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quorum bonorum (kwor-am ba-nor-am). [Latin] Roman law. A praetorian interdict by which a person was allowed to take possession of an estate. See BONORUM POSSESSIO CONTRA TABULAS.

quorum call A roll call to determine whether a quorum is present. See QUORUM.

quorum call See CALL (1).

quorum nobis See CORAM NOBIS.

quorum usus consistit in abusu (kwor-am yoo-sas [or yoo-zas] kan-sis-tit in a-byoo-s[y]oo). [Law Latin) Scots law. The use of which consists in consuming them. The phrase appeared in reference to fungibles.

quorumless adj. Lacking a quorum. quorumlessness, n.

quot Scots law. Formerly, the 20th part of an estate s movables, calculated before the decedent s debts are paid, owed to the bishop of the diocese.

quot articuli tot libelli (kwot ahr-tik-ya-li taht li-bel-i). [Law Latin]. As many points of dispute as libels.

quot generationes tot gradus (kwot jen-a-ray-shee-oh¬neez taht gray-das). [Law Latin]. As many genera- i Hons as degrees (of relationship). The phrase appeared in reference to degrees of relationship.

quota 1. A proportional share assigned to a person or group; an allotment <the university s admission standards included a quota for in-state residents> 2. A quantitative restriction; a minimum or maximum number <Faldo met his sales quota for the month>.

quotatio 1. A statement or passage that is exactly reproduced, attributed, and cited. 2. The amount stated as a stock s or commodity s current price.

quotient verdict See VERDICT.

quousque (kwoh-as-kwee). [Latin]. As long as; how long; until; how far. This term was used in conveyances as a limitation.

quovis modo (kwoh-vis moh-doh). [Latin] In whatever manner.

quovis tempore (kwoh-vis tem-pa-ree). [Latin]. At whatever time.

R abbr. 1. REX. 2. REGINA. 3. RANGE. 4. Trademarks. When contained in a circle (and often superscripted), the symbol indicating that a trademark or servicemark is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. See registered trademark under TRADEMARK; SERVICEMARK.

R and D abbr. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

r.g abbr. REGULA GENERALIS.

R.S See revised statutes under STATUTE.

rabbi trust See TRUST (3).

rabbicular trust See TRUST (3).

rabbinical divorce See DIVORCE.

rabbinical divorce A divorce granted under the authority of a rabbi. This type of divorce affects the relationship of the parties under the tenets of Judaism. It affects particularly a Jewish woman's ability to remarry in accordance with Judaic law. In the United States, it is not generally a divorce recognized in civil courts. Also termed get.

race act See RACE STATUTE.

race of diligence Bankruptcy. A first -come, first-served disposition of assets.

race statute A recording act providing that the person who records first, regardless of notice, has priority. Only Louisiana and North Carolina have race statutes. Also termed pure race statute; race act. Cf. NOTICE STATUTE; RACE-NOTICE STATUTE.

race to the courthouse 1. Bankruptcy. The competition among creditors to make claims on assets, usu. motivated by the advantages to be gained by those who act first in preference to other creditors. Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, as well as various other provisions, is intended to prevent a race to the court-house and instead to promote equality among creditors. 2. Civil procedure. The competition between disputing parties, both of whom know that litigation is inevitable, to prepare and file a lawsuit in a favorable or convenient forum before the other side files in one that is less favorable or less convenient. A race to the courthouse may result after one party informally accuses another of breach of contract or intellectual-property infringement. When informal negotiations break down, both want to resolve the matter quickly, usu. to avoid further business disruption. While the accuser races to sue for breach of contract or infringement, the accused seeks a declaratory judgment that no breach or infringement has occurred. See ANTICIPATORY FILING.

race-notice statute A recording law providing that the person who records first, without notice of prior unrecorded claims, has priority. About half the states have race-notice statutes. Also termed race-notice act; notice-race statute. Cf. RACE STATUTE; NOTICE STATUTE.

rachat (rah-shah), n. [French] 1. Repurchase; redemption. 2. Ransom.

racheter (rah-sha-tay), vb. [French] 1. To repurchase or buy back. 2. To ransom.

racial discrimination Discrimination based on race.

