Definitions from Case Law

Insurance policies are traditionally contracts uberrimae fidei and a failure by the insured to disclose conditions affecting the risk, of which he is aware, makes the contract void

Validity and infringement are ultimate facts on which depends the question of liability.

whether the court adopts an agreed statement of facts or itself finds the facts, the agreed statement or findings must be of the ultimate facts, and if they be merely a recital of

a conclusion of law or at least a determination of a mixed question of law and fact. It is to be distinguished from the findings of primary, evidentiary, or circumstantial facts. I

The issuing of bills as a currency by such a corporation without authority is not only contrary to positive law, but, being ultra vires, is an abuse of the public franchises which

no rights arise on an ultra vires contract, even though the contract has been performed; and that this conclusion cannot be circumvented by erecting an estoppel which would prevent

In the absence of a clear expression of legislative intention to the contrary, a conveyance of real estate to a corporation for a purpose not authorized by its charter is not void,

The submission under the rule of court did not contemplate the third referee to be a mere umpire in the case, upon a difference of opinion of the other two; but an original referee

The last phrase, since it is used as an alternative for the word 'insolvent,' obviously means something less than a condition of 'bankruptcy' or 'insolvency' as those words are emp

gas lost as a result of leakage, condensation, expansion, or contraction

requires unanimous action by conference members before the maximum rate of commissions payable to travel agents may be changed.

The vice of the statute as applied to receipts from interstate sales is that the tax includes in its measure, without apportionment, receipts derived from activities in interstate

a rule which would require as a predicate for introducing hearsay testimony either a showing of the declarant's unavailability or production at trial of the declarant.

a witness is not 'unavailable' for purposes of the foregoing exception to the confrontation requirement unless the prosecutorial authorities have made a good-faith effort to obtain

It must be such a loss as necessarily prevents the party from complying with the condition of the bond. It is not necessary that it should be an actual destruction of the property,

the process of "assist[ing] in giving birth," which suggests removing an intact unborn child from the womb, rather than pieces of a child.

as long as it remained wholly uncertain whether a contract or engagement would ever give rise to an actual duty or liability, and there was no means of removing the uncertainty by

The rule which precludes the recovery of uncertain damages applies to such as are not the certain result of the wrong, not to those damages which are definitely attributable to the

one's misconduct need not necessarily have been of such a nature as to be punishable as a crime or as to justify legal proceedings of any character. Any willful act concerning the

a holding that a statute is unconstitutional 'as applied' means that the section, by its own terms, infringed constitutional freedoms in the circumstances of the particular case—as

the right to continue the exercise of a privilege granted by the state cannot be made to depend upon the grantee's submission to a condition prescribed by the state which is hostil

The governing principle is that a claim of unconstitutionality will not be heard to excuse a voluntary, deliberate and calculated course of fraud and deceit. One who elects such a

a generally worded statute which is construed to punish conduct which cannot constitutionally be punished is unconstitutionally vague to the extent that it fails to give adequate w

a law forbidding or requiring conduct in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates due process

subject [or pursuant] to or by reason of the authority of.

subject [or pursuant] to' or 'by reason of the authority of ' "); cf. Black's Law Dictionary 1368 (5th ed. 1979) (defining "under" as "according to.

An obvious inadequacy of capital, measured by the nature and magnitude of the corporate undertaking, has frequently been an important factor in cases denying stockholders their def

Misuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law, is action taken 'under color of' state la

receipt of money from a private source for the performance of official duties, that ambiguously described crime assuredly need not, and for the reasons the Court discusses should n

If upon failure or insolvency, one creditor goes into a contract of general composition common to the others, at the same time having an underhand agreement with the debtor to rece

The legislature is not bound, in order to support the constitutional validity of its regulation, to extend it to all cases which it might possibly reach. Dealing with practical exi

The plaintiff's agreement embodying the release was under seal. Hence, it is binding even if without a consideration.

