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stabilize 1. To make firm or steadfast <to stabilize the ship>. 2. To maintain a particular level or amount <stabilize prices>.

stable stand In forest law, a person found standing in a forest either with a bow bent, ready to shoot a deer, or close to a tree with greyhounds on a leash and ready to slip, being presumptive evidence of an intent to steal the Crowns deer.

stacking 1. Insurance. The process of obtaining benefits from a second policy on the same claim when recovery from the first policy alone would be inadequate.

staff attorney 1. See ATTORNEY, 2. See CLERK (5).

staff attorney 1. A lawyer who works for a court, usu. in a permanent position, on matters such as reviewing motions, screening docketing statements, preparing scheduling orders, and examining habeas corpus petitions. - Staff attorneys do not rule on motions or decide cases, but they review and research factual and legal points, and recommend proposed rulings to judges, as well as drafting the orders implementing those rulings. See CLERK (5). 2. An in-house lawyer for an organization, esp. a nonprofit organization but sometimes for a corporation. Cf. in-house counsel under COUNSEL. 3. A lawyer who works for a law firm and performs the functions of an associate but who is not on a partnership track.

staff director See EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

staff judge advocate See JUDGE ADVOCATE.

staffjudge advocate A certified military lawyer with the staff of a convening or supervisory authority that exercises general court-martial jurisdiction.

stagflation (stag- flay-shan), n. A period of slow economic growth or recession characterized by high inflation, stagnant consumer demand, and high unemployment. - stagflationary, adj.

staggered board of directors A board of directors whose members' terms of service overlap so that only part of the board's makeup is voted on in any single election. Typically, members serve terms of two or more -years, with some members' terms expiring at each annual election. See Del. Code Ann. tit. 8, § 141 (1991) (authorizing classified boards with two or three classes having two- or three-year terms). Also termed classified board of directors.

staggered board of directors See BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

stagiarius (stay-jee-air-ee-as), n. [Latin]. 1. Eccles. law. A resident canon; an ecclesiastic bound to keep terms of residence. 2. A stagiary; a law student keeping terms before admission to the bar.

stake 1. Something (such as property) deposited by two or more parties with a third party pending the resolution of a dispute; the subject matter of an interpleader. 2. An interest or share in a business venture. 3. Something (esp. money) bet in a wager, game, or contest. 4. A boundary marker used in land surveys.

stakeholder 1. A disinterested third party who holds money or property, the right to which is disputed between two or more other parties. See INTERPLEADER. 2. A person who has an interest or concern in a business or enterprise, though not necessarily as an owner. 3. One who holds the money or valuables bet by others in a wager.

stale check A check that has been outstanding for an unreasonable time more than six months under the Ucc. Banks in jurisdictions adopting the UCC may choose not to honor such a check. UCC § 4-404.

stale check See CHECK.

stale claim See CLAIM (3).

stale claim A claim that is barred by the statute of limitations or the defense oflaches. Also termed stale demand.

Stalingrad defense The strategy of wearing down the plaintiff by tenaciously fighting by whatever means anything the plaintiff presents and appealing every ruling favorable to the plaintiff, rather than presenting a meritorious case. The tactic is named for the Russian city beSieged by the Germans in World War II. The defenders refused to surrender and used every available tactic and tool to hold the attackers at bay until winter cut the enemy's supply lines, leaving the attackers with inadequate resources with which to continue the siege. 3. One or more defendants in a trial, as well as their counsel <the defense rests>. 4. Commercial law. A basis for avoiding liability on a negotiable instrument <the drawer asserted a real defense against the holder in due course>.

