Definitions from Case Law

one which is published four or more days per week, which is in the English language and which is circulated generally in the community of publication.

the loss, injury, or deterioration caused by negligence, design, or accident of one person to another in respect of the latter's personal property, whereas damages signifies compen

As construed by this court, the second proviso embraces three classes: (1) Loss, damage, or injury due to delay; (2) damage while being loaded or unloaded; (3) damage in transit. L

money awarded as reparation for injury resulting from breach of legal duty.

The measure of damages is the loss actually sustained by the eviction from the land for which the title has failed, and that damage would not usually be ascertained by taking the a

The rule in such a case is, the amount of profits received by the unlawful use of the machines, as this, in general, is the damage done to the owner of the patent.

all damages resulting from the taking and detention of the goods.

The phraseology of the section was adopted to avoid the strictness of construction incident to a law imposing penalties, and to give the owner of a copyright some recompense for in

In cases of marine torts, this Court have deliberately settled, that the probable profits of a voyage are not a fit mode for the ascertainment of damages. It is considered that the

an amount received (other than workmen's compensation) through prosecution of a legal suit or action based upon tort or tort type rights, or through a settlement agreement entered

The non-payment of money at the day, is a forfeiture of a counter bond. Putting the obligee in danger of being arrested is a damnification.

And whatever may be the injury that casually results to an individual from the act of another while pursuing the reasonable exercise of an established right, it is his misfortune.

it is sufficient if he were placed by the misconduct of the defendant, in such a situation as obliged him to adopt the alternative of a dangerous leap, or to remain at certain peri

the condition of a person whose behavior or significant threats support a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical harm upon another pe

the condition of a person whose behavior, significant threats or inaction supports a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical or severe

These terms, 'dangers of lake navigation,' include all the ordinary perils which attend navigation on the lakes, and among others, that which arises from shallowness of the waters

Losses arising from the dangers of navigation within the meaning of the exception set up in this case are not such as are in any degree produced from the intervention of man. They

As this case is stated, the Mary was driven into Porto Rico, and the sale of her cargo, while there, was inevitable. The dangers of the sea placed her in a situation which put it o

the earlier of the date on which a foreign nation which, as of the date the WTO Agreement enters into force with respect to the United States, is not a nation adhering to the Berne

the time from eight o'clock antemeridian to five o'clock postmeridian.

that two theatres exhibit a first-run at the same time.

A person's right to reasonable notice of a charge against him, and an opportunity to be heard in his defense—a right to his day in court—are basic in our system of jurisprudence; a

The word 'days,' when not qualified, means in ordinary and common usage calendar days.

In this country and in England, three days of grace are given by the general commercial law, and the day the note matures is not one of them. In Hamburg, the day the bill falls due

any person who is engaged within the Commonwealth in the business of receiving, purchasing, pasteurizing, bottling, processing, distributing, or otherwise handling milk, purchases

limited to one who, as a merchant, buys and sells securities to customers for the profit thereon

nothing in that section indicates that the broad term 'dealing with' is to be read as synonymous with the more limited term 'bargaining with.' The legislative history of § 2(5) str

The true interpretation, however, of that rule is, not that it prohibits purchases generally, but that it prohibits buying and selling for the purposes of gain. It aims to interdic

payments under a life insurance contract." § 20.111.1(B).

it is the power to transmit or the transmission or receipt of property by death which is the subject levied upon by all death duties

such a tax is not a death duty which flows from the power to control the succession; it is a stock transfer tax which flows from the power of the state to control and condition the

The most that can be demanded of a venireman in this regard is that he be willing to consider all of the penalties provided by state law, and that he not be irrevocably committed,

the power of Congress to impose death taxes is not limited to the taxation of transfers at death. It extends to the creation, exercise, acquisition, or relinquishment of any power

To debauch is to corrupt in morals or principles; to lead astray morally into dishonest and vicious practices; to corrupt; to lead into unchastity; to debauch. Debauchery, then, is

serial obligations of a corporation not secured by a specific mortgage, pledge or assignment of property.

in the strictest sense, then, the bond is a debitum in presenti, though looking to the condition it may be properly said to be solvendum in futuro: and we think that it is in the s

liability on a claim.

the making of a contract, express, or implied with a particular debtor whereby the debtor agrees to pay a certain amount of money periodically to the person engaged in the debt adj

the general rule is, that debt does lie against executors upon a simple contract; and that an exception is, that it does not lie in the particular case, where the testator may wage

a person who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed to.

