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cosuretyship The relation between two or more sureties who are bound to answer for the same duty of the principal, and who are jointly responsible for any loss resulting from the principal's default.

cotarius (ka-tair-ee-as). [Law Latin]. A socagetenure serf who holds land by paying rent and providing some personal services to the lord. Both cotarius and coterellus serfs were also known as cottagers. Cf. COTERELLUS.

cotenancy See TENANCY.

cotenancy A tenancy with two or more coowners who have unity of possession. - Examples are a joint tenancy and tenancy in common.

coterellus (kot-a-rel-as). [Law LatinJ Hist. A serf who inhabits a cottage; a servile tenant whose person, issue, and goods are at the disposal of the lord. - Also spelled coterell. Cf. COTARIUS. "Coterellus .... A cottager. Considered by Spelman and others, the same with cotarius. But Cowell makes the distinction that the cotarius had free socage tenure, and paid a stated firm (rent) in provisions or money, with some occasional customary service; whereas the coterellus seemed to have held in mere Villenage, and had his person and issue and goods disposed at the pleasure of the lord." 1 Alexander M. Burrill, A Law Dictionary and Glossary 387 (2d ed. 1867).

coterminous (koh-tar-ma-nas), adj. 1. (Of ideas or events), coextensive in time or meaning <Judge Smith's tenure was coterminous with Judge Jasper's>. 2. CONTERMINOUS (1).

cotland (kot-Land). Hist. Land held by a cottager, whether in socage or villeinage tenure.

cotortfeasor (koh-tort-fee-zar). One who, together with another, has committed a tort. See TORTFEASOR.

cotrustee One of two or more persons in whom the administration of a trust is vested. The cotrustees form a collective trustee and exercise their powers jointly. - Also termed joint trustee. See TRUSTEE.

cotset (kot-set). Hist. A villein who provides labor to a lord in exchange for a cottage and plot of land. - Also termed cotsetus.

cottier (kot-ee-ar). 1. Hist. A serf who lives in a cottage; a cottager. Over time, cottier has come to refer to a day laborer or a rural dweller. 2. Hist. Irish law. A tenant who leases a house and a small (usu. two acre or less) plot ofland.

couchant and levant (kow-chant / lev-ant), adj. See LEVANT AND COUCHANT.

council 1. A deliberative assembly <the U.N. Security Council>.

council of economic advisers A three-member council in the Executive Office of the President responsible for analyzing the national economy and advising the President on economic matters. Created by the Employment Act of 1946, it now functions under Reorganization Plan No. 9 of 1953. Its members are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. - Abbr. CEA.

council of the north A body used by the Tudors to administer the northern parts of England (esp. Yorkshire) during the 16th and 17th centuries. The council probably predated the Tudors, but Henry VIII revived it. In addition to enforcing Crown policy in the northern territories, the appointees (many of whom were lawyers) exercised wide criminal and civil jurisdiction. The Council disbanded ca. 1640.

council on environmental quality Council on Environmental Quality. A three-member council in the Executive Office of the President respon sible for developing and recommending national policy on environmental quality. The council was created by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Its members are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. 42 USCA § 4321 et seq. & § 4371 et seq. - Abbr. CEQ.

councillor See COUNCILOR.

councilor A person who serves on a council, esp. at the local level. - Also spelled councillor. - councillorship, n.

counsel 1. Advice or assistance <the lawyer's counsel was to petition immediately for a change of immigration status>. 2. One or more lawyers who represent a client <the client acted on advice ofcounsel>. In the singular, also termed counselor; counselor-at-law. Cf. ATTORNEY; LAWYER. 3. English law. A member of the bar; BARRISTER.

counsel and procure See AID AND ABET.

counsel assistance of See ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

counsel of record See attorney of record under ATTORNEY.

counsel, right to See RIGHT TO COUNSEL.

counselor See COUNSEL (2).

counselor-at-law See COUNSEL (2).

