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betrothal 1. A religious ceremony con-firming an agreement to marry. Historically, a betrothal was performed months or years before the parties wedded. It was in theory as legally binding as a marriage and created an impediment to marriage with any other person, but not an insurmountable impedi-ment. In modern form, the betrothal is usu. part of the marriage ceremony. Also termed betrothment. See ENGAGEMENT (2). Cf. precontract under CONTRACT; ESPOUSALS. 2. Slang. A corporate merger agreement.

betrothment See BETROTHAL (1).

betterment 1.An improvement that increases the value of real property; esp., an enhancement in the nature of an alteration or addition that goes beyond repair or restoration to a former condition. 2. An improvement of a highway, railroad, or building that goes beyond repair Of resto-ration. 3. An increase in value, esp. real-estate value, attributable to improvements. See IMPROVEMENT.

betterment tax A tax for the improvement of highways.

betterment act A statute requiring a landowner to compensate an occupant who improves the land under a mistaken belief that the occupant is the real owner.The compensation usu. equals the increase in the land's value generated by the improvements. Also termed occupying-claimant act; occupant statute.

betterment tax See BETTERMENT TAX.

betting See PARIMUTUEL BETTING.

beyond a reasonable doubt See REASONABLE DOUBT.

beyond seas 1. (Of a person) being absent from a jurisdiction or nation; out of the country, esp. across the ocean. This term was used when a person could not be served with a summons, notice, etc. because the person was absent from the jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions toll the statute oflimitations during a defendant's absence. 2. Out-of-state. Although originally beyond seas meant "out of the country," the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the term includes absence from a state. Murray's Lessee v. Baker, 16 U.S. 541, 545 (1818). - Also termed beyond sea; beyond the seas; ultra mare. "[l]t has been provided that if any person or persons against whom there shall be any cause of action shall at the time of its accrual be beyond seas, then the person or persons entitled to any such cause of action shall be at liberty to bring the same against such person or persons within such time as before limited, after his or their return from beyond seas." John Indermaur, Principles of the Common Law 240 (Edmund H. Bennett ed., 1st Am. ed. 1878).

bfoq BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION.

bfp See bona fide purchaser under PURCHASER (1).

bhc BANK HOLDING COMPANY.

bIa 1. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 2. BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS.

bias Inclination; prejudice; predilection <the juror's bias prompted a challenge for cause>. bias, vb. biased, adj.

bIc BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD.

bicameral (Of a legislature) having two legislative houses (usu. called the House of Representatives, or the Assembly, and the Senate) .The federal government and all states except Nebraska have bicamerallegisla-tures. bicameralism, n.

Bicameral Clause The constitutional provision that creates the two legislative chambers of Congress. See U.S. Const. art.!, § 1.

bid 1. A buyer's offer to pay a specified price for something that mayor may not be for sale <a bid at an auction> <a takeover bid>.

bid and asked A notation describing the range of prices quoted for securities in an over-the-counter stock exchange. Bid denotes the highest price the buyer is willing to pay, and asked denotes the lowest price the seller will accept. See SPREAD (2).

bid bond See BOND (2).

bid bond- A bond filed in public construction projects to ensure that the bidding contractor will enter into the contract. The bid bond is a type of performance bond.

bid in A bid made by the owner of auctioned property to ensure that the property is not sold below actual value.

bid in- See BID (1).

bid off To purchase by bid at auction or judicial sale.

bid off- See BID (1).

bid peddling See BID-SHOPPING.

bid price See PRICE.

bid price The highest price that a prospective buyer is willing to pay for a security at a given time. See SPREAD (2).

bid quote The price a broker will pay for a security or commodity.

bid wanted A dealer's notation that bids are being sought from anyone on a security for sale . The notation appears in the pink sheets. Abbr. BW. See PINK SHEET.

bidding up The act or practice of raising the price for an auction item by making a series of progressively higher bids. Bidding up is unlawful if the bids are made collusively by persons with an interest in raising the bids. ct BY-BIDDING; SHILLING (1).

biderepe See BEDRIP.

bid-shopping A general contractor's effort after being awarded a contract to reduce its own costs by finding a subcontractor that will submit a lower bid than the one used in calculating the total contract price. If a lower bid is obtained, the general contractor will receive a windfall profit because the savings are usu. not passed on to the property owner. The subcontrac-tor whose bid is used in the initial proposal can seek to avoid bid-shopping by insisting that it be irrevocably named in the contract as the project's subcontractor.

biennial session See SESSION (1).

