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primary amendment An amendment that directly amends the main motion. Cf. secondary amendment.

primary amendment See AMENDMENT (3).

primary assumption of the risk See ASSUMPTION OF THE RISK.

primary assumption of the risk A legal conclusion that the defendant was not negligent because the defendant either did not owe a duty of care to the injured party or did not breach any duty owed. Courts decide questions of duty through policy judgments, which include the relative balance between risks and utilities. "Primary assumption of risk occurs when the plaintiff voluntarily participates in an activity involving certain inherent risks and encounters one of the inherent risks; the defense is a complete bar to recovery because there is no duty of care to protect another from the risks inherent in a voluntary activity." 4 Ann Taylor Schwing, California Affirmative Defenses 2d § 48:24, at 59 (1996). "Primary assumption of risk is sometimes viewed as a misnomer. This concept is frequently described as a no· duty rule because the plaintiff, by engaging in a known and potentially risky activity, has relieved the defendant of the duty of care normally owed to the plaintiff. Under the primary-assumption-of-risk/no·duty doctrine, 'there [would bel no liability because the defendant did not breach a duty of care to the plaintiff.' [Kenneth S. Abraham, The Forms and Functions of Tort Law 155 (1997).] Traditionally, the no-duty rule completely bars a plaintiff's recovery. Courts limit the use of primary assumption of risk in com parative negligence jurisdictions because of the harshness of this rule. Recently, some comparative-negligence jurisdictions have started to review primary assumption-of-risk claims within the framework of their comparative·fault system, refusing to automatically bar the plaintiff's entire recovery." Luke Ellis, Note, Talking About My Generation: Assumption of Risk and the Rights of Injured Concert Fans in the Twenty First Century, 80 Texas L. Rev. 607, 618 (2002).

primary authority Authority that issues directly from a law-making body; legislation and the reports of litigated cases.

primary authority See AUTHORITY (4).

primary beneficiary The person designated in a life-insurance policy to receive the proceeds when the insured dies.

primary beneficiary] See BENEFICIARY.

primary boycott See BOYCOTT.

primary boycott A boycott by union members who stop dealing with a former employer.

primary caregiver 1. The parent who has had the greatest responsibility for the daily care and rearing of a child. See TENDER-YEARS DOCTRINE; PRIMARY-CAREGIVER DOCTRINE. 2. The person (induding a nonparent) who has had the greatest responsibility for the daily care and rearing of a child. Also termed primary caretaker.

primary caretaker See PRIMARY CAREGIVER.

primary cause See proximate cause.

primary cause See proximate cause under CAUSE (1).

primary committee Bankruptcy. A group of creditors organized to help the debtor draw up a reorganization plan.

primary conveyance A conveyance that creates an estate. Examples of primary conveyances include feoffment, gift, grant, lease, exchange, and partition. - Also termed original conveyance. Cf. secondary conveyance. "Of conveyances by the common law, some may be called original, or primary conveyances; which are those by means whereof the benefit or estate is created or first arises: others are derivative or secondary; whereby the benefit or estate, originally created, is enlarged, restrained, transferred, or extinguished." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 309 (1766).

primary conveyance See CONVEYANCE.

primary devise See DEVISE.

primary devise A devise to the first person named as taker. For example, a devise of "B1ackacre to A, but if A does not survive me then to B" names A as the recipient ofthe primary devise and B as the recipient of the secondary or alternative devise.

primary domiciliary parent See PARENT.

primary domiciliary parent In a joint-custody arrangement, the parent who exercises primary physical custody. See joint custody under CUSTODY (2).

primary election See ELECTION (3).

primary election A preliminary election in which a political party's registered voters nominate the candidate who will run in the general election. - Often shortened to primary.

primary evidence See best evidence.

primary evidence See best evidence under EVIDENCE.

primary fact A fact that can be established by direct testimony and from which inferences are made leading to ultimate facts. See ultimate fact.

primary fact See FACT.

primary insurance See INSURANCE.

primary insurance Insurance that attaches immediately on the happening of a loss; insurance that is not contingent on the exhaustion of an underlying policy. Cf. excess insurance.

primary insured The individual or entity whose name appears first in the declarations of an insurance policy. Also termed first-named insured.

primary insured See INSURED.

primary insurer See INSURER.

primary insurer An insurer who is contractually committed to settling a claim up to the applicable policy limit before any other insurer becomes liable for any part of the same claim. See excess insurer.

primary jurisdiction See JURISDICTION.

primary lease See HEADLEASE.

primary liability See LIABILITY.

primary market See MARKET.

primary mortgage market See MORTGAGE MARKET.

primary obligation 1. An obligation that arises from the essential purpose of the transaction between the parties. Cf. accessory obligation (1). 2. A fundamental contractual term imposing a requirement on a contracting party from which other obligations may arise. Also termed principal obligation.

primary obligation See OBLIGATION.

primary offering See OFFERING.

primary offering An offering of newly issued securities.

primary officer See principal officer under OFFICER (1).