count 1. The part of an indictment charging the suspect with a distinct offense. 2. In a complaint or similar pleading, the statement of a distinct claim. Cf. DECLARATION (7). "This word ... is in our old law-books used synonymously with declaration .... But when the suit embraces two or more causes of action (each of which of course requires a different statement), or when the plaintiff makes two or more different statements of one and the same cause of action, each several statement is called a count, and all of them, collectively, constitute the declaration." 1 John Bouvier, A Law Dictionary 245 (1839).

count, 1. In pleading, to declare or state; to narrate the facts that state a claim. 2. To plead orally; to plead or argue a case in court.

counted vote See VOTE (4).

counter An advocate or professional pleader; one who counts (i.e., orally recites) for a client. Counters had coalesced into an identifiable group practicing before the Common Bench by the beginning of the 13th century. They were the leaders of the medieval legal profession, and over time came to be known as serjeants at law. - Also spelled countor; contor; counteur. See SERJEANT-AT-LAW.

counter deed A secret deed, executed either before a notary or under a private seal, that voids, invalidates, or alters a public deed.

counter will See mutual will under WILL.

counteraction See COUNTERCLAIM.

counteraffidavit An affidavit made to contradict and oppose another affidavit.

counteraffidavit- See AFFIDAVIT.

counterbond A bond to indemnify a surety.

counterbond- See BOND (2).

counterclaim See COUNTERCLAIM.

counterclaim- A claim for relief asserted against an opposing party after an original claim has been made; esp., a defendant's claim in opposition to or as a setoff against the plaintiff's claim. - Also termed counteraction; countersuit; cross-demand. Cf. CROSSCLAIM. counterclaim, vb. counterdaimant, n. "Under [Fed. R. Civ. P.] Rule 13 the court has broad discretion to allow claims to be joined in order to expedite the resolution of all controversies between the parties in one suit. Rule 13(c) specifically provides that the counterclaimant is not limited by recovery sought by the opposing party but may claim relief in excess of that amount. Further, the general legal rule is that it is immaterial whether a counterclaim is legal or equitable for purposes of determining whether it properly is brought under Rule 13.... The expectation is that this liberal joinder policy will further the elimination of circuity of action and multiple litigation." 6 Charles Alan Wright et aI., FedeYCII PYClctice and Procedure § 1403, at 15-16 (2d ed. 1990).

counter-complaint See COMPLAINT.

counterdeed See DEED.

counterfeisance (kown-tar-fee-zants). Archaic. The act of counterfeiting.

counterfeit To unlawfully forge, copy, or imitate an item, esp. money or a negotiable instrument (such as a security or promissory note) or other officially issued item of value (such as a postage stamp or a food stamp), or to possess such an item without authorization and with the intent to deceive or defraud by presenting the item as genuine. Counterfeiting includes producing or selling an item that displays a reproduction of a genuine trademark, usu. to deceive buyers into thinking they are purchasing genuine merchandise. See 18 USCA §§ 470 et seq. - counterfeiting, n. - counterfeit, n. - counterfeit, adj. "Literally a counterfeit is an imitation intended to pass for an original. Hence it is spurious or false, and to counterfeit is to make false. For this reason the verbs counterfeit and forge are often employed as synonyms and the same is true to some extent of the corresponding nouns. No error is involved in this usage but it is important to distinguish between the words as far as possible when used as the labels of criminal offenses, In the most restricted sense, [c]ounterfeiting is the unlawful making of false money in the simiJitude of the genuine, At one time under English statutes it was made treason. Under modern statutes it is a felony," Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 431-32 (3d ed, 1982),

counterfeit access device and computer fraud and act of 1984 A federal statute that criminalizes various computer-related activities such as accessing without permission a computer system belonging to a bank or the federal government, or using that access to improperly obtain anything of value. 18 USCA § 1030.

counterfeit mark See counterfeit trademark under TRADEMARK.

counterfeit recording An unauthorized copy of a copyright-protected recording's sounds, artwork, label, trademark, or packaging. Also termed bootleg recording.

counterfeit trademark See TRADEMARK.

counterfeiter A person who forges or otherwise makes a copy or an unauthorized imitation of something (esp. a document, currency, or another's Signature) with the intent to deceive or defraud.