biennial session A legislative session held every two years. Most state legislatures have biennial sessions, usu. held in odd-numbered years.

biennium (bI-en-ee-am). 1. A two-year period. 2. The period for which many state legislatures make appropriations.

biens (beenz or byenz). [French] Hist. Goods; property. Biens includes real property in most civil-law juris-dictions. Cf. BONA.

bifactoral obligation (bi-fak-tar-al). An obligation created by two parties.

bifactoral obligation See OBLIGATION.

bifurcated divorce See divisible divorce under DIVORCE.

bifurcated divorce- See divisible divorce.

bifurcated trial See TRIAL.

big bath A write-oil of significant costs, taken to shed an unprofitable business line or to remove the necessity for future write-offs.

Big Board 1. The New York Stock Exchange . This sense of Big Board may have derived from the former name of the NYSE - New York Stock and Exchange Board. 2. A quotation display showing the current prices of securi-ties listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

big pot See MAIN POT.

bigamous (big-a-mas), 1. (Of a person) guilty of bigamy. 2. (Of a marriage) involving bigamy.

bigamus (big-a-mas), 1. One who commits bigamy; a bigamist. 2. A man who marries a widow, or who remarries. Under ecclesiastical law, a bigamus could be denied benefit of clergy.

bigamy 1. The act of marrying one person while legally married to another. - Bigamy is distinct from adultery: It is a criminal offense if it is committed know-ingly. In 1878, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the government was not constitutionally prohibited from banning Mormon polygamy. Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. (8 Otto) 145 (1878). 2. Eccles. law. The act of marrying a widow or widower, or a divorced person . Somewhat surprisingly, sense 2 is valid even under modern ecclesiastical law, but it is not an offense, only a bar to entering holy orders. -Also termed sequential marriage. See DEUTEROGAMY. Cf. POLYGAMY; MONOGAMY; ADULTERY. -bigamist, n.

bilagines (bI·lay-ja-neez). [Law Latin] Hist. Town bylaws; laws made by a town's inhabitants for their own government.

bilan (bee-Iahn). [French "balance sheet"] Civil law. A book used by bankers and merchants to record all that they owe and all that is owed to them; a balance sheet.

bilanciis deferendis (bi-lan-shee-is def-ar-en-dis). Hist. An obsolete writ ordering a corporation to carry weights to a given place to weigh wool licensed for transportation.

bilateral Affecting or obligating both parties <a bilateral contract>.

bilateral mistake See mutual mistake (1) under MISTAKE.

bilateral act An act that involves the consenting wills of two or more distinct parties, as with a contract, a conveyance, a mortgage, or a lease; AGREEMENT (1).

bilateral act- See ACT.

bilateral advance pricing agreement An advance pricing agreement made between a company and two tax authorities.

bilateral advance pricing agreement- See ADVANCE PRICING AGREEMENT.

bilateral contract See CONTRACT.

bilateral contract- A contract in which each party promises a performance, so that each party is an obligor on that party's own promise and an obligee on the other's promise; a contract in which the parties obligate t)1emselves reciprocally, so that the obligation of one party is correlative to the obligation of the other. Also termed mutual contract; reciprocal contract; (in civil law) synallagmatic contract. See COUNTERPROMISE. "In a bilateral contract a promise, or set of promises on one side, is exchanged for a promise or a set of promises on the other side. In a unilateral contract, on the other hand, a promise on one side is exchanged for an act (or a forbearance) on the other side. Typical examples of bilateral contracts are contracts of sale, the buyer promising to pay the price and the seller promising to deliver the goods. A typical example of a unilateral contract is a promise of a reward for the finding of lost property followed by the actual finding of the property." P.s. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 32 (3d ed. 1981).

bilateral monopoly See MONOPOLY.

bilboes (bil-bohz). 1. A device for punishment at sea consisting of a board with holes that secure an offender's hands and feet. Cf. STOCKS. 2. An iron bar with sliding shackles for confining the ankles of pris-oners, esp. on shipboard.

