Definitions from Case Law

In every complete grant conveying a perfect title it is essential that the thing granted be sufficiently described to enable it to be identified. To constitute a complete and perfe

Since the power to revoke or alter was dependent on the consent of the one entitled to the beneficial, and consequently adverse, interest, the trust, for all practical purposes, ha

where the federal government, in the exercise of its superior authority in this field, has enacted a complete scheme of regulation and has therein provided a standard for the regis

the placement of dismembered body parts on a tray rather than the removal of an intact fetus from the woman's body.

A composition under Chapter XIII, unlike an extension, is closely akin to straight bankruptcy and to proceedings under Chapters XI and XII, for under such a plan the debtor is disc

Chapter XI is a statutory variation of the common-law composition of creditors and, unlike the broader scope of Chapter X, is limited to an adjustment of unsecured debts.

It is generally true, in cases of composition, that the debtor who agrees to pay a less sum in discharge of a contract, must pay punctually; for, until performance, the creditor is

What the appellant here seeks is compound interest; that is, interest on interest from 1895 until now. The general rule, even as between private persons, is that, in the absence of

an integrated system of procedures for enforcement.

where the claimant voluntarily enters into a compromise and accepts a smaller sum and executes a discharge in full for the whole claim, he cannot subsequently recover in the Court

Compromises of disputed claims are favored by the courts; and presumptively, the parties to the compromise in question possessed the right to thus adjust their differences.

Compulsion by torture to extort a confession is a different matter [from the compulsion of the processes of justice by which the accused may be called as a witness and required to

We recognize that in its usual acceptation the term indicates a proceeding based entirely on the consent of the parties. And we recognize also that this act dispenses with their co

The requirement that counterclaims arising out of the same transaction or occurrence as the opposing party's claim 'shall' be stated in the pleadings was designed to prevent multip

The right to offer the testimony of witnesses, and to compel their attendance, if necessary, is in plain terms the right to present a defense, the right to present the defendant's

The principle established is that full and complete immunity against prosecution by the government compelling the witness to answer is equivalent to the protection furnished by the

Neither a statute imposing a tax, nor the execution thereunder, nor a mere demand for payment, is treated as duress. ... But he has the same right to sue if he pays under compulsio

only calendar years in the period after 1950 and prior to the earlier of the following years '(i) the year in which occurred .

When the period allowed for doing an act is to be reckoned from the making of a contract, or the happening of any other event, the day on which the event happened may be regarded a

When the period allowed for doing an act is to be reckoned from the making of a contract, or the happening of any other event, the day on which the event happened may be regarded a

'a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result.' " §10, 94 Stat. 3028 (codified at 17 U. S. C. §101 )

The phrase 'For the purpose of computing time' was plainly intended to be of general application and 'computing' naturally embraces whatever reckoning is necessary to fix the time

The term concealed used in this section, is one of plain interpretation, and obviously applies to articles intended to be secreted and withdrawn from public view on account of thei

to grant; accorder", among many significations, of which "to grant" is one, has that of acknowledging or declaring any proposition to be good or true; and from the context, such ap

an existing, going lottery or gambling scheme.

unlawful conspiracies and constitutionally protected assemblies.

Section 7 of the Labor Relations Act took this conspiracy weapon away from the employer in employment relations which affect interstate commerce. No longer can any state, as to rel

A union's inducements or encouragements reaching individual employees of neutral employers only as they happen to approach the picketed place of business generally are not aimed at

The concession referred to in the bill of exception is, upon its face, not a grant, nor a survey, but it is, as is expressed in the bill of exceptions, only a warrant, or order, au

a binding written agreement between the Director and a concessioner.

