Law Dictionary
	Search:

bannitus (ban-a-tas). [Law Latin] Hist. A person under a ban; an outlaw. See BAN (1).

banns of matrimony Family law. Public notice of an intended marriage . The notice is given to ensure that objections to the marriage would be voiced before the wedding. Banns are still common in many churches. -Also spelled bans of matrimony. - Also termed banns of marriage. "A minister is not obliged to publish banns of matrimony unless the persons to be married deliver to him, at least seven days before the intended first publication, a notice in writing stating the Christian name and surname and the place of residence of each of them and the period during which each has resided there .... Banns are to be published in an audible manner and in the form of words prescribed by the rubric prefixed to the office of matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer on three Sundays preceding the solemnisation of marriage during morning service or, if there be no morning service on a Sunday on which they are to be published, during evening service." Mark Hill, Ecclesiastical Law 136 (2d ed. 2001) (dealing with practice in the Church of England).

bannum See BANN.

bar 1. In a courtroom, the railing that separates the front area, where court business is conducted, from the back area, which provides seats for observers; by extension, a similar railing in a legislative assembly <the spectator stood behind the bar>. 2. The whole body oflawyers qualified to practice in a given court or jurisdiction; the legal profession, or an organized subset of it <the attorney's outrageous misconduct disgraced the bar>. See BAR ASSOCIATION.

bar- To prevent, esp. by legal objection <the statute of limitations barred the plaintiff's wrongful-death claim>.

bar association An organization of members of the legal profeSSion <several state bar associations sponsor superb CLE programs>. See BAR (2).

bar date. Patents The date by which a u.s. patent appli-cation must be filed to avoid losing the right to receive a patent. o In the U.S., the bar date for a patent appli-cation is one year after the invention is disclosed in a publication or patented in another country, or put into public use, sold, or offered for sale in the U.S. <Since the invention was offered for domestic sale on January 1, 2000, the bar date for the U.S. patent application is January 1,2001.> Cf. absolute novelty under NOVELTY.

bar examination A written test that a person must pass before being licensed to practice law . The exam varies from state to state. - Often shortened to bar.

bar examiner One appointed by the state to test applicants (usu. law-school graduates) by prepar-ing, administering, and grading the bar examination.

bar pilot See branch pilot under PILOT.

bar pilot See BRANCH PILOT.

bare license See LICENSE.

bare licensee See LICENSEE.

bare ownership See trust ownership.

bare ownership See trust ownership under OWNERSHIP.

bare possibility See naked possibility.

bare possibility See naked possibility under POSSIBILITY.

bare promise See gratuitous promise.

bare promise See gratuitous promise under PROMISE.

bare steerageway Maritime law. The lowest speed neces-sary for a vessel to maintain course.

bare trustee See TRUSTEE (1).

bareboat charter See CHARTER (8).

bareboat charter- A charter under which the shipowner surrenders possession and control of the vessel to the charterer, who then succeeds to many of the shipowner's rights and obligations. The charterer, who provides the personnel, insurance, and other materials necessary to operate the vessel, is known either as a demise charterer or as an owner pro hac vice. Also termed demise charter. "The "demise" or "bareboat" charter is conceptually the easiest to understand. The charterer takes possession and operates the ship durin9 the period of the charter as though the vessel belonged to the charterer. The bareboat charter is thus analogous to the driver who leases a car for a specified period or a tenant who rents a house for a term of years. The charterer provides the vessel's master and crew (much as the lessee-driver personally drives the car) and pays the operating expenses (much as the lesseedriver buys the gasoline." David W. Robertson, Steven F. Friedell & Michael F. Sturley, Admiralty and Maritime Law in the United States 371-72 (2002).

barebones indictment See INDICTMENT.

barebones indictment- An indictment that cites only the language of the statute allegedly violated; an indictment that does not provide a factual statement. "What has been called 'a bare bones indictment using only statutory language' is quite common, and entirely permis· sible so long as the statute sets forth fully, directly, and expressly all essential elements of the crime intended to be punished." 1 Charles Alan Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure § 125, at 558·59 (3d ed. 1999).

bare-bones legislation See skeletal legislation under LEGISLATION.

