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broker-agent. See BROKER.

brokerage-run dividend-reinvestment plan See DIVI-DEND-REINVESTMENT PLAN.

brokerage-run dividend-reinvestment plan- A formal or informal program managed by a brokerage and allowing shareholders to reinvest dividends in a portfolio, often at no cost. Brokerage-run plans are usu. limited to dividend reinvestment.

broker-dealer A brokerage firm that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account (i.e., as a principal) before selling them to custom-ers. Such a firm is usuregistered with the SEC and with the state in which it does business. See DEALER (2). "Since many broker-dealers maintain custody of funds and securities belonging to their customers, safeguards are required to assure that the customers can recover those funds and securities in the event the broker-dealer becomes insolvent. The three principal techniques that have been utilized are (a) financial responsibility standards for broker-dealers, (b) requirements for segregation of customers' funds and securities, and (c) maintenance of an industry-wide fund to satisfy the claims of customers whose brokerage firms become insolvent." David L. Ratner, Securities Regulation in a Nutshell 182-83 (4th ed. 1992).

broker-dealer- See BROKER.

broker-dealer. See broker-dealer under BROKER.

broker's broker A municipal securities broker or dealer who routinely effects transactions for the account of other brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers.

broker's broker- See BROKER.

broker's loan statement A document that details the costs of and deductions from a loan negoti-ated by a real-estate or mortgage broker on behalf of a borrower . Deductions may be made for commissions and other costs. The borrower usu. signs the statement and retains a copy. The statement may be required by law. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10240 (West 2008). Cf. CLOSING STATEMENT (2).

broker's note See NOTE (3).

brothel A building or business where prostitutes ply their trade; a whorehouse. Also termed house of ill fame. See DISORDERLY HOUSE (2).

brother (bef. 12c), A male who has one parent or both parents in common with another person.

brother-german A full brother; the son of both of one's parents. See GERMAN.

brother-german- See BROTHER.

brother-in-law The brother of one's spouse or the husband of one's sister .The husband of one's spouse's sister is also sometimes considered a brother-in-law. PI. brothers in law.

brother-sister corporation See sister corporation under CORPORATION.

brother-sister corporation- See sister corporation.

brownfield site An abandoned, idled, or underused industrial or commercial site that is difficult to expand or redevelop because of environmental contamination. Cf. GREENFIELD SITE (1).

Brussels Act A 1948 revision of the Berne Convention mandating the life-plus-50-years copyright term as a minimum standard, extending the moral rights of attribution and integrity in most member countries to the full copyright term, extending the broadcast right to television, strengthening protection of several forms of copyright protection, and extending some protection to industrial designs.

Brussels Convention See BRUSSELS SATELLITE CONVENTION.

Brussels Satellite Convention Copyright. A 1974 treaty standardizing the regulation of broadcasting and cable retransmission using satellites Since the Convention addresses regulation of the signal rather than copyright or neighboring rights, what is transmitted is protected even if the content is not protected by any intellectual-property right. The U.S. ratified the Brussels Satellite Convention in 1984. Also termed Brussels Conven-tion; Convention Relating to the Distribution of Pro-gram-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite.

Bruton error (broot-an). The violation of a criminal defendant's constitutional right of confrontation by admitting into evidence a nontestify-ing codefendant's confession that implicates both of them, where the statement is not admissible against the defendant under any exception to the hearsay rule The error is not cured by a limiting instruction to the jury to consider the confession only against the one who made it, because of the high risk that the jury will disregard the instruction. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620 (1968).

brutum fulmen (broo-tam fal-men or -man). [Latin "inert thunder"] 1. An empty noise; an empty threat; something ineffectual. 2. A judgment void on its face; one that is, in legal effect, no judgment at all.