racial profiling The law-enforcement practice of using race, national origin, or ethnicity as a salient basis for suspicion of criminal activity. Originally, the term referred to the practice of stopping a disproportionate number of male African-American drivers on the assumption that they had a heightened likelihood of being involved in criminal activity. After the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001, the term was frequently used in reference to searching and interrogating Middle Eastern men at airports. Also termed ethnic profiling;profiling. Cf. LINGUISTIC PROFILING.

rack An instrument of torture on which a person was slowly stretched, formerly used to interrogate someone charged with a crime.

rack rent Rent equal to or nearly equal to the full annual value of the property; excessively or unreasonably high rent. - rack-rent, vb. rack-renter, n.

racket 1. An organized criminal activity; esp., the extortion of money by threat or violence. 2. A dishonest or fraudulent scheme, business, or activity.

racketeer A person who engages in racketeering. racketeer, vb.

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act A law designed to attack organized criminal activity and preserve marketplace integrity by investigating, controlling, and prosecuting persons who participate or conspire to participate in racketeering. 18 USCA §§ 1961-1968. Enacted in 1970, the federal RICO statute applies only to activity involving interstate or foreign commerce. Since then, many states have adopted laws (sometimes called "little RICO" acts) based on the federal statute. The federal and most state RICO acts provide for enforcement not only by criminal prosecution but also by civil lawsuit, in which the plaintiff can sue for treble damages. - Abbr. RICO. "Before criminal or civil liability can attach under RICO, it must be shown that the two or more acts of racketeering alleged in the criminal indictment or civil complaint constitute a pattern of racketeering activity on the part of the culpable person. The statutory definition of pattern requires at least two predicate acts occurring within ten years of each other, with one of them occurring after October 15, 1970. More broadly put, the pattern of racketeering activity is a scheme of unlawful conduct with a nexus to both the culpable person and the enterprise." David R. McCormack, Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations § 1.04, at 1-20 (1998).

racketeering 1. A system of organized crime traditionally involving the extortion of money from businesses by intimidation, violence, or other illegal methods. 2. A pattern of illegal activity (such as bribery, extortion, fraud, and murder) carried out as part of an enterprise (such as a crime syndicate) that is owned or controlled by those engaged in the illegal activity. The modern sense (sense 2) derives from the federal RICO statute, which greatly broadened the term s original sense to include such activities as mail fraud, securities fraud, and the collection of illegal gambling debts. See 18 USCA §§ 1951-1960.

rack-rent See RACK-RENT.

radical lawyering See CAUSE LAWYERING.

raffle A form oflottery in which each participant buys one or more chances to win a prize.

raid 1. A sudden attack or invasion by law-enforcement officers, usu. to make an arrest or to search for evidence of a crime. 2. An attempt by a business or union to lure employees or members from a competitor. 3. An attempt by a group of speculators to cause a sudden fall in stock prices by concerted selling.

raider See CORPORATE RAIDER.

railroad 1. To transport by train. 2. To send (a measure) hastily through a legislature so that there is little time for consideration and debate. 3. To convict (a person) hastily, esp. by the use of false charges or insufficient evidence.

railroad company See railroad corporation under CORPORATION.

railroad company See railroad corporation under CORPORATION.

railroad corporation See CORPORATION.

railroad corporation A corporation organized to construct, maintain, and operate railroads. - Also termed railroad company. "A railroad company or corporation is usually regarded as a private corporation, and justly so, as contrasted with a strictly public corporation, such as a city, county, township, or the like governmental subdivision, but it is not a private corporation in the strict sense that an ordinary business corporation is, for it is charged with duties of a public nature that distinguish it from a purely and strictly private corporation." 1 Byron K. Elliott & William F. Elliott, A Treatise on the Law of Railroads § 3, at 7 (3d ed. 1921).

Railroad Retirement Board A three-member federal board that administers the program providing retirement, unemployment, and sickness benefits to retired railroad employees and their families. The Board was established bv the Railroad Retirement Act of 1934. -Abbr. RRB.

railroad-aid bond A bond issued by a public body to fund railway construction.

railroad-aid bond See BOND (3).