bargain An agreement between parties for the exchange of promises or performances .o A bargain is not necessarily a contract because the consideration may be insufficient or the transaction may be illegal. See BARGAIN SALE; informal contract under CONTRACT. bargain, vb. "A bargain is an agreement of two or more persons to exchange promises, or to exchange a promise for a per-formance. Thus defined, 'bargain' is at once narrower than agreement' in that it is not applicable to all agreements, and broader than 'contract' since it includes a promise given in exchange for insufficient consideration. It also covers transactions which the law refuses to recognize as contracts because of illegality." Samuel Williston, A Treatise on the Law of Contracts § 2A, at 7 (Walter H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed. 1957).

bargain and sale 1. A negotiated transaction, usu. for goods, services, or real property. 2. Hist. A written agreement for the sale of land whereby the buyer would give valuable consideration (recited in the agreement) without having to enter the land and perform livery of seisin, so that the parties equitably "raised a use" in the buyer. The result of the transaction was to leave the leg'al estate in fee simple in the seller and to create an equitable estate in fee simple in the buyer until legal title was transferred to the buyer by delivery of a deed. In most jurisdictions, the bargain and sale has been replaced by the statutory deed of grant.

bargain money See EARNEST MONEY.

bargain purchase See BARGAIN SALE.

bargain sale A sale of property for less than its fair market value . For tax purposes, the difference between the sale price and the fair market value must be taken into account. And bargain sales between family members may lead to gift-tax consequences. -Also termed bargain purchase.

bargain theory of consideration The theory that a promise or performance that is bargained for in exchange for a promise is consideration for the promise. This theory underlies all bilateral contracts. See bilat-eral contract under CONTRACT. "[C]lassical contract theory tended to associate the doctrine of consideration with the concept of bargain. The emphasis of classical law shifted away from actual benefits and detri-ments to the mutual promises which constitute a wholly executory contract. American lawyers developed from this trend a 'bargain theory of consideration' and similarly in English law a more modern basis for the doctrine of con-sideration was found by some lawyers in the notion that a contract is a bargain in which the consideration is the price of the bargain. Allied to this is the supposed rule that nothing can be treated as a consideration unless it is seen by the parties as the 'price' of the bargain." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 119 (3d ed. 1981).

bargain-and-sale deed See DEED.

bargain-and-sale deed- A deed that convevs property to a buyer for valuable consideration but that lacks any guarantee from the seller about the of the title. See BARGAIN AND SALE.

bargained-for exchange A benefit or det-riment that the parties to a contract agree to as the price of performance .o The Restatement of Contracts (Second) defines consideration exclusively in terms of bargain, but it does not mention benefit or detriment.

bargained-for exchange- See BARGAINED-FOR EXCHANGE.

bargainee The buyer in a bargained-for exchange.

bargaining agent A labor union in its capacity of representing employees in collective bargaining.

bargaining agent- See AGENT (2).

bargaining unit A group of employees authorized to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of all the employees of a company or an industry sector.

bargainor (bahr-gan-or or bahr-ga-nar). The seller in a bargained -for exchange.

barometer stock A stock whose price fluctuates according to market conditions; an individual stock considered to be indicative of the strength of the market in general. - Also termed bellwether stock.

barometer stock See STOCK.

baron 1. A man who held land directly from the Crown in exchange for military service. 2. Hist. A husband. See BARON ET FEME. 3. One of the judges of the former English or Scottish Courts of Exchequer. -Abbr. B. See BARONS OF THE EXCHEQUER. 4. A noble rank; specif., the lowest rank in the British peerage. 5. Generally, a lord or nobleman.

baron et feme (bar-an ay fem). [Law French] Hist. Husband and wife. See COVERTURE; FEME COVERT.

Baron Parke's rule See GOLDEN RULE.

barones scaccarii See BARONS OF THE EXCHEQUER.

baronet A non-noble hereditary title that descends in the male line only .o Baronets originated in 1611 when James I began selling the title as a way to raise revenue.

baronial court See COURT.

baronial court- A feudal court established by the owner of extensive lands held directly of the king under military tenure.