bill 1. A formal written complaint, such as a court paper requesting some specific action for reasons alleged. 2. An equitable pleading by which a claimant brings a claim in a court of equity . Before the merger of law and equity, the bill in equity was analogous to a declaration in law. The nine parts of every equitable bill are (1) the address to the person holding the great seal, (2) the introduction, which identifies the parties, (3) the premises, which state the plaintiff's case, (4) the confed-erating part, in which the defendants are charged with combination, (5) the charging part, in which the plain-tiff may try to overcome defenses that the defendants may allege, (6) the jurisdictional clause, showing that the court has jurisdiction, (7) the interrogating part, inserted to try to compel a full and complete answer, (8) the prayer for relief, and (9) the prayer for process to compel the defendants to appear and answer. Also termed bill in equity. See DECLARATION (7). - Also termed bill in chancery; bill of chancery; bill of equity; bill for foreclosure. "The statement of the plaintiff's cause of action in equity is called the bill. To this bill the defendant (unless he could protect himself by a demurrer or a plea) was obliged to put in an answer under oath." George Tucker Bispham, The Principles of Equity: A Treatise on the System of Justice Administered in Courts of Chancery § 9, at 12 (11th ed. 1931).

bill broker A middleman who negotiates the purchase or sale of commercial paper.

Bill Chamber A division of the Court of Session in which some remedies could be granted. The Lord Ordinary on the Bills presided over the court. It was abolished in 1933 and merged into the Court of Session.

bill for a new trial A bill in equity to enjOin a judgment and to obtain a new trial because of some fact that would render enforcement of the judgment inequi-table .o The fact must have been either unavailable or unknown to the party at trial through fraud or accident. Cf. MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL.

bill in aid of execution A bill filed by a judgment creditor to set aside a fraudulent encumbrance or conveyance.

bill in aid of execution- See BILL (2).

bill in equity See BILL (2).

bill in perpetuam rei memoriam See bill to perpetu-ate testimony.

bill in perpetuam rei memoriam- See bill to perpetuate testimony under BILL (2).

bill in the nature of a bill of review A post judgment bill of review filed by someone who was neither a party to the original suit nor bound by the decree sought to be reversed. Also termed supplemental bill in the nature of a bill of review.

bill in the nature of a bill of revivor A bill filed when a litigant dies or becomes incapacitated before the liti-gant's interest in property could be determined . 'The purpose of the bill is to resolve who holds the right to revive the original litigation in the deceased's stead.

bill in the nature of a supplemental bill A bill bringing to court new parties and interests arising from events that occur after the suit is filed . A supplemental bill, in contrast, involves parties or interests already before the court.

bill in the nature of interpleader A bill of interpleader filed by a person claiming an interest in interpleaded property.

bill number The number assigned to a proposed piece of legislation, typically designating the house in which it was introduced (S for senate or HR for house of repre-sentatives) followed by a sequential number.

bill obligatory A written promise to pay; a promissory note under seal. - Also termed single bond. See NOTE (1).

bill of adventure A shipper's written statement that the shipped property belongs to another and is conveyed at the owner's risk.

bill of attainder 1. Archaic. A special legislative act that imposes a death sentence on a person without a trial. 2. A special legislative act prescribing punish-ment, without a trial, for a specific person or group. Bills of attainder are prohibited by the U.S. Constitu-tion (art.!' § 9, c1. 3; art. I, § 10, cl. 1). Also termed of attainder. See ATTAINDER; BILL OF PAINS AND PENALTIES.

bill of certiorari A bill in equity seeking removal of an action to a higher court. See CERTIORARI.

bill of complaint An original bill that begins an action in a court of equity. See COMPLAINT (1). A suit in equity, under the procedure of the English Court of Chancery, which was generally adopted in the American States prior to the code, is instituted by the plaintiff filing a bill of complaint. The plaintiff is usually called the com· plainant, in the Federal courts the complainant or plain-tiff indifferently. The bill is in substance a petition to the chancellor, or judge of the court of equity, setting forth at large the grounds of the suit, and praying the process of the court;its subpoena, to bring the defendant into court and compel him to answer the plaintiff's bill, and, also, for such relief by decree or interlocutory remedy, by way of injunction, etc., as the plaintiff supposes himself entitled to." Edwin E. Bryant, The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of Civil Procedure 55 (2d ed. 1899).

bill of conformity A bill filed by an executor or admin-istrator who seeks the court's guidance in administering an estate. The bill is usu. filed to adjust creditors' claims.

bill of costs A certified, itemized statement of the amount of costs owed by one litigant to another, prepared so that the prevailing party may recover the costs from the losing party. Also termed cost bill.

bill of credit 1. Legal tender in the form of paper, issued by a state and involving the faith of the state, designed to circulate as money in the ordinary uses ofbusiness. U.S. Const. art. I, § 10. 2. LETTER OF CREDIT.

bill of debt A debt instrument, such as a bill obligatory or promissory note.

bill of debt- See BILL (7).