The undertaking of the drawer is, not that he will pay the bill, but that the drawee will accept and pay; and the liability of the drawer only attaches, when the drawee refuses to

no more than that the receiver shall be "subject" to the direction of the Comptroller.

amounts computed or estimated on the basis of recognized mortality tables and assumed rates of interest, set aside to mature or liquidate future claims arising from life, annuity,

A knowledge of the state of the world, of the allegiance of particular countries, of the risks and embarrassments affecting their commerce, of the course and incidents of the trade

As between the insured and the underwriter on the cargo of a ship, the latter is in no case responsible for the payment of freight, whether there be an abandonment or not. It is a

the premiums earned on insurance contracts during the taxable year less losses incurred and expenses incurred.

when he deals with the agent, without any disclosure of the fact of his agency, he may elect to treat the after-discovered principal as the person with whom he contracted

By most corporations the term 'undivided profits' is employed to describe profits which have neither been distributed as dividends nor carried to surplus account upon the closing o

a witness may be asked, on cross-examination, to write in the presence of the jury, for the purpose of testing his credibility; but as original evidence, as remarked in "King "v.

not all burdens upon commerce, but only undue or discriminatory ones, are forbidden

When intrastate revenues fall short of producing their fair proportionate share of required total revenues, they work an undue discrimination against interstate commerce, and the I

something very different from a burden that is merely more than de minimis, i. e., "very small or trifing." The ordinary meaning of "undue hardship" thus points toward a standard c

If these deeds were obtained by the exercise of undue influence over a man whose mind had ceased to be the safe guide of his actions, it is against conscience for him who has obtai

The right to be free from unreasonable discriminations belongs, under § 3(1), to each particular person. Where a dining car is available to passengers holding tickets entitling the

a merger which produces a firm controlling an undue percentage share of the relevant market, and results in a significant increase in the concentration of firms in that market is s

Only such contracts and combinations are within the act as, by reason of intent or the inherent nature of the contemplated acts, prejudice the public interests by unduly restrictin

persons involved in a labor dispute.

The ground of recovery in the latter instance is that the defendant has taken some undue advantage of the plaintiff's reputation, or that of his goods, and as the nature and extent

The term 'unfair labor practice' is not a term of art having an independent significance which transcends its statutory definition. The States are free (apart from pre-emption by C

The proceeding authorized to be taken by the Board under the National Labor Relations Act is not for the adjudication of private rights. It has few of the indicia of a private liti

employees striking in protest of an employer's unfair labor practices are entitled, absent some contractual or statutory provision to the contrary, to unconditional reinstatement w

The fact that a false statement may be obviously false to those who are trained and experienced does not change its character, nor take away its power to deceive others less experi

belongs to that class of phrases which does not admit of precise definition, but the meaning and application of which must be arrived at by what this court elsewhere has called 'th

Unfair or deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition,' as used in § 411, are broader concepts than the common-law idea of unfair competition. The section is concerned not

Congress did not regard the setting of a rate at a particular level as constituting an unfair or destructive competitive practice simply because that rate would divert some or all

The purpose of the proviso to protect the contractor against the unexpected, and its grammatical sense both militate against holding that the listed events are always to be regarde

an unforeseeable judicial enlargement of a criminal statute, applied retroactively, operates precisely like an ex post facto law. If a judicial construction of a criminal statute i

We accept the word 'unharmed' appearing in the proviso as meaning uninjured.

equal and uniform' in the sense now asserted by the opponents of the tax, the words 'throughout the United States,' are deprived of all real significance, and sustaining the conten

the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Environmental Science Services Administration, and Public Health Service.

the constitutional requirement of uniformity is not intrinsic, but geographic

It is settled that that clause exacts only a geographical uniformity.

