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suspensory veto See VETO.

suspicion The apprehension or imagination of the existence of something wrong based only on inconclusive or slight evidence, or possibly even no evidence.

suspicious character In some states, a person who is strongly suspected or known to be a habitual criminal and therefore may be arrested or required to give security for good behavior.

suspicious-activity report A form that, as of 1996, a financial institution must complete and submit to federal regulatory authorities if it suspects that a federal crime has occurred in the course of a monetary transaction. This form superseded two earlier forms, the criminal-referral form and the suspicious-transaction report. - Abbr. SAR.

suspicious-transaction report A checkbox on IRS Form 4789 formerly (1990-1995) requiring banks and other financial institutions to report transactions that might be relevant to a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act or its regulations or that might suggest moneylaundering or tax evasion. This checkbox, like the criminal-referral form, has since been superseded by the suspicious-activity report. Abbr. STR.

sustain 1. To support or maintain, esp. over a long period <enough oxygen to sustain life>. 2. To nourish and encourage; lend strength to <she helped sustain the criminal enterprise>. 3. To undergo; suffer <Charles sustained third-degree burns>. 4. (Of a court) to uphold or rule in favor of <objection sustained>. 5. To substantiate or corroborate <several witnesses sustained Ms. Sipess allegation>. 6. To persist in making (an effort) over a long period <he sustained his vow of silence for the last 16 years of his life>. - sustainment, sustentation, n. sustainable, adj.

suthdure (suuth-door). Eccles. law. The south door of a church, where purgations and other acts were performed and complaints were heard and resolved.

suum cuique tribuere (s[y)oo-am k[w]i-kwee tri-byoo¬ar-ee), vb. [Latin] Roman law. To render to every person his due. This was one of the three general precepts in which Justinian expressed the requirements of the law. Cf. ALTERUM NON LAEDERE; HONESTE VIVERE.

suus heres (s[y]oo-as heer-eez). [Latin] Roman law. An heir in the power of the deceased, by whom acceptance of the inheritance was not necessary. See SUI HEREDES.

suus judex (s[y]oo-as joo-deks). [Law Latin]. A proper judge in a cause.

suzerain (soo-za-rin or -rayn), n. [Law French] 1. A Crown tenant; a tenant in capite holding an estate immediately of the Crown. 2. A nation that exercises control over another nations foreign relations. Also spelled suzereign.

suzerainty (soo-za-rin-tee or -rayn-tee). 1. The power of a feudal overlord to whom fealty is due. See FEALTY. 2. The dominion of a nation that controls the foreign relations of another nation but allows it autonomy in its domestic affairs. "At the present time there appears to be no instance of a relation between states which is described as a suzerainty. The term was applied to the relation between Great Britain and the South African Republic, and also to that between Turkey and Bulgaria from 1878 to 1909, but it seems likely to disappear from diplomatic terminology." J.L. Brierly, The Law of Nations 128 (5th ed. 1955).

suzereign See SUZERAIN.

swamp and overflowed land Land that, because of its boggy, marshy, fenlike character, is unfit for cultivation, requiring drainage or reclamation to render it available for beneficial use. Such lands were granted out of the U.S. public domain to the littoral states by acts of Congress in 1850 and thereafter. 43 USCA §§ 981 et seq.

swamp and overflowed land See LAND.

swap 1. An exchange of one security for another. 2. A financial transaction between two parties, usu. involVing an intermediary or dealer, in which payments or rates are exchanged over a specified period and according to specified conditions.

swarf money A payment made in lieu of the service of maintaining a lords castle.

swatting The act offalsely telephoning a report ofa serious crime or emergency in progress in order to provoke a response from a law-enforcement agency, esp. the dispatch ofa SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team. Swatting schemes are often elaborate, involving the use of electronic tools to mask the callers true identity and location, such as voice-changing devices, fake caller-IDs, and the like. swatter, n.