counterfeiting The unlawful forgery, copying, or imitation of an item, esp. money or a negotiable instrument (such as a security or promissory note) or other officially issued item of value (such as a postage stamp), or the unauthorized possession of such an item, with the intent to deceive or defraud by claiming or passing the item as genuine. See 18 USCA §§ 470 et seq. - counterfeit, vb. counterfeit, n. - counterfeit, adj.

counterfoit (kown-tar-foyl), n. A detachable part of a writing on which the particulars of the main part are summarized. The most common example is a check stub, on which the date, the payee, and the amount are typically noted.

counterletter A document in which the parties to a simulated contract record their true intentions. La. Civ. Code art. 2025. For example, the record owner of real property may acknowledge in a counterletter that another person actually owns the property; the counterletter may then be used when the property is to be reconveyed after a period. A counterletter can have no effect against a third party acting in good faith. See simulated contract under CONTRACT.

countermand (kown-tar-mand), 1. A contradictory command that overrides or annuls a previous one. 2. An action that has the effect of voiding something previously ordered; a revocation. - countermand (kown-tar-mand or kown-), vb.

counteroffer An offeree's new offer that varies the terms of the original offer and that ordinarily rejects and terminates the original offer. A late or defective acceptance is considered a counteroffer. See MIRROR-IMAGE RULE. counteroffer, vb. counterofferor, n.

counterpart 1. In conveyancing, a corresponding part of an instrument <the other half of the indenture the counterpart could not be found>. 2. One of two or more copies or duplicates of a legal instrument <this lease may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which is considered an original>. "Formerly 'part' was used as the opposite of 'counterpart,' in respect to covenants executed in duplicate, but now each copy is called a 'counterpart.'" 2 Stewart Rapalje & Robert L. Lawrence, A Dictionary of American and English law 927 (1883), "Counterparts are not nowadays written on the same parchment, but that which is executed by the grantor of an interest is called the 'original,' while that which is executed by the party to whom the interest passes for example, a lessee is called the 'counterpart.'" G.c. Cheshire, Modern Law of Real Property 674 (3d ed. 1933).

counterpart writ See WRIT.

counterpromise A promise made in exchange for another party's promise <a promise supported by a counterpromise is binding in its inception>. See bilateral contract under CONTRACT. - counterpromise, vb.

counterpromise See COUNTERPROMISE.

counter-roll A record kept by an officer as a check on another officer's record, esp. the rolls maintained by a sheriff and a coroner.

countersign To write one's own name next to someone else's to verify the other signer's identity. - countersignature, n.

countersuit See COUNTERCLAIM.

countertrade A type of international trade in which purchases made by an importing nation are linked to off setting purchases made by the exporting nation. "Countertrade is barter in modern clothes. It developed rapidly as a form of doing business with the USSR and Eastern European nations in the 1970s and 19805, before the major economic and political reforms tended to diminish its emphasis as a means of doing business," Ralph H. Folsom & Michael W. Gordon, International Business Transactions § 2,1, at 46 (1995).

countervailable subsidy See SUBSIDY.

countervailable subsidy (kown-tar-vayl-a-bal). A foreign governments subsidy on the manufacture of goods exported to another country, giving rise to the importing countrys entitlement to impose a countervailing duty on the goods if their import caused or threatens to cause material injury to domestic industry. See countervailing duty under DUTY (4). 3. Financial assistance given by one nation to another to preserve the receiving nations neutrality or to support it in a war, even if the donor nation does not directly participate. subsidize, vb.

countervailing duty See DUTY (4).

countervailing duty- A tax imposed on manufacturers of imported goods to protect domestic industry by offsetting subsidies given by foreign governments to those manufacturers.

countervailing equity See EQUITY.

countervailing equity- (kown-tar-vayl-ing). A contrary and balancing equity, equally deserving of consideration.

counteur See COUNTER.