Stalingrad defense See DEFENSE (2).

stalking (bef. 12c) 1. The act or an instance of following another by stealth. 2. The offense of following or lOitering near another, often surreptitiously, to annoy or harass that person or to commit a further crime such as assault or battery. Some statutory definitions include an element that the person being stalked must reasonably feel harassed, alarmed, or distressed about personal safety or the safety ofone or more persons for whom that person is responsible. And some definitions include acts such as telephoning another and remaining silent during the call. Cf. CYBERSTALKING.

stallage (stawl-ij). 1. The right to erect stalls in public markets. 2. The cost for that right.

stamp An official mark or seal placed on a document, esp. to indicate that a required tax (such as duty or excise tax) has been paid.

stamp acts English statutes requiring and regulating stamps on deeds, contracts, legal papers, bills, or other documents.

stamp duty A tax raised by requiring stamps sold by the government to be affixed to designated documents, thus forming part of the perpetual revenue. See stamp tax under TAX. "A fifth branch of the perpetual revenue consists in the stamp duties, which are a tax imposed upon all parchment and paper whereon any legal proceedings, or private instruments of almost any nature whatsoever, are written: and also upon licenses ... and pamphlets containing less than six sheets of paper. These imposts are very various, according to the nature of the thing stamped, rising gradually from a penny to ten pounds: 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 312-13 (1765).

stamp tax See TAX.

stamp tax A tax imposed by requiring the purchase of a revenue stamp that must be affixed to a legal document (such as a deed or note) before the document can be recorded. Also termed documentary-stamp transfer tax.

stand See WITNESS STAND.

stand adjourned (Of a meeting or proceeding) to be in a state of adjournment <this court stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. This status is usu. announced by a judge or other presiding officer concerning the business scheduled to continue at a later time. - Often shortened to adjourned.

stand at ease. Parliamentary law To take an informal pause during a meeting wit hout taking a recess, at the instance of the chair.

stand mute 1. (Of a defendant) to refuse to enter a plea to a criminal charge. Standing mute is treated as a plea of not guilty. 2. (Of any party) to raise no objections.

stand trial To submit to a legal proceeding, esp. a criminal prosecution.

standard 1. A model accepted as correct by custom, consent, or authority <what is the standard in the ant•farm industry?>. 2. A criterion for measuring acceptability, quality, or accuracy <the attorney was making a nice living even by New York standards>. standard, adj.

Standard & Poor s An investment-analysis and -advisory service. Standard & Poors rates the financial strength of businesses from AAA (strongest) to AA, A, BBB, and so on to CCC. Most grades may also be modified with a plus- or minus-sign according to the businesss relative strength among similar companies. A rating of R means that the company is the subject of some regulatory action.

standard characteristics See STANDARD DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS.

standard deduction A specified dollar amount that a taxpayer can deduct from adjusted gross income, instead of itemizing deductions, to determine taxable income. 3. The portion of a succession to which an heir is entitled before a partition. 4. The act or process of rea soning from general propositions to a specific application or conclusion. Cf. INDUCTION (2). deduct (for senses vb. deduce (for sense 4), vb.

standard deduction See DEDUCTION.

standard descriptive characteristics Parliamentary law. The basic rules that apply to and define a motion. The characteristics include when the motion is in order; its rank that is, what it takes precedence over, and what yields to it; whether making it may interrupt a speaker; whether it needs a second; whether it is debatable; whether it is amendable; what vote its adoption takes; and whether it can be reconsidered. Also termed standard characteristics.

standard instruction A jury instruction that has been regularly used in a given jurisdiction.

standard instruction See fURY INSTRUCTION.

standard mortgage clause See MORTGAGE CLAUSE.

standard of care In the law of negligence, the degree of care that a reasonable person should exercise. See CARE (2).

standard of need In public-assistance law, the total subsistence resources required by an individual or family unit as determined by a state and, when unsatisfied by available resources, entitles the individual or family unit to public assistance.

standard of proof The degree or level of proof demanded in a specific case, such as "beyond a reasonable doubt" or "by a preponderance of the evidence." See BURDEN OF PERSUASION.

standard of review The criterion by which an appellate court exercising appellate jurisdiction measures the constitutionality of a statute or the propriety of an order, finding, or judgment entered by a lower court.

standard policy 1. An insurance policy providing insurance that is recommended or required by state law, usu. regulated by a state agency. 2. An insurance policy that contains standard terms used for similar insurance policies nationwide, usu. drafted by an insurance industrial association such as Insurance Services Office.

standard policy See INSURANCE POLICY.

standard-form contract See CONTRACT.

