Definitions from Case Law

It was incumbent upon those seeking to merge to demonstrate that they made reasonable efforts to solve the management dilemma short of merger with a major competitor but failed in

Conversion, however, may be consummated without any intent to keep and without any wrongful taking, where the initial possession by the converter was entirely lawful. Conversion ma

A conveyance of the right, title, and interest in land, is certainly sufficient to pass the land itself, if the party conveying has an estate therein at the time of the conveyance;

a verdict, judgment, or plea of guilty, or a finding of guilt on a plea of nolo contendere, if such verdict, judgment, plea, or finding has not been reversed, set aside, or withdra

foreign convictions); "United States" v. "Winson," 793 F.2d 754 , 757-759 (CA6 1986) (same), with "United States" v. "Gayle," 342 F.3d 89 , 95 (CA2 2003) ("convicted in any court"

the judgment on a verdict or finding of guilty, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere.

A convoy is an association for a hostile object. In undertaking it, a nation spreads over the merchant vessel an immunity from search, which belongs only to a national ship; and by

the fact that real property is held in the joint names of several owners, or in the name of one for the benefit of all, is no evidence of copartnership between them with respect to

the same thing at New York as at Boston.

What is meant by a copy? We have already referred to the common understanding of it as a reproduction or duplication of a thing. A definition was given by Bailey, J., in West v. Fr

The copyright is an exclusive right to the multiplication of the copies, for the benefit of the author or his assigns, disconnected from the plate, or any other physical existence.

The dichotomy of protection for the aesthetic is not beauty and utility but art for the copyright and the invention of original and ornamental design for design patents

Absent copying there can be no infringement of copyright

while no action can be maintained before copies are actually deposited, mere delay will not destroy the right to sue. Such forfeitures are never to be inferred from doubtful langua

Every reproduction of a copyrighted work must bear the statutory notice. The thing protected and the only thing was the painting, the whole of which was reproduced in a single squa

And upon this question of the annexation of the copyright to the plate it is to be observed, first, that there is no necessary connection between them. They are distinct subjects o

In summary proceedings, where a Court exercises an extraordinary power under a special statute prescribing its course, we think that course ought to be exactly observed, and those

since his jurisdiction was strictly special and limited, it is essential to the validity of his judgment, and of the proceedings under it, that the record should show that he acted

Such a charter, when accepted by the corporators, is undoubtedly a contract that the powers, privileges, and franchises granted shall not be restrained, controlled, or destroyed wi

A private party cannot take advantage of the forfeiture. That is a question for the sovereign power, which may waive it, or enforce it, at its pleasure.

where a corporation is created by the laws of a State, the legal presumption is, that its members are citizens of the State in which alone the corporate body has a legal existence;

The old rule was, that a corporation can make no contract which shall bind it except under its seal. That doctrine has long since been overruled, and it is now fully cstablished, t

a corporation which has been dissolved is as if it did not exist, and the result of the dissolution cannot be distinguished from the death of natural person in its effect

Southern Pacific Company v. Lowe...and Gulf Oil Corp. v. Lewellyn...cannot be regarded as laying down any general rule authorizing disregard of corporate entity in respect of taxat

in matters relating to the revenue, the corporate form may be disregarded where it is a sham or unreal. In such situations the form is a bald and mischievous fiction.

the franchise, the privilege of doing business in corporate form, which is a legitimate subject of taxation, does not cease to be such because it is exercised in the acquisition an

the right or privilege given by the state to two or more persons of being a corporation, that is, of doing business in a corporate capacity, and not the privilege or franchise whic

Corporate franchises are legal estates vested in the corporation itself as soon as it is in esse. They are not mere naked powers granted to the corporation, but powers coupled with

On the one hand, the plaintiff cannot recover without departing from the fundamental conception embodied in the law that created it,—the conception that a corporation remains uncha

For acts done by the agents of a corporation, either in contractu or in delicto, in the course of its business, and of their employment, the corporation is responsible, as an indiv

Where the appropriation of the corporate name is complete, the rule of the statute, by its own terms, is absolute, and the proposed mark must be denied registration, without more;

the power thus cautiously granted, is deposited with the corporation itself, without an indication that it is assignable. It is to be exercised, like other corporate powers, by the

There is a difference between those rights on which the validity of the transactions of the corporation depends, which must adhere to those transactions every where, and those pecu

A corporation cannot change its residence or its citizenship. It can have its legal home only at the place where it is located by or under the authority of its charter; but it may

the acts of such body or board, evidenced by a written vote, are as completely binding upon the corporation, and as complete authority to their agents, as the most solemn acts done

any corporation, joint-stock company, partnership, association, business trust, organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, or a receiver or receivers, trustee or trus

A corporation aggregate retains its identity through all the changes that may take place in its individual membership.