Bryan treaties Any of 48 treaties designed to avert war by requiring the signatories to submit disputes of any kind to standing peace commissions .The first of these treaties, named after Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, was signed between the United States and Great Britain in 1914.

bsa BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE.

bsd license See LICENSE.

bsd-style license See BSD license under LICENSE.

bta Board of Tax Appeals. See TAX COURT, U.S.

bts 1. BORDER AND TRANSPORTATION SAFETY DIRECTORATE. 2. BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS.

bubble A dishonest or insubstantial business project, generally founded on a fictitious or exaggerated prospectus, designed to ensnare unwary investors.

bubble act An English statute passed in 1720 to prevent corporate fraud.

bucket shop An establishment that is nominally engaged in stock-exchange transactions or some similar business, but in fact engages in registering bets or wagers, usu. for small amounts, on the rise or fall of the prices of stocks and commodities .o A bucket shop uses the terms and outward forms of the exchanges, but differs from exchanges because there is no delivery of and no expectation or intention to deliver or receive the securities or commodities nominally exchanged.

bucketing The illegal practice of receiving an order to buy or sell stock but not immediately performing the order .The perpetrator profits by executing the order when the stock market goes down or up, respectively, but confirming the order to the customer at the original price.

buckley amendment See FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT.

budapest treaty on the International Recognition of the deposit An international treaty promulgating standards and procedures for deposit-ing microorganisms and requiring member countries to recognize a deposit of biological material made in any depository approved by the World Intellectual Property Organization .The purpose of the Budapest Treaty is to allow inventors to satisfy the enablement requirement of national patent laws by depositing in a convenient depository a sample of a microorganism to be patented. The U.S. is a signatory to the Budapest Treaty.

budget 1. A statement of an organization's esti-mated revenues and expenses for a specified period, usu. a year. 2. A sum of money allocated to a particular purpose or project. balanced budget. A budget in which a period's total projected income equals the total estimated expenses.

budget bill A bill designating how money will be allo-cated for the following fiscal year.

budget bill- See BILL (3).

Buenos Aires Convention A 1910 treaty reg-ulating copyright reciprocity among Latin American nations and the United States .Under this agreement, the phrase "all rights reserved" guaranteed copyright protection in member nations. Since all the Conven-tion's signatories are now signatories to more recent and broader international-copyright treaties, this Convention now has little if any practical effect.

buffer zone Land-use planning. An area ofland separating two different zones or areas to help each blend more easily with the other, such as a strip of land between industrial and residential areas.

bug 1. A flaw or mistake in a computer program that results in an error or undesired result. 2. The printed mark of a labor union.

buggery Sodomy or bestiality. See SODOMY. bugger, vb.- bugger, n.

bugging A form of electronic surveillance by which conversations may be electronically intercepted, overheard, or recorded, usu. covertly; eavesdropping by electronic means. See EAVESDROPPING; WIRETAPPING.

building A structure with walls and a roof, esp. a permanent structure . For purposes of some criminal statutes, such as burglary and arson, the term building may include such things as motor vehicles and watercraft.

building code A law or regulation setting forth stan-dards for the construction, maintenance, occupancy, use, or appearance of buildings and dwelling units. Also termed (for dwelling units) housing code. Cf. BUILDING RESTRICTIONS.

building lease See LEASE.

building line A boundary drawn along a curb or the edge of a municipality's sidewalks to establish how far a building must be set away from the street to maintain a uniform appearance .This is often referred to as a setback requirement.

building loan See LOAN.

building permit A license granted by a government agency (esp. a municipality) for the construction of a new building or the substantial alteration of an existing structure.

building restrictions Regulations governing the type of structures that can be constructed on certain property. The restrictions are usu. listed in zoning ordinances or restrictive covenants in deeds. Cf. BUILDING CODE; restrictive covenant under COVENANT (4). Cf. BUILDING CODE.

building-and-Ioan association A quasi-public corporation that accumulates funds through member contributions and lends money to the members buying or building homes. Cf. SAVINGS-AND-LOAN ASSOCIATION.

build-to-print contract See CONTRACT.