The motion admits as facts allegations describing the manner in which the business is carried on, but not legal conclusions from those facts. The allegations that interstate or for

Until the agent determined that the core had settled, the contractor had no right to do this part of the work. No matter how long the delay or how great the damage, he was entitled

when the judgment is used in pleading as a technical estoppel, or is relied on by way of evidence as conclusive, per se, it must appear, by the record of the prior suit, that the p

This court have repeatedly decided, that at law, no facts behind the patent can be investigated. A court of law has concurrent jurisdiction with a court of equity in matters of fra

The presumption is declared to be conclusive and cannot be overcome by evidence. It is no mere prima facie presumption of fact.

under the statute before us, the fact of membership alone disqualifies. If the rule be expressed as a presumption of disloyalty, it is a conclusive one.

joint and equal authority", "running together, having the same *408 authority," and therefore the grant of concurrent power to the Congress and the States should give to each equal

The covenants of this contract are not independent. They are concurrent or reciprocal, constituting mutual conditions to be performed at the same time.

The federal right is enforceable in a state court whenever its ordinary jurisdiction as prescribed by local laws is appropriate to the occasion and is invoked in conformity with th

It is a rule absolutely necessary to be observed by courts who have a concurrent jurisdiction, that in all cases 'where the jurisdiction of a court and the right of a plaintiff to

if injury be caused by the concurring negligence of the defendant and a third person, the defendant is liable to the same extent as though it had been caused by his negligence alon

The words 'concurrent power' as used in the second section of the Amendment 'do not mean joint power, or require that legislation thereunder by Congress, to be effective, shall be

the depositing in the Arizona Bank was a condition concurrent with the obligation of Powers to allow the plaintiff to continue in possession, and precedent to Powers's obligation t

Concurrent promises are those where the acts to be performed are simultaneous; and either party may sue the other for a breach of the contract, on showing, either that he was able,

there is no jurisdictional bar to consideration of challenges to multiple convictions, even though concurrent sentences were imposed

The conception of the operation at one and the same time of both the power of Congress and the power of the states over a matter of interstate commerce is inconceivable, since the

A gift of land to a man and his heirs generally, if he shall have heirs of his body, without any other expression to qualify the words heirs of his body, is a conditional fee.

Revocation deprives an individual, not of the absolute liberty to which every citizen is entitled, but only of the conditional liberty properly dependent on observance of special p

by the general commercial law of the world, a promise to pay, whether in the form of notes or bills, is not of itself the equivalent of payment; it is treated everywhere, in the ab

Upon principle, it would appear that such an action could not be maintained. The indorsement of the note passes the property in it to another, and is evidence that it was sold for

He, who receives any note upon which third persons are responsible, as a conditional payment of a debt due to himself, is bound to use due diligence to collect it of the parties th

The contract says in terms that it is conditional, and that the goods are to remain the property of the seller until payment of the note given for the price. This stipulation is pe

Under a conditional sale, the vendor remains the owner, subject to the vendee's right to acquire the title by complying with the stipulated condition, while under an absolute sale

If the submission be conditional, so as the arbitrator decide of and concerning the premises, he must adjudicate upon each distinct matter in dispute, which he has noticed... [but]

There is a vital distinction between an absolute agreement to do a thing and a condition to do the same thing, inserted in a bond. In the latter case the obligor, in order to avoid

The coming into effect of a contract may be made to depend upon the happening or performance of a condition.

A condition precedent that the provision shall not vest until his debts are paid, and a condition subsequent that it shall be divested and forfeited by his insolvency, with a limit

no action for damages alleged to have been caused by the exaction of excessive rates for interstate transportation can be maintained in any court, state or federal, in the absence

where an intention appears to create an estate at all events, and merely to annex a condition to it, by which it may be defeated, this is a condition subsequent: and if followed by

continuous conditions and excludes isolated incidents.

conditions precedent must be strictly performed to make the estate vest, and though become impossible, even by the act of God, the estate will not vest

a condition subsequent presupposes a contract in effect which may be defeated by the happening or performance of a condition.

to lead, run, manage, or direct.

[I]t has never been deemed an abridgment of freedom of speech or press to make a course of conduct illegal merely because the conduct was in part initiated, evidenced, or carried o

While the war lasted, however, they had a certain contingent value, and were used as money in nearly all the business transactions of many millions of people. They must be regarded

Persons not technically agents or employees may be specifically enjoined from knowingly aiding a defendant in performing a prohibited act if their relation is that of associate or

Communications between the spouses, privately made, are generally assumed to have been intended to be confidential, and hence they are privileged; but, wherever a communication, be

a confidential communication between husband and wife was privileged... marital communications are presumptively confidential.