That corporations are, in law, for civil purposes, deemed persons, is unquestionable. And the citation from 2 Inst. 736 establishes, that they are so deemed within the purview of p

When a government enters into a contract, there is no doubt of its power to bind itself to any extent not prohibited by its constitution. A Corporation can make such contracts only

it was still a body corporate de facto, exercising at least one of the franchises which the legislature attempted to confer upon it, and in such a case the party who makes a sale o

the term embraces those which have powers and privileges analogous to those of private corporations and not possessed by individuals or partnerships. Municipal corporations have su

The act of 1909 was not in any proper sense an income tax law, nor intended as such, but was an excise upon the conduct of business in a corporate capacity, the tax being measured

In order to convict of serious crimes of violence, then capital offenses, independent proof was required that someone had indeed inflicted the violence, the so-called corpus delict

a court cannot allow a habeas applicant to evade § 2254(e)(1) by attacking the process employed by the state "factfinder" rather than the actual "factfindings.

the corroborative evidence suffices if it shows a substantial deficiency for the over-all prosecution period. It provides substantial evidence that the crime or crimes of tax evasi

the corroborative evidence need not be sufficient, independent of the statements, to establish the corpus delicti. It is necessary, therefore, to require the Government to introduc

a conviction must rest upon firmer ground than the uncorroborated admission or confession of the accused

The general rule that an accused may not be convicted on his own uncorroborated confession... Its purpose is to prevent 'errors in convictions based upon untrue confessions alone';

Two elements must enter into a determination that corroborative evidence is sufficient: (1) that the evidence, if true, substantiates the testimony of a single witness who has swor

acting with "the specific intent to obtain an unlawful advantage" for the defendant or another.

the price of such item of liquor to the retailer plus twelve percentum of such price, which is declared as a matter of legislative determination to represent the average minimum ov

A balance is struck by the use of classes for cost justification which are composed of members of such selfsameness as to make the averaging of the cost of dealing with the group a

the § 2(a) proviso as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act contemplates, both in express wording and legislative history, a showing of actual cost differences resulting from the diff

the statutory provision that the 'basis of property shall be the cost of such property' normally means, and in this case the Commissioner was justified in applying it to mean, cost

the amounts taxable as such under Acts of Congress, rules promulgated by its authority and practice established consistently with governing enactments.

The rule is that, in the absence of a statute directly authorizing it, courts will not give judgment against the United States for costs or expenses.

The only costs allowed to be included in the money judgment against petitioner are those taxable as between party and party; counsel fees or other expenses not so taxable are not t

As much of the entire expenses of the litigation of one of the parties as fair justice to the other party will permit, technically known as costs 'as between solicitor and client.'

the discretion given district judges to tax costs should be sparingly exercised with reference to expenses not specifically allowed by statute

Co-sureties are bound to contribute equally to the debt they have jointly undertaken to pay; but the undertaking must be joint.

That there is such a community of interest between those who hold a common title as to forbid one such cotenant from acquiring any benefit from the acquisition of an outstanding su

But it is plain that the principle which turns a cotenant into a trustee who buys for himself a hostile outstanding title can have no proper application to a public sale of the com

pure cellulose with a small percentage of hydroscopic water.

dust present in the air during the handling or processing of cotton, which may contain a mixture of many substances including ground up plant matter, fiber, bacteria, fungi, soil,

the term counterfeit, both by its etymology and common intendment, signifying the fabrication of a false image or representation

A proposal to accept, or an acceptance upon terms varying from those offered, is a rejection of the offer, and puts an end to the negotiation, unless the party who made the origina

Each count in an indictment is regarded as if it was a separate indictment.

only those sections of the lands under our jurisdiction which have been so incorporated into our system by act of Congress as to be entitled to government under all provisions of t

This species of bonds is a modern invention, intended to pass by manual delivery, and to have the qualities of negotiable paper.