swear vb. (bef. 12c) 1. To administer an oath to (a person). 2. To take an oath. 3. To llse obscene or profane language.

swear out vb. To obtain the issue of (an arrest warrant) by making a charge under oath <Franklin swore out a complaint against Sutton>.

swearing behind A patent applicants showing that an invention was conceived of or reduced to practice before the effective date of a prior-art reference cited by a patent examiner as grounds for rejecting an application. 37 CFR § 1.131. - Also termed swearing behind the reference. See ANTEDATING OF A PRIORART REFERENCE. swear behind, vb.

swearing contest See SWEARING MATCH.

swearing match A dispute in which determining a vital fact involves the credibility choice between one witnesss word and anothers the two being irreconcilably in conflict and there being no other evidence. In such a dispute, the fact-finder is generally thought to believe the more reputable witness, such as a police officer over a convicted drug-dealer. Also termed swearing contest; oath against an oath.

swearing the peace The giving of proof to a magistrate that one fears for ones own safety, so that the magistrate will order the troublemaker to keep the peace by issuing a supplicavit. See SUPPLICAVIT.

swearing-in The administration of an oath to a person who is taking office or testifying in a legal proceeding. See OATH.

sweat equity Financial equity created in property by the owners labor in improving the property <the lender required the homeowner to put 300 hours of sweat equity into the property>.

sweating Criminal procedure. The illegal interrogation of a prisoner by use of threats or similar means to extort information.

sweat-of-the-brow doctrine The nowdiscarded principle that copyrights can protect the labor and expense that went into a work, rather than the works originality. The Supreme Court rejected the sweat-of-the-brow doctrine in Feist Pubs., Inc. v. Rural Tel. Servs. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 111 S.Ct. 1282 (1991). Cf. SWEATWORK.

sweatshop A business where the employees are overworked and underpaid in extreme conditions; esp., in lawyer parlance, a law firm that requires associates to work so hard that they barely (if at all) maintain a family or social life though the firm may, in return, pay higher salaries.

sweatwork A compilation, esp. a searchable computer database, that does not qualify for u.s. copyright protection because the underlying facts are not copyrightable and the compilation is not a nontrivial arrangement. New forms of intellectual-property laws are aimed at protecting the "sweat-of-the-brow" investment that goes into compiling databases. Cf. SWEAT-OF- THE-BROW DOCTRINE.

sweeping 1. Comprehensive in scope <a sweeping objection><sweeping legislation>. 2. Overwhelming <sweeping voter turnout>.

Sweeping Clause See NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE.

sweepstakes 1. A race (esp. a horse race) in which the winners prize is the sum of the stakes contributed by the various competitors. 2. A contest, often for promotional purposes, that awards prizes based on the random selection of entries. State and federal laws prohibit conducting a sweepstakes as a scheme to obtain money or property through the mail by false representations. 39 USCA § 3005.

sweetener 1. An inducement offered to a brokerage firm to enter into an underwriting arrangement with an issuer. 2. A special stock feature (such as convertibility) that enhances the stocks marketability.

sweetheart deal A collusive agreement; esp., a collective-bargaining agreement made as a result of collusion between an employer and a union representative, usu. allowing the employer to pay lower wages in exchange for payoffs to the union representative.

swein (swayn). A forest freeholder. Also spelled swain.

sweinmote (swayn-moht). A forest court held three times a year, before verderors as judges and freeholders of the forest as jurors, to try forest offenses. Also spelled swainmote; swanimote; swainemote; swaingemote. "The court of sweinmote is to be holden before the verderors, as judges, by the steward of the sweinmote thrice in every year .... The principal jurisdiction of this court is, first, to enquire into the oppressions and grievances committed by the officers of the forest ... and, secondly, to receive and try presentments certified from the court of attachments against offences in vert and venison." 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 72 (1768).