Barons of the Exchequer The six judges of the Court of Exchequer . After the 1873 transfer of the Court's jurisdiction to the High Court ofJustice, the judges were known as justices of the High Court. Also termed barones scaccarii. See COURT OF EXCHEQUER.

barony (bar-an-ee). 1. See BARON (1). 2. See TENURE (2).

barra (bah-ra). [Law French "bar"] Hist. 1. See PLEA IN BAR. 2. A barrister. Also spelled barre.

barrator (bar-a-tar), 1. One who commits barratry (in any sense). 2. A fomenter of quarrels and lawsuits; one who stirs up dissension and litigation among people. -Also spelled barretor. Cf. CHAMPERTOR. "Barrator or Barater(Fr. Barateur, a Deceiver) Is a common mover or maintainer of Suits, Quarrels, or Parts. either in Courts or elsewhere in the Country, and is himself never quiet, but at variance with one or other." Thomas Blount, Nomo-Lexicon: A Law·Dictionary (1670).

barratry (bar-a-tree or bair-),1. Vexatious incitement to litigation, esp. by soliciting potential legal clients .o Barratry is a crime in most jurisdictions. A person who is hired by a lawyer to solicit business is called a capper. See CAPPER (1). [Cases: Champerty and Maintenance ~4(.5), 5(.5),9.] 2. Maritime law. Fraudulent or grossly negligent conduct (by a master or crew) that is prejudicial to a shipowner. "[S]ailing out of port in violation of an embargo, or without paying the port duties, or to go out of the regular course upon a smuggling expedition, or to be engaged in smug-gling against the consent of the owner, are all of them acts of barratry, equally with more palpable and direct acts of violence and fraud, for they are wilful breaches of duty by the master. It makes no difference in the reason of the thing, whether the injury the owner suffers be owing to an act of the master, induced by motives of advantage to himself, or of malice to the owner, or a disregard of those laws which it was the master's duty to obey, and which the owner relied upon him to observe. It is, in either case, equally barratry." 3 James Kent, Commentaries on American Law*305-06 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866). 3. The buying or selling of ecclesiastical or governmen-tal pOSitions. 4. The crime committed by a judge who accepts a bribe in exchange for a favorable decision. Cf. BRIBE. barratrous (bar-a-tras), adj.

barrier to entry An economic factor that makes it dif-ficult for a business to enter a market and compete with existing businesses. "Strictly speaking, a barrier to entry is a condition that makes the long·run costs of a new entrant into a market higher than the long-run costs of the existing firms in the market; a good example is a regulatory limitation on entry. The term is also used, more questionably, as a synonym for heavy start·up costs." Richard A. Posner, Economic AnalYSis of Law § 10.8, at 227 (2d ed. 1977).

barring of entail The freeing of an estate from the limitations imposed by an entail and permitting its free disposition . This was anciently done by means of a fine or common recovery, but later by a deed in which the tenant and next heir join. Also termed breaking of entail; disentailment. See ENTAIL.

barrister (bar-is-tar), In England or Northern Ireland, a lawyer who is admitted to plead at the bar and who may argue cases in superior courts .o In many other Commonwealth nations, the legal profession is similarly divided into barristers and solicitors. Cf. SOLICITOR (4). barristerial (bar-a-steer-ee-al), adj.

barter The exchange of one commodity for another without the use of money. barter, vb.

base (of a villein) holding land at the will of the lord. See base estate under ESTATE (1).

base and meridian The east-west and north-south lines used by a surveyor to demarcate the position of the boundaries of real property .o A base line runs east to west. A meridian line runs north to south.

base court See COURT.

base court- Archaic. An inferior court.

base estate See ESTATE (1).

base estate- An estate held at the will of the lord, as distinguished from a freehold.

base fee 1. See FEE (2). 2. See fee simple determin-able under FEE SIMPLE.

base fee- A fee that has some qualification connected to it and that terminates whenever the qualification terminates. An example of the words creating a base fee are "to A and his heirs, tenants of the manor of Tinsleydale," which would terminate when A or his heirs are no longer tenants of the manor of Tinsleydale. Among the base fees at common law are the fee simple subject to a condition subsequent and the conditional fee. - Also termed determinable fee; qualified fee; limited fee. See fee simple determinable under FEE SIMPLE. "A base fee is a particular kind of determinable fee, The two essentials of a base fee are (a) it continues only so long as the original grantor or any heirs of his body are alive; and (b) there is a remainder or reversion after it, , , , In effect a base fee was a fee simple which endured for as long as the entail would have continued if it had not been barred, and determined when the entail would have ended," Robert E, Megarry & M,P. Thompson, A Manual of the Law of Real Property 38-40 (6th ed. 1993),

base service Agricultural work performed by a villein tenant in exchange for the lord's permission to hold the land. Cf. KNIGHT-SERVICE.