build-to-print contract- A contract requiring the contractor to build a product according to exact technical specifications proVided by the customer. The design specifications are explicit and are often coupled with performance specifications, so the contractor has little discretion in how to perform. Much governmental contracting is build-to-print. - Also termed designspecification contract. Cf. performance contract (1).

built-in obsolescence See planned obsolescence under OBSOLESCENCE.

bulk (Of goods) not divided into parts <a bulk shipment of grain>.

bulk discount See volume discount under DISCOUNT.

bulk discount- See volume discount.

bulk mortgage See MORTGAGE.

bulk sale See BULK SALE.

bulk sale A sale of a large quantity of inventory outside the ordinary course of the seller's business . Bulk sales are regulated by Article 6 of the UCC, which is designed to prevent sellers from defrauding unse-cured creditors by making these sales and then dissi-pating the sale proceeds. Also termed bulk transfer.

bulk transfer See BULK SALE.

bulk-sales law A statute regulating the transfer of business assets, usu. by requiring public notice of any sale to prevent business owners from disposing of assets to the detriment of creditors and suppliers. See UCC §§ 6-101 et seq. See BULK SALE.

bulky goods See GOODS.

bulky goods- Goods that are obviously difficult to move because of their nature, their number, or their location.

bull 1. A document issued by a pope, so called from the leaden seal (bulla) attached to it. 2. A seal attached to an official document, esp. a papal edict.

bull market See MARKET.

bulla (buul-a-or-bal-a). [Law Latin] A metal or wax papal seal or document.

bullet ballot See bullet vote under VOTE (1).

bullet ballot- See bullet vote under VOTE (1).

bullet vote See VOTE (1).

bulletin des lois (buul-a-tan day lwah). French law. The publication that provides official notice of the text and effective date of a law or decree.

bullion (buul-Yan). An uncoined solid mass of gold or silver.

bullion fund Public money used by a mint to purchase precious metals for coinage and to pay bullion depositors.

bullpen 1. An area in a prison where inmates are kept in close confinement. 2. A detention cell where prisoners are held until they are brought into court.

bumbailiff See BAILIFF.

bumbailiff- 1. bre. Slang. A bailiff of the lowest rank who performs the most menial tasks, such as arrest-ing debtors and serving writs . In British English, "bum" is slang for a person's buttocks. Some sources suggest that bumbailiffs are so called because they often approached debtors from behind before arrest-ing them. 2. See bound bailiff

bumbershoot insurance See INSURANCE.

bumbershoot insurance 1. Marine insurance that provides broad coverage for ocean marine risks. 2. See umbrella insurance. This term derives from the British slang tecm for umbrella. The term applies esp. to a policy insured through the London insurance market. See umbrella policy under INSURANCE POLICY.

bum-marriage doctrine The principle that the marital-witness privilege may not be asserted by a partner in a marriage that is in fact moribund, though legally valid. See marital privilege (2) under PRIVILEGE (3).

bumping 1. Displacement of a junior employee's position by a senior employee. 2. An airline-industry practice of denying seats to passengers because of over-booking.

bunco A swindling game or scheme; any trick or ploy calculated to win a person's confidence in an attempt to deceive that person. Also spelled bunko. Also termed bunco steering. Cf. CONFIDENCE GAME.

bunco steerer 1. One who uses tricks, schemes, or other illegal devices to obtain money or property from others; a swindler. 2. One who acts as a decoy in bunco. Also termed bunco operator; bunco man. See CONFIDENCE MAN.

bundle See RECORD (4).

bundle- To sell related products or services in one transaction at an all-inclusive price.

bundle of rights See PROPERTY (1).

bundled software Software that is sold together with hardware, other software, or services at a single price.

bundling In the computer industry, the practice of charging a single price for a combination of hardware, software, or services . Personal computers are typically sold with bundled software, such as an operating system and applications software that are preinstalled on the hardware.