swell 1. An expansion in the bulk of something <a swell resulting from defective canning procedures>. 2. A gradual rise of something <a swell of damages>. 3. A large, unbroken wave; the collective waves, particularly following a storm <a rough swell caused the shipwreck>.

swift witness See zealous witness under WITNESS.

swindle To cheat (a person) out of property <Johnson swindled Norton out of his entire savings> <Johnson swindled Nortons entire savings out of him>. - swindle, n. - swindling, n.

swindler A person who willfully defrauds or cheats another.

swing loan See bridge loan under LOAN.

swing vote The vote that determines an issue when all other voting parties, such as appellate judges, are evenly split.

swinging-door chad A chad that is attached to the ballot by two points.

swinging-door chad See CHAD.

swipe 1. To strike or try to strike with a swinging blow <the cat swiped its claws across my hand>. 2. To steal <the thief swiped the ring out of the display case>. 3. To pass a card with a magnetic stripe through a machine that reads the stripe <I swiped my credit card through the pay phones reader and made my call>. - Sometimes termed (in sense 3) wipe.

switching In mutual funds, the practice of selling shares in one fund to buy shares in another.

swoling (swuul-ing). The quantity of land that can be plowed in a year; a hide of land. Also spelled suling (suuI-lng); sulung (suu-Iuung). Also termed swoling of land.

sworn brothers Persons who, by mutual oaths, swear to share in each others fortunes.

sworn clerks in chancery Certain officers in the Court of Chancery who assist the six principal clerks by performing clerical tasks, including keeping records and making copies of pleadings. The offices were abolished in 1842 by the Court of Chancery Act. St. 5 & 6 Vict., ch. 103. Also termed sixty clerks.

sworn statement See STATEMENT.

sworn statement 1. A statement given under oath; an affidavit. Cf. AFFIDAVIT; DECLARATION (8). 2. A contractor-builders listing of suppliers and subcontractors, and their respective bids, required by a lending institution for interim financing.

SYD abbr. Sum of the years digits. See sum-of-the years-digits depreciation method under DEPRECIATION METHOD.

SYD method See sum-of-the-years-digits depreciation method under DEPRECIATION METHOD.

syllabus (sil-a-bas). 1. An abstract or outline of a topic or course ofstudy. 2. A case summary appearing before the printed judicial opinion in a law report, briefly reciting the facts and the holding of the case. The syllabus is ordinarily not part of the courts official opinion. Sometimes termed headnote. Cf. HEADNOTE. PI. syllabuses, syllabi (sil-a-bi).

symbiotic-relationship test The standard by which a private person may be considered a state actor and may be liable forviolating someones constitutional rights if the relationship between the private person and the government is so dose that they can fairly be said to be acting jointly. Private acts by a private person do not generally create liability for violating someones constitutional rights. But if a private person violates some ones constitutional rights while engaging in state action, the private person, and possibly the government, can be held liable. State action may be shown by proving that the private person and the state have a mutually dependent (symbiotic) relationship. For example, a restaurant in a public parking garage was held to have engaged in discriminatory state action by refusing to serve African-Americans. Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S.Ct. 856 (1961). There, the Court found a symbiotic relationship because the restaurant relied on the garage for its existence and Significantly contributed to the municipal parking authoritys ability to maintain the garage. But the symbiotic-relationship test is strictly construed. For example, the fact that an entity receives financial support from - or is heavily regulated by the government is probably insufficient to show a symbiotic relationship. lbus, although a state had granted a partial monopoly to a public utility, the Court refused to find a symbiotic relationship between them. Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345,95 S.Ct. 449 synergism (1974). See JOINT-PARTICIPATION TEST. Cf. STATE-COMPULSION TEST; NEXUS TEST.

symbolaeography (sim-ba-lee-og-ra-fee). The art of drafting legal instruments.

symbolic adj. (Of a signature) consisting ofa symbol or mark. Cf. ONOMASTIC (2); HOLOGRAPH.