An officer of the county is one by whom the county performs its usual political functions; its functions of government.

The Safety Appliance Act requires couplers which, after a secure coupling is effected, will remain coupled until set free by some purposeful act of control.

Where, on the failure of cars to couple by impact, a switchman goes between them for the purpose of adjusting the knuckle of a coupler so that it will make a coupling, and is injur

Coupons are written contracts for the payment of a definite sum of money, on a given day, and being drawn and executed in a form and mode for the very purpose that they may be sepa

bonds, with coupons for interest — a coupon bond — coupon being the interest payable separable from the certificate of loan, for the purpose of receiving it. But neither the instru

coupons or warrants for the interest were drawn and executed in a form and mode for the very purpose of separating them from the bond, and thereby dispensing with the necessity of

It is undoubtedly the practice of surveyors, and the practice was proved in this cause, to express in their plats and certificates of survey, the courses which are designated by th

It may be laid down as an universal rule, that course and distance yield to natural and ascertained objects. But where these are wanting, and the course and distance cannot be reco

The offense made punishable under the Fair Labor Standards Act is a course of conduct. Such a reading of the statute compendiously treats as one offense all violations that arise f

Petitioner was acting 'in the course of his employment' at the time of the injury, for at that moment he was doing the work of his employer pursuant to his employer's orders. No mo

only three judges when the court is sitting, but all the judges when other functions are performed.

gain derived from capital, from labor, or from both combined, including profit gained through sale or conversion of capital.

En banc courts are the exception, not the rule. They are convened only when extraordinary circumstances exist that call for authoritative consideration and decision by those charge

A court-martial is not yet an independent instrument of justice but remains to a significant degree a specialized part of the overall mechanism by which military discipline is pres

The 62d Article of War, in express words, confers upon a general, or a regimental, garrison, or field officers' court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, ju

A court of chancery judges of every case according to the peculiar circumstances attending it, and is bound not to suffer an act of injustice to prevail; and in doing this, it conf

It is well to observe that the court of claims has no general jurisdiction over claims against the United States, and can take cognizance only of those which, by the terms of some

A court of equity may grant a rehearing, and vacate, alter, or amend its decree, after an appeal has been perfected and after the time for appeal has expired, but not after expirat

A court of equity, in setting aside a deed of a purchaser upon grounds other than positive fraud on his part, sets it aside upon terms, and requires a return of the purchase money,

If it appears on its face to be a record of a court of general jurisdiction, such jurisdiction over the cause and the parties is to be presumed unless disproved by extrinsic eviden

The courts of law there are governed by general and established rules, from which they never deviate in any case, be the injustice arising from them ever so apparent; for, they are

A circuit court, however, is of limited jurisdiction: and has cognisance, not of cases generally, but only of a few specially circumstanced, amounting to a small proportion of the

any court of the United States whose jurisdiction has been or may be conferred or defined or limited by Act of Congress, including the courts of the District of Columbia.

Where a court of competent jurisdiction has, by appropriate proceedings, taken property into its possession through its officers, the property is thereby withdrawn from the jurisdi

Written rules are unquestionably to be preferred, because their commencement, and their action, and their meaning, are most conveniently determined; but what want of certainty can

It is not essential, that any court, in establishing or changing its practice should do so by the adoption of written rules. Its practice may be established by a uniform mode of pr

It is well settled that the 62d article of war does not vest, nor purport to vest, exclusive jurisdiction in courts-martial, and that civil courts have concurrent jurisdiction over

District Courts.

the county courts, of Virginia were courts of general jurisdiction; and were inferior only in the sense that their judgments might be revised by some appellate tribunal

courts of a special and limited jurisdiction, which are created on such principles, that their judgments taken alone are entirely disregarded, and the proceedings must show their j

such courts are courts of special and not of general jurisdiction, and consequently there is no presumption in favor of their jurisdiction where the facts requisite to show it do n