primary plea See primary allegation under ALLEGATION.

primary powers See PRIMARY POWERS.

primary powers The chief powers given by a principal to an agent to accomplish the agent s tasks. Cf. MEDIATE POWERS.

primary purpose or effect The main reason for or consequence of using a product, as a test for whether its sale amounts to contributory infringement. The Supreme Court rejected the test in a landmark copyright case, but four justices said that if the primary purpose or effect of the product s sale or use infringes the copyrights of others, its manufacturer could be enjoined from selling the product or required to pay a reasonable royalty to the copyright owners. Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417,457-500, 104 S.Ct. 774, 796-818 (1984) (Blackmun, J., dissenting). Cf. COMMERCIALLY SIGNIFICANT NONINFRINGING USE.

primary reserve ratio The ratio between a bank s required reserves (cash in vault plus deposits with Federal Reserve Banks) and its demand and time deposits.

primary reserve ratio See RESERVE RATIO.

primary residential responsibility Predominant overnight responsibility for a child.

primary residential responsibility See RESIDENTIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

primary right A right prescribed by the substantive law, such as a right not to be defamed or assaulted. The enforcement of a primary right is termed specific enforcement.

primary right See RIGHT.

primary term Oil & gas. The option period set by the habendum clause in an oil-and-gas lease during which the lessee has the right to search, develop, and produce from the property. The primary term should be long enough to allow the lessee to evaluate the property and make arrangements to drill. In practice, the primary term may extend for 24 hours or 25 years, depending on how much competition there is for leases in the area. See HABENDUM CLAUSE. Cf. SECONDARY TERM.

primary-caregiver doctrine The presumption that, in a custody dispute, the parent who is a child s main caregiver will be the child s custodian, assuming that he or she is a fit parent. This doctrine includes the quality and the quantity of care that a parent gives a child - but excludes supervisory care by others while the child is in the parent s custody. Under this doctrine, courts sometimes divide children into three age groups: those under the age of 6, those 6 to 14, and those 14 and older. For children under the age of 6, an absolute presumption exists in favor of the primary caretaker as custodian. For those 6 to 14, the trial court may hear the child s preference on the record but without the parents being present. For those 14 and older, the child may be allowed to choose which parent will be the custodian, assuming that both parents are fit. Also termed primary-caretaker doctrine; primary-caregiver presumption; primary-caretaker presumption; primary¬caregiver preference. Cf. MATERN AL- PREFERENCE PRESUMPTION; TENDER-YEARS DOCTRINE.

primary-duty doctrine Maritime law. The principle that a seaman cannot recover damages if the injury arose from an unseaworthy condition created by the seaman s breach of duty.

primaryjurisdiction The power of an agency to decide an issue in the first instance when a court, having concurrent jurisdiction with the agency, determines that it would be more pragmatic for the agency to handle the case initially. See PRIMARY-JURISDICTION DOCTRINE. The doctrine of primary jurisdiction typically is raised, not in a proceeding before an administrative agency, but in litigation before a court. Agency and court jurisdiction to resolve disputes and issues frequently overlap. Primary jurisdiction is a concept used by courts to allocate initial decision-making responsibility between agencies and courts where such overlaps exist... , A holding that an agency has primary jurisdiction to resolve an issue raised in ajudicial proceeding has two important consequences. First, it transfers some of the power to resolve that issue to the agency.... Second, if the issues referred to the agency as within its primary jurisdiction are critical to judicial resolution of the underlying dispute, the court cannot proceed with the trial of the case until the agency has resolved those issues and the agency"s decision has been either affirmed or reversed by a reviewing court." Richard j. Pierce Jr. et aI., Administrative Law Process 206, 20708 (3d ed. 1999).

primary-jurisdiction doctrine A judicial doctrine whereby a court tends to favor allowing an agency an initial opportunity to decide an issue in a case in which the court and the agency have concurrent jurisdiction. See primary jurisdiction under JURISDICTION.

primary-line competition See horizontal competition under COMPETITION.

primary-line injury Antitrust. Under the price-discrimination provisions of the Robinson-Patman Act, the practice of charging below-cost, predatory prices in an attempt to eliminate the seller s competition in the market. 15 USCA § 13(a). A primary-line injury, which hinders or seeks to hinder competition among the seller s competitors, is distinguishable from a secndary-line injury, which refers to discriminatory pricing that hinders or seeks to hinder competition among the seller s customers, by favoring one customer over another in the prices the seller charges. Cf. SECONDARY-LINE INJURY. liggett contends that Brown & Williamson s discriminatory volume rebates to wholesalers threatened substantial competitive injury by furthering a predatory pricing scheme designed to purge competition from the economy segment of the cigarette market. This type of injury, which harms direct competitors of the discriminating seller, is known as a primary-line injury." Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 509 u.s. 209, 220, 113 S.Ct. 2578, 2586 (1993).

primary-litle competition See horizontal competition.