bill of discovery A bill in equity seeking disclo-sure of facts within the opposing party's knowledge. See DISCOVERY.

bill of entry A written description of goods filed by an importer with customs officials to obtain permission to unload a ship's goods.

bill of evidence A transcript of testimony heard at trial.

bill of exceptions 1. A formal written statement Signed by the trial judge and presented to the appellate court of a party's objections or excep-tions taken during trial and the grounds on which they are founded. These bills have largely been replaced by straight appeals under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See EXCEPTION (1). 2. In some jurisdictions, a record made to preserve error after the judge has excluded evidence.

bill of exchange See DRAFT (1).

bill of foreclosure A bill in equity filed by a lender to have mortgaged property sold to satisfy all or part of the secured, unpaid debt.

bill of health A statement certifying the healthy condition of a ship's cargo and crew. The bill is issued by the port authority from which a vessel sails and is shown to the port authority at the ship's destination as proof that the ship's cargo and crew are disease-free. A "clean" bill states that no conta-gious or infectious diseases were present at the port; a "touched" or "foul" bill states that the named disease was suspected, anticipated, or actually present.

bill of indemnity 1. An act of Parliament passed annually to protect officeholders who unwittingly fail to take a required oath from liability for acts done in an official capacity. A more general statute, the Promis-sory Oaths Act, replaced the bill of indemnity in 1868. 2. A law protecting a public official from liability for official acts. 3. An initial pleading by which a plaintiff seeks to require another (often an insurance company) to dis-charge the plaintiff's liability to a third person

bill of indictment An instrument presented to a grand jury and used by the jury to declare whether there is enough evidence to formally charge the accused with a crime. See INDICTMENT; NO BILL; TRUE BILL.

bill of information 1. INFORMATION. 2. Rist. A civil suit begun by the Crown or by those under its protection, such as a charity.

bill of interpleader An original bill filed by a party against two or more persons who claim from that party the same debt or duty. The requesting party asks the court to compel the contenders to litigate and establish their rights to the debt or the duty. See INTERPLEADER. The common law offered the stakeholder no relief, in that if he paid in good faith to one claimant, he might never-theless be sued by and required to pay another claimant. And a judgment at law in favor of one claimant against the stakeholder was no defense to an action against the stakeholder by another claimant. However, in equity the bill or suit of interpleader offers him a remedy in that he may interplead (bring) into one action all of the claim· ants, turn the money or property over to the court, be himself dismissed from the proceeding, and have the court deCide which of the claimants is entitled to the fund or property ... William Q. de Funiak, Handbook of Modern Equitty § 108, at 241-42 (2d ed. 1956).

bill of interpleader- See BILL (2).

bill of lading See BILL OF LADING.

bill of lading- (layd-ing). (l6c) A document acknowledg-ing the receipt of goods by a carrier or by the shipper's agent and the contract for the transportation of those goods; a document that indicates the receipt of goods for shipment and that is issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods. UCC § 1-201(6). - A negotiable bill oflading is a document of title. - Abbr. B/L. - Cf. WAYBILL; AIRBILL. "A bill of lading may be regarded in three several aspects. (l) It is a receipt given by the master of a ship acknowledg-ing that the goods specified in the bill have been put on board; (2) it is the document [that] contains the terms ofthe contract for the carriage of the goods agreed upon between the shipper of the goods and the shipowner (whose agent the master of the ship is); and (3) it is a 'document of title' to the goods, of which it is the symbol. It is by means of this document of title that the goods themselves may be dealt with by the owner of them while they are still on board ship and upon the high seas." William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of Contract 380 (Arthur L. Corbin ed .o 3d Am. ed. 1919).

bill of Middlesex A process by which the Court of the King's Bench in Middlesex obtains jurisdiction over a defendant who resides in a county outside the Court's jurisdiction, by alleging a fictitious trespass in a county over which the court has jurisdiction .o Once the sheriff returns the bill noting that the defendant is not in the county where the trespass occurred, a latitat is issued to the sheriff of the defendant's actual resi-dence. See LATITAT. "The bill of Middlesex is a kind of capias, directed to the sheriff of that county, and commanding him to take the defendant, and have him before our lord the king at West-minster on a day prefixed, to answer to the plaintiff of a plea of trespass. For this accusation of trespass it is, that gives the court of king's bench jurisdiction in other civil causes, as was formerly observed; since when once the defendant is taken into custody ... , he, being then a prISoner of this court, may here be prosecuted for any other species of injury." 3 William Blackstone, Commentar-ies on the Laws of England 285 (1768).