standard-form contract A usu. preprinted contract containing set clauses, used repeatedly by a business or within a particular industry with only slight additions or modifications to meet the specific situation. Because standard-form contracts usu. contracts. Courts offset the drafting party's advantage by construing the contract in the light least favorable to the drafting party. - Also termed standardized contract. See adhesion contract. "[U]niformity of terms in contracts typically recurring in a business enterprise is an important factor in the exact calculation of risks. Risks that are difficult to calculate can be excluded altogether. Unforeseeable contingencies affecting performance, such as strikes, fire, and transportation difficulties can be taken care of.... Standardized contracts have thus become an important means of excluding or controlling the ['irrational factors' that could persuade a court or jury to decide against a powerful defendant]." Friedrich Kessler, Contracts ofAdhesion - Some Thoughts About Freedom of Contract, 43 Colum. L. Rev. 629, 631-32 (1943).

standardized contract See standard-form contract under CONTRACT.

Standards for Lawyer Discipline A set of model rules, created by the ABA in 1979, establishing procedures for disciplining lawyers who violate ethics rules or commit crimes. The rules stress that the process is an inquiry to determine an attorneys fitness to practice, not to determine a punishment.

standard-setting organization A body that sets, describes, or documents uniform operating, technological, or other norms for participants in a particular field or industry. Also termed standards body.

standby charge A property levy, often based on acreage, imposed on the mere availability of a service, whether or not the service is actually used.

standby commitment An arrangement between an underwriter and an issuer of securities whereby the underwriter agrees, for a fee, to buy any unsold shares remaining after the public offering. - Also termed standby underwriting agreement.

standby counsel See COUNSEL.

standby counsel An attorney who is appointed to be prepared to represent a pro se criminal defendant if the defendant's self-representation ends .o The standby counsel may also provide some advice and guidance to the defendant during the self-representation. Also termed advisory counsel.

standby guardian See GUARDIAN.

standby guardian A parent-designated guardian who is appointed to assume responsibility for a child at a future date if the child's parent becomes incapable of caring for the child but who does not divest the parent of custodial rights. Several states have enacted statutes providing for a standby guardian in the case of a terminally ill single parent. A standby guardian assumes responsibility for a child during periods of the parent's incapacity and upon the parent's death .

standby guardianship A guardianship in which a parent deSignates a guardian to assume responsibility for a child at a future date, if the child's parent becomes incapable of caring for the child, but without divesting the parent of custodial rights.

standby guardianship See GUARDIANSHIP.

standby letter of credit See LETTER OF CREDIT.

standby trust See TRUST.

standby underwriting See UNDERWRITING.

standby underwriting agreement See STANDBY COMMITMENT.

standing A partys right to make a legal claim or seek judicial enforcement of a duty or right. To have standing in federal court, a plaintiff must show (1) that the challenged conduct has caused the plaintiff actual injury, and (2) that the interest sought to be protected is within the zone of interests meant to be regulated by the statutory or constitutional guarantee in question. Also termed standing to sue. Cf. JUSTICIABILITY. "Have the appellants alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness wh ich sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court so largely depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions? This is the gist of the uestion of standing." Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186,204, 82 S.Ct. 691, 703 (1962) (Brennan, j.). The word standing is rather recent in the basic judicial vocabulary and does not appear to have been commonly used until the middle of our own century. No authority that I have found introduces the term with proper explanations and apologies and announces that henceforth standing should be used to describe who may be heard by ajudge. Nor was there any sudden adoption by tacit consent. The word appears here and there. spreading very gradually with no discernible pattern. Judges and lawyers found themselves using the term and did not ask why they did so or where it came from." joseph Vining, Legal Identity 55 (1978).

standing aside a juror The prosecution practice of provisionally placing a juror aside until the panel is exhausted, without providing a reason, instead of challenging the juror or showing cause. The practice originally developed as a method of avoiding the Challenge of Jurors Act (1305), which prohibited the Crown from challenging a juror without showing cause. A similar practice was formerly used in Pennsylvania.

standing by 1. The awaiting of an opportunity to respond, as with assistance. 2. Silence or inaction when there is a duty to speak or act; esp., the tacit possession of knowledge under circumstances requiring the possessor to reveal the knowledge. See estoppel by silence under ESTOPPEL.

standing committee A committee that is established for ongoing business, that continues to exist from session to session, and that is usu. charged with considering business of a certain recurring kind. A legislature will ordinarily establish a standing committee concerned with a specific field oflegislation. A legislative standing committee usu. considers basic questions of legislative policy, holds hearings on legislation, eliminates unwanted bills, and prepares favored measures for passage. - Also termed permanent committee.

standing committee See COMMITTEE.

Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure A group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to advise the Judicial Conference of the United States on possible amendments to the procedural rules in the various federal courts and on other issues relating to the operation of the federal courts. 28 USCA § 331. "[Under 28 USCA § 331], the Judicial Conference of the United States has created a Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and has authorized the appointment from time to time of various advisory committees. These committees make recommendations regarding amendments of the rules to thejudicial Conference, which in turn transmits those recommendations it approves to the Supreme Court. Under this new plan, as under the machinery in effect from 1934 to 1956, the Court retains the ultimate responsibility for the adoption of amendments to the rules." 4 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Fedeml Practice and Procedure § 1007, at 35 (2d ed. 1987).

standing crops Crops that have not been harvested or otherwise severed from the land.

standing crops See CROPS.

standing division See standing vote under VOTE (4).

standing division See standing vote under VOTE (4). 3. RESTRICTION (4).

standing master See MASTER.

standing mortgage See interest-only mortgage under MORTGAGE.

standing mute See MUTE {2}.

standing offer See OFFER.

standing offer An offer that is in effect a whole series ofoffers, each of which is capable of being converted into a contract by a distinct acceptance.

standing order A forward-looking order that applies to all cases pending before a court. Some individual judges issue a standing order on a subject when there is no local rule bearing on it, often because a rule would not be acceptable to other judges on the court. Standing orders are frequently criticized because they undermine uniformity of procedural rules, esp. at the local leveL Cf. standing rule under RULE (3).

standing order See ORDER (2).

standing rule See RULE (3).

standing rule 1. A rule that relates to an organizations administration or operation rather than to its procedure in meetings. For example, a rule about the time and place of regular meetings, or about a committees jurisdiction, is a standing rule. Also termed ordinary standing rule. 2. A special rule of continuing force. Many conventions and other deliberative assemblies collect both their administrative and procedural rules into a set titled "standing rules." See special rule (1).

standing seised to uses The holding of title for the benefit or use of another, such as a relative in consideration of blood or marriage. A covenant to stand seised to uses is a type of conveyance that depends on the Statute of Uses for its effect. Often shortened to seised to uses. See STATUTE OF USES.

standing to sue See STANDING.

standing vote See VOTE (4),

standstill agreement Any agreement to refrain from taking further action; esp., an agreement by which a party agrees to refrain from further attempts to take over a corporation (as by making no tender offer) for a specified period, or by which financial institutions agree not to call bonds or loans when due.

stante matrimonio (stan-tee ma-tra,-moh-nee-oh). [Latin]. The marriage remaining undissolved.

staple (stay-pal). 1. A key commodity such as wool, leather, tin, lead, butter, or cheese (collectively termed the staple). 2. Hist. A town appointed by the Crown as an exclusive market for staple products. See STATUTE STAPLE. 3. Patents. An unpatented thing or material that is a component of a patented product or is used in a patented process, but also has other practical uses. Patentees may not gain control of the market for staples through tying agreements. Cf. NONSTAPLE.

star chamber See STAR CHAMBER.

Star Chamber 1. An English court having broad civil and criminal jurisdiction at the kings discretion and noted for its secretive, arbitrary, and oppressive procedures, including compulsory self-incrimination, inquisitorial investigation, and the absence of juries.The Star Chamber was abolished in 1641 because of its abuses of power. Also termed Court of Star Chamber; Camera Stellata. 2. (usu. l.e.) Any secretive, arbitrary, or oppressive tribunal or proceeding.

star paging 1. A method of referring to a page in an earlier edition of a book, esp. a legal source. This method correlates the pagination of the later edition with that of the earlier (usu. the first) edition. 2. By extension, the method of displaying on a computer screen the page breaks that occur in printed documents such as law reports and law reviews. Also termed star pagination. - star page, n.