symbolic delivery See DELIVERY.

symbolic delivery The constructive delivery of the subject matter of a sale or gift by the actual delivery of an article that represents the item, that renders access to it possible, or that provides evidence of the title to it, such as the key to a warehouse or a bill of lading for goods on shipboard.

symbolic speech Conduct that expresses opinions or thoughts, such as a hunger strike or the wearing of a black armband. Symbolic speech does not enjoy the same constitutional protection tbat pure speech does. Also termed speech-plus. Cf. pure speech. 2. An opinion delivered by a Law Lord; JUDGMENT (2). 3. Parliamentary law. The unit of debate; specif., one statement, usu. subject to a time limit, on one question by one member. When finished, the speaker must relinquish the floor and ordinarily cannot yield it to another member.

symbolic speech See SPEECH.

symbolum animae (sim-ba-lam an-a-mee). [Latin]. A mortuary. See MORTUARY (2).

sympathy strike See STRIKE.

sympathy strike A strike by union members who have no grievance against their own employer but who want to show support for another union involved in a labor dispute.

synallagmatic contract (sin-a-lag-mat-ik). [fr. Greek synallagma "mutual agreement"] Civil law. A contract in which the parties obligate themselves reciprocally, so that the obligation of each party is correlative to the obligation of the other. La. Civ. Code arts. 1908, 1911. A synallagmatic contract is characterized by correlative obligations, whereas a commutative contract is characterized by correlative performances. The term synallagmatic contract is essentially the civillaw equivalent of the common law's bilateral contract. Cf. commutative contract.

synallagmatic contract See CONTRACT.

synchronization license See LICENSE.

syndic (sin-dik), n. [French "governmental representative"]. 1. An agent (esp. of a government or corporation) appointed to transact business for others. 2. A bankruptcy trustee.

syndicalism (sin-di-ka-liz-am), n. A direct plan or practice implemented by trade-union workers seeking to control the means of production and distribution, esp. by using a general strike. - syndicalist, n.

syndicate (sin-di-kit). A group organized for a common purpose; esp., an association formed to promote a common interest, carry out a particular business transaction, or (in a negative sense) organize criminal enterprises. See ORGANIZED CRIME. syndicate (sin-di-kayt), vb. - syndication (sin-di-kay-shan), n. - syndicator (sin-di-kay-tar), n.

syndicate book A list of investors who have expressed an interest in purchaSing shares in a forthcoming public offering. The lead managing underwriter of the offering compiles and maintains the list during the offering.

syndicating 1. The act or process of forming a syndicate. 2. The gathering of materials for newspaper publication from various writers and distribution of the materials at regular intervals to newspapers throughout the country for publication on the same day.

syndicus (sin-di-kas), n. [Latin "advocate" fr. Greeksyn"with" + dike "lawsuit"] Roman law. One chosen (by a corporate body such as a municipality, college, etc.) to represent it at law. See SYNDIC.

synergism (sin-ar-jiz-am), n. Patents. 1. A combination of known elements or functions that create a result greater than the sum of the individual elements or functions. Demonstrating that synergism exists is sometimes useful in proving nonobviousness. The U.S. Supreme Court held that synergism was a requirement for a combination patent in Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co. v. Supermarket Equip. Corp., 340 U.S. 147 (1950). But that holding was overturned by the Patent Act of 1952. 35 USCA § 103. 2. A patentable device that produces a new or different function or an unusual or surprising consequence. - Also termed synergy; synergistic result. - synergistic (sin-ar-jis-tik), synergetic (sin-ar-jet-ik), adj.

syngraph (sin-graf). A written contract or bond Signed by all the parties.

synod (sin-ad). Eccles. law. An ecclesiastical council lawfully assembled to determine church matters; esp., a meeting of several adjoining presbyteries in the Presbyterian church.

synodal (sin-a-dal), n. 1. A collection of ordinances of diocesan synods. 2. A tribute of money given by clergy to a bishop at the Easter visitation.