bunkhouse rule The principle that an employee's injury suffered while living in an employer's housing is compensable even if the injury occurs during off duty hours.

burden 1. A duty or responsibility <the seller's burden to insure the shipped goods>. 2. Some-thing that hinders or oppresses <a burden on inter-state commerce>. 3. A restriction on the use or value of land; an encumbrance <the easement created a burden on the estate>. 4. Scots law. An encumbrance, restric-tion, or obligation imposed on a person or on property <the burden of curatorship> <a servitude is a burden on land> . When the burden is on real property, it is called a real burden. - burden, vb.- burdeusome, adj.

burden of allegation A party's duty to plead a matter in order for that matter to be heard in the lawsuit. Also termed burden of pleading.

burden of going forward with evidence See BURDEN OF PRODUCTION.

burden of persuasion A party's duty to convince the fact-finder to view the facts in a way that favors that party . In civil cases, the plaintiff's burden is usu. "by a preponderance of the evidence," while in criminal cases the prosecution's burden is "beyond a reasonable doubt." Also termed persuasion burden; risk of non-persuasion; risk ofjury doubt. Also loosely termed burden of proof.

burden of pleading See BURDEN OF ALLEGATION.

burden of production A party's duty to introduce enough evidence on an issue to have the issue decided by the fact-finder, rather than decided against the party in a peremptory ruling such as a summary judgment or a directed verdict. Also termed burden of going forward with evidence; burden of producing evidence; production burden; degree of proof.

burden of proof 1. A party's duty to prove a disputed assertion or charge. The burden of proof includes both the burden of persuasion and the burden of production. Also termed onus probandi. See SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF PROOF. 2. Loosely, BURDEN OF PERSUASION. "In the past the term 'burden of proof' has been used in two different senses. (1) The burden of going forward with the evidence. The party having this burden must introduce some evidence if he wishes to get a certain issue into the case. If he introduces enough evidence to require consid-eration of this issue, this burden has been met. (2) Burden of proof in the sense of carrying the risk of non persuasion. The one who has this burden stands to lose if his evidence fails to convince the jury or the judge in a nonjury trial. The present trend is to use the term 'burden of proof' only with this second meaning ." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 78 (3d ed. 1982). 'The expression 'burden of proof' is tricky because it has been used by courts and writers to mean various things. Strictly speaking, burden of proof denotes the duty of establishing by a fair preponderance of the eVidence the truth of the operative facts upon which the issue at hand is made to turn by substantive law. Burden of proof is sometimes used in a secondary sense to mean the burden of going forward with the evidence. In this sense it is sometimes said that a party has the burden of countering with eVidence a prima facie case made against that party." William D.Hawkland, Uniform CommerCial Code Series § 2A-516:08 (1984).

burden-shifting analysis A court's scrutiny of a com-plainant's evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to require the opposing party to present contrary evidence . Burden shifting is most commonly applied in discrimination cases. If the plaintiff presents suf-ficient evidence of discrimination, the burden shifts to the defendant to show a legitimate, nondiscrimina-tory basis for its actions. The precise components of the analysis vary depending on the context of the claim. Cf. MCDONNELL DOUGLAS TEST.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms 1. See ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU. 2. See BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS, AND EXPLOSIVES.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives A unit in the u.s. Department of Homeland Security responsible for enforcing laws relating to firearms and explosives and laws relating to the production, taxation, and distribution of alcohol and tobacco products. Formerly called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and a part of the Department of the Treasury, its law-enforcement functions were transferred in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Pub. 1. 107-296. Abbr. ATF. Cf. ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU.

Bureau of Arms Control A unit in the U.S. Department of State responsible for directing U.S. participation in multilateral arms-control negotiations and in the Orga· nization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. -It also monitors developments relating to arms control and weapons development.

Bureau of Consular Affairs A unit in the U.S. Department of State responsible for protecting U.S. citizens and interests abroad. Through its Office of Passport Services it issues over 7 million passports each year.