNINGS RATIO.

piecemeal zoning See partial zoning under ZONING.

piecework Work done or paid for by the piece or job.

piepowder court (pi-pow-dar). In medieval England, a court having jurisdiction over a fair or market and preSided over by the organizer s steward. The name is a corruption of two French words (pied and poudre) meaning" dusty feet. Also termed court of piepowder. Also spelled piepoudre; piedpoudre; pipowder; py-powder.

piepowder court See PIEPOWDER COURT.

piercing the corporate veil The judicial act of imposing personal liability on otherwise immune corporate officers, directors, or shareholders for the corporation s wrongful acts. Also termed disregarding the corporate entity; veil-piercing. See CORPORATE VEIL. [C]ourts sometimes apply common law principles to pierce the corporate veil and hold shareholders personally liable for corporate debts or obligations. Unfortunately, despite the enormous volume of litigation in this area, the case law fails to articulate any sensible rationale or policy that explains when corporate existence should be disre garded. Indeed, courts are remarkably prone to rely on labels or characterizations of relationships (such as alter ego, instrumentality, or sham) and the decisions offer little in the way of predictability or rational explanation of why enumerated factors should be decisive. Barry R. Furrow et aI. Health Law § 5-4, at 182 (2d ed. 2000).

Pierringer release A release that allows a defendant in a negligence suit to settle with the plaintiff for a share of the damages and insulates the settling defendant against contribution claims by non settling defendants. This type of release was first described in Pierringer v. Hoger, 124 N.W.2d 106, 110-11 (Wis. 1963). It is used in some jurisdictions that do not have contribution statutes.Also spelled (incorrectly) Perringer release.

Pierringer release See RHEASE (2).

pigeon drop See JAMAICAN SWITCH.

piggyback registration rights See REGISTRATION RIGHTS.

piggyback registration rights A securities holder s option to require the issuing company to include all or part of the holder s securities in a registration of other securities of the same class when a third party, such as a lender, requests the registration.

pigneratio See PIGNORATIO (1).

pigneratitia actio See ACTIO.

pignorate (pig-na-rayt), 1. To give over as a pledge; to pawn. 2. To take in pawn. Cf. OPPI¬GNORATE. pignorative, adj.

pignoratio (pig-na-ray-shee-oh), n. [Latin]. 1. Roman law. The real contract (pignus) under which the a debtor handed something over to a creditor as security; the act of depositing as a pledge. Also spelled pigneratio. 2. The impounding of another s cattle (or other animals) that have damaged property until the cattle s owner pays for the damage. Pi. pignorationes (pig-na¬ray -shee-oh -neez).

pignoratitia actio (pig-na)-ra-tish-ee-a ak-shee-oh). [Latin] Roman law. An action founded on a pledge, either by the debtor (an action directa) or by a creditor (an action contraria). Cf. cautio pignoratitia under CAUTIO.

pignorative contract (pig-na-ray-tiv). Civil law. A contract in which the seller of real property, instead of relinquishing possession of the property that is theoretically sold, gives the buyer a lien; a contract of pledge, hypothecation, or mortgage of realty.

pignorative contract See CONTRACT.

pignoris capio (pig-na-ris kap-ee-oh). [Latin "taking a pledge"] Roman law. A form of extrajudicial execution by which a creditor took a pledge from a debtor s property.

pignus (pig-nas), n. [Latin "pledge"] 1. Roman & civil law. (ital.) A bailment in which goods are delivered to secure the payment of a debt or performance of an engagement, accompanied by a power of sale in case of default. This type of bailment is for the benefit of both parties. Also termed pawn; pledge. See PIGNORATIO. 2. A lien. Pi. pignora or pignera.

pignus judiciale (pig-nas joo-dish-ee-ay-lee). [Latin] Civil law. The lien that a judgment creditor has on the property of the judgment debtor .

pignus legale (pig-nas la-gay-lee). [Latin] Civil/aw. A lien arising by operation of law, such as a landlord s lien on the tenant s property.

pignus praetorium (pig-nas pri-tor-ee-am). [Latin "a magisterial pledge"] Roman law. A pledge given to a creditor by order of a magistrate.

PIH abbr. OFFICE OF PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING.

pilferage (pil-far-ij), 1. The act or an instance of stealing. 2. The item or items stolen. See LARCENY; THEFT. pilfer (pil-far), vb.

pill See POISON PILL.

pillage (pil-ij), 1. The forcible seizure of another s property, esp. in war; esp., the wartime plundering of a city or territory. 2. The property so seized or plundered; BOOTY. - Also termed plunder. - pillage, vb.

pillory (pil-a-ree), A punishment instrument consisting of a wooden framework with holes through which an offender s head and hands are placed and secured. A person put in a pillory usu. had to stand rather than sit (as with the stocks). Cf. STOCKS.

pilot 1. A person in control of an airplane. 2. Maritime law. A person in control of a vessel.

pilotage (pi-la-tij). 1. The navigating of vessels; the business of navigating vessels. 2. Compensation that a pilot receives for navigating a vessel, esp. into and out of harbor or through a channel or passage.

pimp A person who solicits customers for a prostitute, usu. in return for a share of the prostitute s earnings. See PANDERING (1). Cf, BAWD. pimp, vb. - pimping, n.

pincite See pinpoint citation under CITATION (3).

pink sheet A daily publication listing over-the-counter stocks, their market-makers, and their prices. Printed on pink paper, pink sheets are published by the National Quotation Bureau, a private company. Also termed National Daily Quotation Service.

pink slip A notice of employment termination given to an employee by an employer.

pinkerton A private detective or security guard, usu. one who is armed. The name comes from the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the first private detective agency in the United States, established in 1852.

Pinkerton rule The doctrine imposing liability on a conspirator for all offenses committed in furtherance of the conspiracy, even if those offenses are actually performed by coconspirators. Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180 (1946).

pinpoint citation The page on which a quotation or relevant passage appears, as opposed to the page on which a case or article begins . For example, the number 217 is the pinpoint citation in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186,217 (1962). Also termed jump citation; dictum page; pineite. 4. A reference to another document in support of an argument, as in a patent prosecution in which a party trying to defeat a claim of patentability refers to a previous patent or a publication to show that the invention lacks novelty or nonobviousness. See REFERENCE (4).

pinpoint citation See CITATION (3).

PINS abbr. PERSON IN NEED OF SUPERVISION.

pioneer drug The first drug that contains a particular active ingredient that is approved by the FDA for a specified use.

pioneer drug See DRUG.

pioneer patent A patent covering a function or a major technological advance never before performed, a wholly novel device, or subject matter of such novelty and importance as to mark a distinct step in the progress of the art, as distinguished from a mere improvement or perfection of what had gone before. Under U.S. law, the claims of a pioneer patent are entitled to broader interpretation and to be given a broader range ofequivalents. A pioneer patent is usu. the first one documented by a patent-tracking service, although it may not be the first patent published by a national registry, such as the PTa. Cf. improvement patent. To what liberality of construction these claims are entitled depends to a certain extent upon the character of the inven. tion, and whether it is what is termed on ordinary parlance a pioneer. This word, although used somewhat loosely, is commonly understood to denote a patent covering a function never before performed, a wholly novel device, or one of such novelty and importance as to mark a distinct step in the progress of the art, distinguished from a mere improvement or perfection of what had gone before West. inghouse v. Boyden Power Brake Co., 170 U.S. 537,561-62, 18 S.O. 707, 718 (1898).

pioneer patent See PATENT (3).

pious gift See charitable gift.

pious gift See charitable gift under GIFT.

pious use See USE (1).