synodales testes (sin-a-day-leez tes-teez), n. [Law Latin "synods-men"]. Persons who gave evidence at synods (or later at visitations), informing them of misconduct by clergy or laity.

synodsman See SIDESMAN.

synopsis (si-nop-sis), n. A brief or partial survey: a summary or outline; HEADNOTE. synopsize (sinop-siz), vb.

synthetic lease See LEASE.

synthetic rule See QUANTITATIVE RULE.

systematic jurisprudence See expository jurisprudence under JURISPRUDENCE.

systematic jurisprudence See expository jurisprudence.

systematic violation Civil-rights law. An employers policy or procedure that discriminates against an employee. Such a policy or procedure will usu. be considered a continuing violation. So an employees claim of unlawful discrimination will not be barred as untimely as long as some discriminatory effect of the policy or procedure occurs within the limitations period (e.g., 300 days for a Title VII claim). Cf. SERIAL VIOLATION.

T 1. A letter branded on the base of the thumb of a person who claimed the benefit of clergy to prevent the person from claiming it again. This practice was formally abolished by the Criminal Statutes (England) Repeal Act of 1827. 2. In Pennsylvania, a letter sewn onto the left sleeve of a convicted thief. This letter required by a 1698 statute - had to be at least four inches high and of a different color from the rest of the garment.

T.C abbr. See TAX COURT, u.s.

T.C. memo abbr. A memorandum decision of the U.S. Tax Court. Also abbreviated T.C.M.

T.C.M See T.C. MEMO.

TAB abbr. TAX-ANTIClPATION BILL.

table 1. A synopsized representation, esp. in columnar form, of the particulars of a subject, usu. to present diverse items in a way that can be more easily understood. Examples include actuarial tables, genealogical tables (which show the names and relationships of all the persons constituting a family), and interest tables. 2. A formulation oflaws inscribed on tablets, such as the Twelve Tables of Roman law. See TWELVE TABLES. 3. Parliamentary law. The secretarys desk.

table Parliamentary law. (Of a deliberative assembly) to set aside the pending business until the assembly votes to resume its consideration. A matter that has been tabled may be brought up again by a vote of the assembly. - Also termed lay on the table; postpone temporarily. "The early name of the motion to postpone temporarily was lay on the table. (In American usage the phrase has been shortened, and the motion is now generally referred to as the motion to table. The term grew out of the legislative custom of literally laying a bill awaiting further consideration on the clerks table. "The reference to laying the motion on the table or tabling is still widely used, but the more precise term, postpone temporarily, is preferred when that is its purpose, because the term is self-explanatory. "Sometimes, however, the purpose of the motion is not merely to postpone temporarily, but to set the motion aside indefinitely - in effect, to kill it ...." Alice Sturgis, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure 70 (4th ed. 2001). 2. English law. To put forward (a bill, proposal, resolution, etc.) for consideration and discussion by a legislative or deliberative assembly.

table of authorities See INDEX OF AUTHORITIES.

table of cases 1. An alphabetical list of the cases cited in a brief or lawbook, usu. prefixed or appended to it, with one or more page or section numbers showing where in the text each case is cited. 2. INDEX OF AUTHORITIES.

tableau of distribution A list of creditors of an estate, stating what each is entitled to. See judgment homologating the tableau under JUDGMENT.

tableaux vivant A performance by actors dressed as characters in a painting and acting out the event portrayed in the painting.

Tablets of Amalfi See AMALPHITAN CODE.

tabula in naufragio [Latin "the last plank from the shipwreck"] Something added to a lawsuit, often on appeal, as a last-ditch argument or as an afterthought.

tabula rasa (tab-ya-la rah-sa or za). [Latin "scraped tablet"]. A blank tablet ready for writing; a clean slate. PI. tabulae rasae (tab-ya-Iee-rahs-i).