Although marital communications are presumed to be confidential, that presumption may be overcome by proof of facts showing that they were not intended to be private. The presence

wherever confidence is reposed, and one party has it in his power, in a secret manner, for his own advantage, to sacrifice those interests which he is bound to protect, he will not

The confirmation only enures to the benefit of the confirmee so far as the legal title is concerned. It establishes the legal title in him, but it does not determine the equitable

No subsequent confirmation, nor new contract stipulating to pay the debt, with the usurious interest, will make it valid.

a confirmation passes no title; it effects no change of property; it disturbs no seisin. It is therefore itself an act of a character less solemn than is the act of avoiding a deed

Congress... constituted itself the tribunal of ultimate decision of the validity or invalidity of the claim, as, of course, it might do in the discharge of the treaty obligations,

Where there is a specific tract of land confirmed according to ascertained boundaries, the legal effect of the confirmation is to establish the right and locate the claim, but wher

the "nationaliza- tion, expropriation, or other seizure by the Cuban Govern- ment of ownership or control of property" without compen- sation, settlement, or return of the property

every case of the money or estate of an individual, brought into the treasury in virtue of any forfeiture.

The second law considers that all property belonging to British subjects was, by the mere operation of the first law, seized and confiscated; and declares that the commissioners we

Rate-making represents an order affecting the volume of income; it is said to confiscate property when it prohibits a reasonable return on investment beyond operating and initial c

A state enactment, or regulations made under the authority of a state enactment, establishing rates for the transportation of persons or property by railroad that will not admit of

The just compensation safeguarded to the utility by the Fourteenth Amendment is a reasonable return on the value of the property used at the time that it is being used for the publ

This power of regulation, if it is exercised in such an arbitrary or unreasonable manner as to prevent the company from obtaining a fair return upon the property invested in the pu

In determining what is a confiscatory regulation of rates, it is necessary to consider the actual effect of the rates imposed in the light of the utility's situation, its requireme

It is a general rule that when all the calls of an entry cannot be complied with, because some are vague, or repugnant, the latter may be rejected or controlled by other material c

it is a rule of universal application, that no one having such duties to discharge shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has, or can have, a personal interest conf

Where an actual conflict of interest exists, no more need be shown in this type of case to support a denial of compensation.

It is extravagant to suppose that the courts of [the domicile] will help a married woman to make her property there liable in circumstances in which the local law says that it shal

restrictions on, for instance, "increas[ing] the frequency or severity of any existing violation of any standard in any area," or "delay[ing] timely attainment of any standard .

The need for confrontation is a necessary conclusion from the requirements of procedural due process in a situation such as this. Procedural due process often requires confrontatio

a primary interest secured by it is the right of cross-examination; an adequate opportunity for cross-examination may satisfy the clause even in the absence of physical confrontati

on the note given by Ficklin to his own firm of McMicken and Ficklin, with Webb and Smith as sureties, Ficklin, as a partner, was entitled to one half, upon the dissolution of the

when a case of confusion does appear,—when it is impossible to make a mathematical or approximate apportionment, then, from the very necessity of the case, one party or the other m

Contracts may create rights of property, but, when contracts deal with a subject-matter which lies within the control of the Congress, they have a congenital infirmity.

In a congregational church, the majority, if they adhere to the organization and to the doctrines, represent the church. An expulsion of the majority by a minority is a void act.

the entire legislative body consisting of both Houses

congressional 'approval' without more cannot be taken, we think, to indicate in this case more than a legislative finding that the proposed projects, no matter by whom they may be

The present question is, what is the extent of the punishing power which the deliberative assemblies of the Union may assume and exercise on the principle of self-preservation? Ana

Commerce with the Indian tribes means commerce with the individuals composing those tribes. . . . The locality of the traffic can have nothing to do with the power. The right to ex

The Congressional power to ordain and establish inferior courts includes the power of investing them with jurisdiction either limited, concurrent, or exclusive, and of withholding

Clause 1 defines the extent of the immunity. Its language is exact and leaves no room for a construction which would extend the privilege beyond the terms of the grant. When the Co