But a debt of record, in the sense of the common law, is a debt or contract created of record; such as a statute staple, or statute merchant, and not one whose previous existence i

We lay it down, therefore, as the general rule, that in every instance in which an action of debt can be maintained upon a judgment at law for a sum of money awarded by such judgme

the person required to pay over the tax is a debtor and not a bailee. The money paid for the tax is not identified at the outset but is paid with the price of the ticket that belon

The concept of leaving the Debtor in possession, as a 'receivership without a receiver,' was designed to obviate the need to appoint a trustee for the supervision of every small co

The word 'debts,' as used in R. S. § 3466 (Comp St. § 6372), includes taxes.

The debts due from the government of the United States have no locality at the seat of government. The United States, in their sovereign capacity, have no particular place of domic

The decay of a perishable cargo is not a cause; it is an effect. It may be the result of a number of causes, for some of which, such as the inherent defects of the cargo, or, under

As 'deceit' means fraudulent misrepresentation, 'misrepresentation' must have been meant to include negligent misrepresentation, since otherwise the word 'misrepresentation' would

It is a deceptive trade practice 'to represent falsely that a televised test, experiment, or demonstration provides a viewer with visual proof of a product claim, regardless of whe

The court's decision of a case is its judgment thereon. Its opinion is a statement of the reasons on which the judgment rests.

In the ordinary use of language, it will hardly be contended, that the decisions of courts constitute laws. They are, at most, only evidence of what the laws are, and are not, of t

a "substantial factor" in the absence of which the opposite decision would have been reached.

It is not necessary to create the trust that the husband should use any particular form of words, nor need those words be in writing. All that is required is that language should h

It is therefore essential, when declarations are offered as evidence, that they should have been made before the controversy originated, and at a time, and under circumstances, whe

if a person have peculiar means of knowing a fact, and make a declaration of that fact which is against his interest, it is clearly evidence after his death, if he could have been

Declarations of intention, casting light upon the future, have been sharply distinguished from declarations of memory, pointing backwards to the past. There would be an end, or nea

What the plaintiff seeks is simply a declaratory judgment. To grant that relief is beyond the power conferred upon the federal judiciary.

The statute of Ohio... declares 'That where a decree shall be made for a conveyance, release, or acquittance, &c. and the party against whom the decree shall pass, shall not comply

The decree for alimony and counsel fees, although in one sense an incident to the suit for divorce, is a distinct and severable final judgment in favor of the defendant for a sum o

The decree against him must be a decree for an account. He must be called to account for just what property has come into his hands, and no more; and he will be entitled, under ord

With respect to the character and effects of decrees in chancery, although they now rank in dignity upon an equality with judgments at law, it is well known that they were once reg

We hold no doctrine to be better settled than this, that whenever the parties to a suit and the subject in controversy between them are within the regular jurisdiction of a court o

The decree of attachment, without more, did not operate to change the possession which, before the decree, was admittedly in petitioner. To accomplish that result, since the decree

It is well settled, that a decree must conform to the allegations of the party, as well as to his proofs.

Ever since the case of Yeaton vs. The United States, the court has uniformly acted under the rule established in that case; to wit, that in admiralty causes a decree was not final

Such a decree presupposes a decree allowed, or ordered, but not entered, through inadvertence of the court; or a decree in a cause which is under advisement when the death of a par

The idea that a sentence of a Court of Admiralty is conclusive, arises from this consideration, that the Court always proceeds in rem. The decree naturally and necessarily binds th

[T]he decree of condemnation when entered relates back to the time of the commission of the wrongful acts, and takes date from the wrongful acts and not from the date of the senten

The decree of distribution confers no new right; it merely identifies the property remaining, evidences right of possession in the heirs or legatees, and requires the administrator