countez (kawn-teez). [Law French]. A direction given by a clerk of a court to a crier, after a jury was sworn, to count the jury members. "Of this ignorance we may see daily instances, in the abuse of two legal terms of ancient French; one, the prologue to all proclamations, 'oyez, or hear ye,' which is generally pronounced most unmeaningly, '0 yes:' the other, a more pardonable mistake, viz., when ajury are all sworn, the officer bids the crier number them, for which the word in law-french is, 'countez;' but we now hear it pronounced in very good English, 'count these.'" 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 334 n.S (1769).

counting house of the King's household See BOARD OF GREEN CLOTH.

countor See COUNTER.

country 1. A nation or political state; STATE (1). 2. The territory of such a nation or state.

county The largest territorial division for local government within a state, generally considered to be a political subdivision and a quasi-corporation .o Every county exists as a result of a sovereign act oflegislation, either constitutional or statutory, separating it from the rest of the state as an integral part of its territory and establishing it as one of the primary divisions of the state for purposes of civil administration. - Abbr. co. "A county is a part of the realm, inti rely governed by one sheriff under the king, but all subject to the general govern· ment of the realm; and therefore every county is as it were an intire body of itself, so that upon a feoffment of lands in many towns in one county, livery of seisin made in one parcel in anyone of the towns in the name of all, sufficeth for all the lands in all the other towns within the same county: but upon a feoffment of lands in divers counties, there must be livery of seisin in every county." Sir Henry Finch, Law, or a Discourse Thereof 79 (1759).

county agent See juvenile officer under OFFICER (1).

county agent- See juvenile officer under OFFICER (1).

county attorney An attorney who represents a county in civil matters and, in some jurisdictions, prosecutes criminal offenders.

county auditor An official who examines a county's accounts and financial records.

county auditor- See AUDITOR.

county bond A county-issued bond paid through a levy on a special taxing district, whether or not the district is coextensive with the county.

county bond- See BOND (3).

county commissioner A county officer charged usu. with the management of the county's financial affairs, its police regulations, and its corporate business. Also termed county supervisor.

county commissioner- See COMMISSIONER.

county court See COURT.

county judge See JUDGE.

county judge A local judge having criminal or civil jurisdiction, or sometimes both, within a county.

county officer An officer whose authority and jurisdiction are confined to the limits of the county served.

county officer See OFFICER (1).

county palatine (pal-a-tin or -tin). A county in which the lord held certain royal privileges, such as the right to pardon a felon or to have indictments recite that offenses were committed against the lord's - rather than the king's - peace. In England, there were three such counties: Chester, Durham, and Lancaster. The separate legal systems in these counties were slowly eliminated; the last vestiges of a separate system were abolished by the Courts Act (1971). Cf. proprietary government under GOVERNMENT. "The counties palatine were Chester, Durham, and Lan· caster. Whatever may be the precise date at which these counties became 'Palatine,' it seems likely that there was in Saxon times a jurisdiction equivalent to that of the Palatine earl, and originating in usurpation and necessity. The Central Government was too far away both before and after the Conquest to control effectually the administration of the Marches, which were always turbulent and lawless districts." A.T. Carter, A History of English Legal Institutions 192 (4th ed. 1910).

county property Property that a county is authorized to acquire, hold, or sell.

county purpose An objective pursued by a county; esp., one that a county levies taxes for.

county seat The municipality where a county's principal offices are located. - Also termed county town.

county supervisor See county commissioner under COMMISSIONER.

county town See COUNTY SEAT.

county warrant See WARRANT (3).

county-court 1. A court with powers and jurisdiction dictated by a state constitution or statute. The county court may govern administrative or judicial matters, depending on state law. Also termed parish court; (in Latin) curia comitatus. 2. See probate court.

coup d'etat (koo day-tah). [French "stroke of state"] A sudden, usu. violent, change of government through seizure of power.

coupon (koo-pon). An interest or dividend certificate that is attached to another instrument, such as a bond, and that may be detached and separately presented for payment of a definite sum at a specified time. - Also termed interest coupon.

coupon bond A bond with attached interest coupons that the holder may present to receive interest payments. See BOND COUPON.

coupon bond- See BOND (3).

coupon interest rate See coupon rate under INTEREST RATE.

coupon note See NOTE (1).