Railway Labor Act A 1926 federal law giving transportation employees the right to organize without management interference and establishing guidelines for the resolution oflabor disputes in the transportation industry. In 1934, the law was amended to include the airline industry and to establish the National Mediation Board. 45 USCA §§ 151-188. See NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD.

rainmaker A lawyer who generates a large amount of business for a law firm, usu. through wide contacts within the business community <the law firm fell on hard times when the rainmaker left and took his clients with him>. rainmaking, n.

raise 1. To increase in amount or value <the industry raised prices>. 2. To gather or collect <the charity raised funds>. 3. To bring up for discussion or consideration; to introduce or put forward <the party raised the issue in its pleading>. 4. To create or establish <the person silence raised an inference ofconsent>. 5. To increase the stated amount of (a negotiable instrument) by fraudulent alteration <the indorser raised the check>.

raise a question of privilege To offer a question of privilege to be considered by the meeting or ruled on by the chair. See question ofprivilege under QUESTION (3).

raised check See CHECK.

raised check A check whose face amount has been increased, usu. without the knowledge of the issuer an act that under the UCC is considered an alteration. UCC § 3-407. See RAISING AN INSTRUMENT.

raising an instrument The act of fraudulently altering a negotiable instrument, esp. a check, to increase the amount stated as payable. See raised check under CHECK.

rake-off A percentage or share taken, esp. from an illegal transaction; an illegal bribe, payoff, or skimming of profits. - rake off, vb.

rally A sharp rise in price or trading (as of stocks) , after a declining market.

RAM See reverse annuity mortgage under MORTGAGE.

ram raid The smashing of a shop window or other commercial premises with a vehicle in order to break in and steal cash or goods. The term is most common in Britain, Ireland, and Australia. - Also termed crashand-dash. Cf. SMASH-AND-GRAB.

Rambo lawyer Slang. A lawyer, esp. a litigator, who uses aggressive, unethical, or illegal tactics in representing a client and who lacks courtesy and profeSSionalism in dealing with other lawyers. Often shortened to Rambo.

Ramseyer rule A rule of the U.S. House of Representatives requiring any committee reporting a bill that amends legislation in force to show in its report what wording the bill would strike from or insert into the current law. The rule is named for Representative C. William Ramseyer (1875-1943) of Iowa, who proposed it. The analogous rule in the U.S. Senate is the Cordon rule. See CORDON RULE.

Ramseyer rule See RAMSEYER RULE.

range Land law. In U.S. government surveys, a strip of public land running due north to south, consisting of a row of townships, at six-mile intervals. Abbr. R.

ranger 1. In England, an officer or keeper of a royal forest, appointed to patrol the forest, drive out stray animals, and prevent trespassing. 2. An officer or warden who patrols and supervises the care and preservation of a public park or forest. 3. One of a group of soldiers who patrol a given region; esp., in the U.S. military, a soldier specially trained for surprise raids and dose combat. 4. A member of a special state police force.

rank 1. A social or official position or standing, as in the armed forces <the rank of captain>. 2. Parliamentary law. A motion s relative precedence. See PRECEDENCE (3).

rank and file 1. The enlisted soldiers of an armed force, as distinguished from the officers. 2. The general membership of a union.

rank-order voting See preferential voting under VOTING.

ransom 1. Money or other consideration demanded or paid for the release of a captured person or property. See KIDNAPPING. 2. The release of a captured person or property in exchange for payment of a demanded price.

ransom 1. To obtain the release of (a captive) by paying a demanded price. 2. To release (a captive) upon receiving such a payment. 3. To hold and demand payment for the release of (a captive).

ransom bill A contract by which a vessel or other property captured at sea during wartime is ransomed in exchange for release and safe conduct to a friendly destination. Also termed ransom bond.

ransom factor The costliness oflitigation considered as a disincentive to vindicate one s rights in court. The term is used mostly in England.

rap 1. Legal responsibility for a criminal act <he took the rap for his accomplices>. 2. A criminal charge <a murder rap>. 3. A criminal conviction; esp., a prison sentence <a 20-year rap for counterfeiting>.

rap sheet Slang. A person s criminal record.