Why may not a party rest his case upon a demurrer? He knows the facts are correctly stated in the bill. He finds the law arising from those facts against him: upon what principle o

Since during the life of the patents 'Shredded Wheat' was the general designation of the patented product, there passed to the public upon the expiration of the patent, not only th

land may be dedicated by the owner to highways, and without deed or much formality. Thus, if one allows his land long to be occupied by the public as a highway, such a dedication m

It is proved that, shortly after the appropriation, and more than fifty years ago, the Lutherans of Georgetown proceeded to erect a log house on the lot, which was used as a church

The principles of law on which a presumption of the dedication of private property to public use are founded, are correctly stated to be: 'That the law will not presume any man's a

after being thus set apart for public use, and enjoyed as such, and private and individual rights acquired with reference to it, the law considers it in the nature of an estoppel i

The claim of a specific device or combination, and an omission to claim other devices or combinations apparent on the face of the patent, are, in law, a dedication to the public of

Whenever a commission issues for taking depositions, according to common usage, whether the witness reside beyond the process of the court, or within it, the depositions are absolu

Losses which are fixed by identifiable events, such as the sale of property, or caused by its destruction or physical injury, or, in the case of debts, by the occurrence of such ev

It is well established doctrine of the common law, that a deed becomes complete, when sealed and delivered. It then becomes the act of the person who has executed it, and whatever

a court of equity will treat a deed, absolute in form, as a mortgage, when it is executed as security for a loan of money

that one partner may bind his copartner by deed, if he be present and assent to it, is a well established principle... The seal of one partner to a deed, with the assent of the cop

when a deed is executed, or a contract is made on behalf of a State by a public officer duly authorized, and this fact appears upon the face of the instrument, it is the deed or co

In the case of Conard vs. The Atlantic Insurance Company, the court determined that a deed of assignment, such as was executed in this case, was capable of transferring the right t

manumission by the laws of Maryland is a mere gratuity, and until evidenced by all the acts or requisites the law prescribes, has no legal existence, and can have created no facult

A covenant by the husband for the maintenance of the wife, contained in a deed of separation between them, through the medium of trustees, where the consideration is apparent, is v

The deed of trust was, in effect and purpose, nothing but a mortgage. It was given to secure the payment of a loan. It was an express lien created by deed to secure the performance

Deeds of trust are often made for the benefit of persons who are absent, and even for persons who are not in being. Whether they are for the payment of money, or for any other purp

In the present case, as the deed purports a consideration, it is unnecessary for the defendant to prove one; and the deed is not vitiated, if the complainants show that it was give

A capture by a de facto government, which government is defined to be one in possession of the supreme or sovereign power, but without right—a government by usurpation, founded per

there is another description of government, called also by publicists a government de facto, but which might, perhaps, be more aptly denominated a government of paramount force. It

under the law of Pennsylvania, the transfer in question constituted a de facto merger, even though the transfer did not comply with all the provisions of the Act of 1874, and that,

In the absence of a law authorizing the creation of a municipality de jure there can be none de facto.

A de facto officer may be defined as one whose title is not good in law, but who is in fact in the unobstructed possession of an office and discharging its duties in full view of t

even innocent acts of failure to fully account for money received in trust" (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted)), with " In re Uwimana, " 274 F.3d 806 , 811 (C.A.4 2001

commitment for failure to pay has not been viewed as a part of the punishment or as an increase in the penalty; rather, it has been viewed as a means of enabling the court to enfor

The proceeding here taken may therefore find its sanction in the undoubted right of the lawmaking power to create a presumption of fact as to the bad faith and untruth of an answer

it is a settled rule, which has been repeatedly recognised by this court, that where no other figure is called for in an entry, it is to be surveyed in a square, coincident with th

that, within the bounds of the rational, Congress, not the courts, must remain primarily responsible for striking the appropriate state/federal balance.

where the plaintiff has stated his title or ground of action defectively or inaccurately,—because, to entitle him to recover, all circumstances necessary in form or substance to co

defense at trial, not defense in relation to other objectives that may be important to the accused.