It has been conclusively determined that the requirement of uniformity which the Constitution imposes upon Congress in the levy of excise taxes is not an intrinsic uniformity, but

The uniformity of taxation throughout the United States enjoined by article 1, § 8, is geographic, not intrinsic.

weighted average of minimum prices.

if the power existed in both courts and the Commission to originally hear complaints on this subject, there might be a divergence between the action of the Commission and the decis

Property must be wholly exempted or not exempted at all. No partial exemption or discrimination is permitted. To impose certain taxes exclusive upon one class of taxable property i

an employer's unilateral change in conditions of employment under negotiation is similarly a violation of §8(a)(5), for it is a circumvention of the duty to negotiate which frustra

Unincorporated joint-stock associations, although technically partnerships under the law of many states, are not in common parlance referred to as such. They have usually a fixed c

The second category described possessions of the United States not thought of as future States. To these only some essentials, withal undefined, of the Constitution extended.

These leagues are not corporations, quasi corporations, or organized pursuant to, or recognized by, any law. Neither is a person in law, and, unless authorized by statute, they hav

when a union is liable for damages for violation of the no-strike clause, its officers and members are not liable for these damages

Only upon the lading of the vessel or at least when she is ready to receive the cargo when there is 'union of ship and cargo'—does the contract become the contract of the vessel an

the fact that the corporate enterprise is a unitary one, in the sense that the ultimate gain is derived from the entire business, does not mean that for the purpose of taxation the

a school system within which no person is to be effectively excluded from any school because of race or color

the several States and Territories, the District of Columbia, and the possessions of the United States, but does not include the Canal Zone.

Every sovereign State is of necessity a body politic, or artifical person, and as such capable of making contracts and holding property, both real and personal. ... Although as a s

When the United States, by its authorized officer, become a party to negotiable paper, they have all the rights, and incur all the responsibility of individuals who are parties to

in suits brought in the name of the government for their benefit, the United States is a real litigant, not a mere nominal party, and that, of such suits, the government being plai

The question whether the United States is a party to a controversy is not determined by the merely nominal party on the record, but by the question of the effect of the judgment or

The United States Attorney is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obli

These notes are obligations. They bind the national faith. They are, therefore, strictly securities. They secure the payment stipulated to the holders, by the pledge of the nationa

citizens of the United States, aliens admitted for permanent residence, and certain associations and corporations.

In construing the statutes on this subject, it has been stated by the court, on great deliberation, that the priority to which the United States are entitled, does not partake of t

In all cases of contract with the United States, they must have a right to enforce the performance of such contract, or to recover damages for their violation, by actions in their

if any common carrier shall directly or indirectly charge or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation than it charges or receives from any other person or

If there was interference with the achievement of [an adequate transportation system] because of a disparity of intrastate rates as compared with interstate rates, the Commission w

The fact that a rate is per se reasonable does not disprove the charge that it is unlawful... If rates are relatively unjust, so that undue preference is afforded to one locality o

Such claim under the doctrine of unjust enrichment is assimilated to an obligation of contract; and does not, in the absence of an identifiable res and a constructive trust based o

a contract may not be said to be either 'unjust' or 'unreasonable' simply because it is unprofitable to the public utility... the sole concern of the Commission would seem to be wh

The construction of the court of the local statute is that it requires the parties defendant in an action to quiet title to be designated 'by their names, as near as they can be as

any act (involving) the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device (as defined in section 2510(5) of this title) in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United Stat

(1) any business enterprise involving gambling, liquor on which the Federal excise tax has not been paid, narcotics or controlled substances (as defined in section 102(6) of the Co

for two or more to assemble and by force or violence prevent or attempt to prevent another from engaging in any lawful vocation constitutes an unlawful assemblage, and that the pro

those who during time of war pass surreptitiously from enemy territory into our own, discarding their uniforms upon entry, for the commission of hostile acts involving destruction

Unlawful combatants are likewise subject to capture and detention, but in addition they are subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals for acts which render their bellig

Section 1 defines as an unlawful combination an aggregation of authors, composers, publishers, and owners of copyrighted vocal or instrumental musical compositions who form any soc

whether an unlawful combination or conspiracy is proved is to be judged by what the parties actually did rather than by the words they used