stare decisis (stahr-ee di-si-sis or stair-ee), n. [Latin "to stand by things decided"]. The doctrine of precedent, under which a court must follow earlier judicial decisions when the same points arise again in litigation. See PRECEDENT; NON QUIETA MOVERE. Cf. RES JUDICATA; LAW OF THE CASE; (in civil law) jurisprudence consiante under JURISPRUDENCE. The rule of adherence to judicial precedents finds its expression in the doctrine of stare deCisis. This doctrine is simply that, when a point or prinCiple of law has been once officially decided or settled by the ruling of a competent court in a case in which it is directly and necessarily involved, it will no longer be conSidered as open to examination or to a new ruling by the same tribunal, or by those which are bound to follow its adjudications, unless it be for urgent reasons and in exceptional cases. William M. Lile et aI., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 321 (3ded.1914). "The general orthodox interpretation of stare decisis . .. is stare rationibus decidendis (keep to the rationes decidendi of past cases J, but a narrower and more literal interpreta• tion is sometimes employed. To appreciate this narrower interpretation it is necessary to refer ... to Lord Halsburys assertion that a case is only authority for what it actually deCides. We saw that situations can arise in which all that is binding is the deciSion. According to Lord Reid, such a situation arises when the ratio decidendi of a previous case is obscure, out of accord with authority or established prinCiple, or too broadly expressed." Rupert Cross & J.W. Harris, Precedent in English Law 100-01 (4th ed. 1991).

stare decisis et non quieta movere (stair-ee di-si-sis et non kwi-ee-ta moh-veer-ee). [Latin]. To stand by things decided, and not to disturb settled points. See STARE DECISIS.

stare enim religioni debet (stair-ee ee-nim ri-lij-ee-oh¬nee dee-bet or deb-et). [Latin]. For one ought to abide by ones solemn obligation.

stare in judicio (stair-ee in joo-dish-ee-oh). [Latin]. To appear before a tribunal as either a plaintiff or a defendant.

starr (stahr), n. [fr. Latin starrum fr. Hebrew sh tar "a writing"]. A Jewish contract (esp. for release of an obligation) that Richard I declared to be invalid unless it was placed in a lawful repository, the largest being in the kings Exchequer at Westminster. Also termed starra. "It is well known that, before the banishment of the Jews under Edward I, their contracts and obligations were denominated in our ancient records starra or starrs, from a corruption of the Hebrew word, sheeay, a covenant. These starrs, by an ordinance of Richard the first. were commanded to be enrolled and deposited in chests under three keys in certain places; one, and the most considerable, of which was in the kings exchequer at Westminster .... [T]he room at the exchequer, where the chests containing these starrs were kept, was probably called the starr-chamber, and, when the Jews were expelled from the kingdom, was applied to the use of the kings council, when sitting in their judicial capacity." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 263 n.a (I 769).

stash vb. To hide or conceal (money or property).

stat abbr. STATUTE.

state 1. The political system of a body of people who are politically organized; the system of rules by which jurisdiction and authority are exercised over such a body of people <separation of church and state>. Also termed political society. Cf. NATION. "A STATE is a community of persons living Within certain limits of territory, under a permanent organization which aims to secure the prevalence of justice by self-imposed law. The organ of the state by which its relations with other states are managed is the government." Theodore D. Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law § 36, at 34 (5th ed. 1878). "A state or political society is an association of human beings established for the attainment of certain ends by certain means. It is the most important of all the various kinds of society in which men unite, being indeed the necessary basis and condition of peace, order, and civilisation. What then is the difference between this and other forms of association? In what does the state differ from such other societies as a church, a university, ajoint•stock company, or a trade union? The difference is clearly one of function. The state must be defined by reference to such of its activities and purposes as are essential and characteristic." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 129 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed.1947). A state is an institution, that is to say, it is a system of relations which men establish among themselves as a means of securing certain objects, of which the most fundamental is a system of order within which their activities can be carried on. Modern states are territorial; their governments exercise control over persons and things within their frontiers, and today the whole of the habitable world is divided between about seventy of these territorial states.