rape 1. At common law, unlawful sexual intercourse committed by a man with a woman not his wife through force and against her will. The commonlaw crime of rape required at least a slight penetration of the penis into the vagina. Also at common law, a husband could not be convicted of raping his wife. Formerly termed rapture; ravishment. 2. Unlawful sexual activity (esp. intercourse) with a person (usu. a female) without consent and usu. by force or threat of injury. Most modern state statutes have broadened the definition along these lines. Rape includes unlawful sexual intercourse without consent after the perpetrator has substantially impaired his victim by administering, without the victim s knowledge or consent, drugs or intoxicants for the purpose of preventing resistance. It also includes unlawful sexual intercourse with a person who is unconscious. Marital status is now usu. irrelevant, and sometimes so is the victim s gender. Also termed (in some statutes) unlawful sexual intercourse; sexual assault; sexual battery; sexual abuse; (in Latin) crimen raptus. Cf. sexual assault under ASSAVLT; sexual battery under BATTERY. "[Another] offence, against the female part also of his majesty subjects, but attended with greater aggravations than that of forCible marriage, is the crime of rape, raptus mulierum, or the carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 210 (1769). "If force is to be declared an element of the crime [of rape] it becomes necessary to resort to the fiction of construetive force to take care of those cases in which no force is needed beyond what is involved in the very act of intercourse itself. A better analysis is to recognize that the requirement of force is simply a means of demonstrating that the unlawful violation of the woman was without her consent and against her will.

rape 1. To commit rape against. 2. Archaic. To seize and carry off by force; abduct. 3. To plunder or despoil. rapist, raper, n.

rape by means of fraud An instance of sexual intercourse that has been induced by fraud. Authorities are divided on the question whether rape can occur when a woman is induced bv fraudulent statements to have sexual intercourse. B~t the term rape by means offraud is not uncommon in legal literature.

rape shield law See SHIELD LAW (2).

rape shield statute See SHIELD LAW (2).

rape under age See statutory rape.

rape uuder age See statutory rape under RAPE.

rapina (ra)-pi-na). (Latin "robbery, pillage") Roman & civil law. The forcible taking of another movable property with the intent to appropriate it to one own use. "Rapina is the taking away of a thing by violent means. It gives rise to the praetorian actio vi bonorum raptorum. Rudolph Sohm, The Institutes: A Textbook of the History and System of Roman Private Law 419 Uames Crawford Ledlie trans., 3d ed. 1907).

rapine (rap-in). 1. Forcible seizure and carrying off of another property; pillage or plunder. 2. Archaic. Rape.

rapport asuccession (ra-por ah sook-ses-syawn), n. [French "return to succession") Civil law. The restoration to an estate of property that an heir received in advance from the decedent, so that an even distribution may be made among all the heirs. Cf. HOTCHPOT.

rapporteur (ra-por-tuur or -tar), n. [French) An official who makes a report of committee proceedings for a larger body (esp. a legislature).

rapprochement (ra-prosh-mahn). [French] The establishment or restoration ofcordial relations between two or more nations. - Also spelled rapprochment.

raptu haeredis (rap-t[y]oo ha-ree-dis), n. [Latin]. A writ for taking away an heir held in socage. See SOCAGE.

raptu virginum (rap-t[y]oo var-ji-nam). See DE RAPTU VIRGINUM.

rapture 1. Forcible seizure and carrying off of another person (esp. a woman); abduction. 2. RAPE (1).

rapuit (rap-yoo-it). [Latin). Ravished. The term was formerly used in indictments for rape. See RAVISHMENT.

RAR abbr. REVENUE AGENTS REPORT.

rasure (ray-zhar). 1. The scraping or shaving of a document s surface to remove the writing from it; erasure. 2. Obliteration. rase, vb.

rat See STOOL PIGEON (1).

ratable (ray-ta-bal), adj. 1. Proportionate <ratable distribution>. 2. Capable of being estimated, appraised, or apportioned <because hundreds of angry fans ran onto the field at the same time, blame for the goalpost destruction is not ratable>. 3. Taxable <the government assessed the widow s ratable estate>. See PRO RATA.

ratchet theory Constitutional law. The principle that Congress, in exercising its enforcement power under the 14th Amendment, can increase but not dilute the scope of 14th Amendment guarantees as previously defined by the Supreme Court. The thought underlying the term is that the enabling clause works in only one direction, like a ratchet. The theory was stated by Justice Brennan in Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U.S. 641,86 S.Ct. 1717 (1966), but was repudiated by the Supreme Courtin City ofBoerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507, 117 S.Ct.2157 (1997). Also termed one-way ratchet theory.

rate 1. Proportional or relative value; the proportion by which quantity or value is adjusted <rate of inflation>. 2. An amount paid or charged for a good or service <the rate for a business-class fare is $550>.

rate base The investment amount or property value on which a company, esp. a public utility, is allowed to earn a particular rate of return.

rate of interest See INTEREST RATE.