base tenure See TENURE.

based on Derived from, and therefore similar to, an earlier work .o If one work is "based on" an earlier work, it infringes the copyright in the earlier work. To be based on an earlier work, a later work must embody substantially similar expression, not just substantially similar ideas. See derivative work under WORK (2).

basel conventiou on the control of tansboundary movements of hazardous A 1992 treaty establishing formal rules and procedures for the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste across national borders. The United States had not ratified the treaty as of 2003. - Often shortened to Basel Convention.

baseline The line that divides the land from the sea, by which the extent of a state's coastal jurisdiction is measured.

baseline documentation The record of a parcel of real property's condition and conservation values at a specific time, Signed by the landowner and the land trust when a conservation easement is created, and used to monitor and enforce the easement's terms. See IRS Reg. 1.170A-14(g)(5).

basement court A low-level court of limited jurisdiction, such as a police court, traffic court, municipal court, or small-claims court.

basement court- See BASEMENT COURT.

base-point pricing 1. A pricing method that adds the price at the factory to the freight charges, which are calculated as the cost of shipping from a set location to the buyer's location . The chosen shipping base-point may be the same for all customers, or it may be a specific, established location, such as a manufacturing plant nearest to the buyer. 2. A uniform pricing policy in which the cost of transportation to all locations is presumed to be the same.

basic crops Crops (such as wheat and corn) that are usu. subject to government-price supports.

basic mistake See MISTAKE.

basic patent See pioneer patent.

basic patent See pioneer patent under PATENT (3).

basic-form policy A policy that offers limited coverage against loss. A basic-form policy generally covers damages from fire, windstorm, explosion, riot, vehicles, theft, or vandalism. Also termed limited policy; specific policy.

basilica (ba-sil-i-ka). 1. (cap.) A 60-book Greek summary ofJustinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, with comments (scholia) . o The Basilica ("royal law") was begun by the Byzantine emperor Basil I, and it served as a major source of the law of the Eastern Empire from the early 10th century until Constantinople's fall in 1453.2. A colonnaded hall used as a law court or for trading; specif., in ancient Rome, a public building usu. used as a court of justice . A basilica typically featured a nave with two aisles and an apse. Architects adopted the basilica's layout for the design of early Christian churches.

basis 1. A fundamental principle; an underlying fact or condition. 2. Tax. The value assigned to a taxpay-er's investment in property and used primarily for com-puting gain or loss from a transfer of the property .o Basis is usu. the total cost of acquiring the asset, includ-ing the purchase price plus commissions and other related expenses, less depreciation and other adjust-ments. When the aSSigned value represents the cost of acquiring the property, it is also called cost basis. -Also termed tax basis. PI. bases.

basis point One-hundredth of 1 %; .01% . Basis points are used in computing investment yields (esp. of bonds) and in apportioning costs and calculating interest rates in real-estate transactions. - Abbr. bp.

bask crops See CROPS.

bask norm See NORM.

Basket Clause See NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE.

bask-form policy See INSURANCE POLICY.

basse justice (bahs zhoo-stees). [Law French "low justice"] Hist. A feudal lord's right to personally try a person charged with a minor offense.

bastard 1. See illegitimate child under CHILD. 2. A child born to a married woman whose husband could not be or is otherwise proved not to be the father . Because the word is most commonly used as a slur, its use in family-law contexts is much in decline.

bastard eigne An illegitimate son whose parents afterward marry and have a second son (mulier puisne) for lawful issue.

bastard eisne See EISNE.

bastardy See ILLEGITIMACY.

bastardy proceeding See PATERNITY SUIT.

bastardy process See PATERNITY SUIT.

bastardy statute A criminal statute that punishes an unwed father for failing to support his child . These statutes have been found unconsti-tutional because they unfairly discriminate against fathers and do not punish unwed mothers. So they are unenforceable.

batable ground (bay-ta-bal). Land of uncertain ownership .o Batable (or debatable) ground originally referred to certain lands on the border of England and Scotland before the 1603 union of the two kingdoms.

batch number See SERIES CODE.

Bates number See BATES-STAMP NUMBER.

Bates stamp 1. A self-advancing stamp machine used for affixing an identifying mark, usu. a number, to a document or to the individual pages of a document. 2. BATES-STAMP NUMBER. - Sometimes (erroneously) written Bate stamp.