primate (pri-mit). A chief ecclesiastic; an archbishop or bishop having jurisdiction over other bishops within a province.

prime See prime rate under INTEREST RATE.

prime To take priority over <Watson s preferred mortgage primed Moriarty s lien>.

prime contractor See general contractor under CONTRACTOR.

prime cost The true price paid for goods on a bona fide purchase.

prime cost See COST (1).

prime lending rate See prime rate under INTEREST RATE.

prime maker See MAKER.

prime minister (often cap.) The chief executive of a parliamentary government; the head of a cabinet. - Abbr. PM.

prime rate See INTEREST RATE.

prime rate The interest rate that a commercial bank holds out as its lowest rate for a short-term loan to its most creditworthy borrowers, usu.large corporations. This rate, which can vary slightly from bank to bank, often dictates other interest rates for various personal and commercial loans. Often shortened to prime. - Also termed prime lending rate.

prime serjeant See premier serjeant under SERJEANTAT-LAW.

prime tenant A commercial or professional tenant with an established reputation that leases substantial, and usu. the most preferred. space in a commercial development. A prime tenant is important in securing construction financing and in attracting other desirable tenants.

prime tenant See TENANT.

primer (prim-ar or pri-mar). [Law French] First; primary <primer seisin>.

primer election A first choice; esp., the eldest coparcener s pick of land on division of the estate. See ELECTION.

primer fine (prim-ar or pri-mar fin). [Latin]. A fee payable to the Crown on the suing out of a writ of praecipe to begin a conveyance by fine. See FINE (1). Also termed praefine.

primer seisin (prim-ar or pri-mar see-zin). A right of the Crown to receive, from the heir of a tenant who died in possession of a knights fee, one years profits of the inherited estate (or half a years profits if the estate was in reversion); FIRST FRUITS (1).

primer seisin See SEISIN.

primitiae (pri-mish-ee-ee). [fro Latin primus "first"] See FIRST FRl7ITS (2). - primitial (pri-mish-al), adj.

primitive obligation The obligation designated as the first to be satisfied.

primitive obligation See OBLIGATION.

primo fronte (pri-moh fron-tee). [Latin]. At first Sight.

primo loco (pri-moh loh-koh). [Latin]. In the first place.

primo venienti (pri-moh ven-ee-en-ti). [Latin] To the one first coming. This refers to the former practice by estate executors of paying debts as they were presented without regard to whether the estate had enough assets to pay all the debts.

primogenitnreship See PRIMOGENITURE (2).

primogeniture (pri-ma-jen-a-char). 1. The state of being the firstborn child among siblings. 2. The common-law right of the firstborn son to inherit his ancestor s estate, usu. to the exclusion of younger siblings. Also termed (in sense 2) primogenitureship. See BOROUGH ENGLISH. "If by primogeniture we only mean that the male issue shall be admitted before the female, and that, when there are two or more males in equal degrees, the eldest only shall inherit, but the females all together [Blackstone s definitionl. then ancient records may indeed contain but scant references. But primogeniture embraces all the cases of single inheritance, and may indeed be defined as the prerogative enjoyed by an eldest son or occasionally an eldest daughter, through law or custom, to succeed to their ancestor s inheritance in preference to younger children. Nay, we might even make it more comprehensive, extending it to all cases of single succession depending upon priority in birth." Radhabinod Pal, The History of the Law of Primogeniture 11 (1929). "We might note here, parenthetically, that the English preference for single-file male descent that is, the system of descent known as primogeniture was never cordially received in this country. Our statutes of descent and distribution uniformly provide for sons and daughters sharing the inheritance equally. Although this seems a fairer method than primogeniture, which was finally abolished in Britain with the 1925 reforms. the descent of property to an ever-expanding group of heirs can seriously complicate the clearing of old titles." Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell, Preface to Estates in Land and Future Interests 9 (2d ed 1984).

primum decretum (pri-mam di-kree-tam). [Latin "first decree"] 1. Eccles. law. A preliminary decree granted in favor of the plaintiff on the nonappearance of a defendant. 2. Maritime law. A provisional decree.

princeps (prin-seps), n. [Latin] Roman law. A leading person, esp. the emperor.

principal adj. Chief; primary; most important.

principal 1. One who authorizes another to act on his or her behalf as an agent. Cf. AGENT (2).

principal action See main demand under DEMAND (1).

principal challenge A for-cause challenge that arises when facts and circumstances support a conclusive presumption of a juror's bias, resulting in automatic disqualification. See challenge for cause.3. Military law. An objection to a member of the court serving in a court -martial case. A military judge can be challenged only for cause.

principal challenge See CHALLENGE (2).

principal contract A contract giving rise to an accessory contract, as an agreement from which a secured obligation originates. Cf. accessory contract.

principal contract See CONTRACT.

principal covenant See COVENANT (1).

principal covenant A covenant that relates directly to the principal matter of an agreement. Cf. auxiliary covenant.

principal creditor A creditor whose claim or demand greatly exceeds the claims of other creditors.