Definitions from Case Law

A court of chancery will often refuse to enforce a contract, when it would also refuse to annul it; in such a case, the parties are left to their remedy at law.

The grounds upon which a court of equity proceeds are, that the rent is the object of the parties, and the forfeiture only an incident intended to secure its payment; that the meas

any fact which clearly proves it to be against conscience to execute a judgment, and of which the injured party could not have availed himself in a court of law; or of which he mig

Where a party has failed to make a proper defence at law through negligence, equity will not aid him. If by accident or fraud such a defence has been prevented, a court of equity m

In order to warrant the interposition of a court of equity to restrain the enforcement of a judgment at law, it is, of course, not sufficient for the defeated party to show that be

One of the duties of such a court is to prevent a multiplicity of suits, and to this end a court of equity, if obliged to take cognizance of a cause for any purpose, will ordinaril

The natural and just influence which a parent has over a child, renders it peculiarly important for courts of justice to watch over and protect the interests of the latter; and the

A court of equity does not interfere with judgments at law, unless the complainant has an equitable defence, of which he could not avail himself at law, because it did not amount t

equity will, for the purposes of justice, treat that to have been done, which ought to have been done.

The sixteenth section of the judiciary act of 1789 declares, 'that suits in equity shall not be sustained in either of the courts of the United States, in any case where plain, ade

Courts of equity do not assist those whose condition is attributable only to want of due diligence, nor lend their aid to parties, who, having had a plain, adequate, and complete r

There must be a clear case of accident, surprise or fraud, before equity will interfere... a defendant sued at law on a contract alleged to be usurious, will not be entitled to a b

What constitutes equivalency must be determined against the context of the patent, the prior art, and the particular circumstances of the case. Equivalence, in the patent law, is n

Cite as: 590 U. S. 165 (2020) 201 Alito, J., dissenting "equal" in some respect, and "functional" signifes a relation- ship to a function.

the antecedent word 'tract,' and consequently also mean land.

a patentee in such a case may substitute another ingredient for any one of the ingredients of his invention if the ingredient substituted performs the same function as the one omit

The great object of the Erie case was to secure in the federal courts, in diversity cases, the application of the same substantive law as would control if the suit were brought in

Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins decided that federal district diversity courts must try state created causes of action in accordance with state laws, designed to ensure that litigants with

The Erie rule is rooted in part in a realization that it would be unfair for the character of result of a litigation materially to differ because the suit had been brought in a fed

Error of a trial judge in admitting evidence or entering judgment after full hearing does not constitute a denial of due process of law.

an expression which denotes some mistake or error on the part of the land officers whereby an entry is allowed when it should be disallowed, and not some fraud or false pretense pr

In the eye of the law the former does not rise to the grade of the latter, and is always venial

It is clearly error in a court to charge a jury upon a supposed or conjectural state of facts, of which no evidence has been offered.

the claim must be one consistent with the Commission's order fixing the rate, but asserting underpayment by reason of some error of law in its application which would not require t

an honorably discharged veteran, covered by the statute (is), entitled by the Act to be restored not to a position which would be the precise equivalent of that which he had left w

[A] procedure with ancient origins whereby a sovereign may acquire title to abandoned property if after a number of years no rightful owner appears.

the precise holding of Escobedo was that statements elicited by the police during an interrogation may not be used against the accused at a criminal trial, where the investigation

It is admitted by the counsel in this case, that a bond cannot be delivered to the obligee as an escrow. But it is contended that where there are several obligees constituting a co

the effect of the deposit of the contract and check with the bank was to constitute it a custodian or stakeholder for the benefit of both parties, holding the money without right o

It is a principle of the common law, too well settled to be controverted, that where an instrument is delivered as an escrow, or where one surety has signed it, on condition that i

a conscienceless or pitiless crime which is unnecessarily torturous to the victim.

No particular form of words or phrases has ever been declared necessary in which the claim of Federal rights must be asserted. It is sufficient if it appears from the record that s

When complete, an espediente usually consists of the petition, with the diseño annexed; a marginal decree, approving the petition; the order of reference to the proper officer, for

the question whether particular commerce is interstate or intrastate is determined by what is actually done and not by any mere billing or plurality of carriers, and where commodit

those duties which the framers intended each member of the Union would assume in order adequately to function under the form of government guaranteed by the Constitution

Two guiding principles of limitation for holding the tax immunity of state instrumentalities to its proper function: The one, dependent upon the nature of the function being perfor

ownership and operation of water plants, power and transportation systems

It seeks to suspend the running of it only where fraud against the Government is an essential ingredient of the crime.

[m]odeling, teaching of and com- mitment to Catholic religious and moral values." Id., at 55a (boldface deleted); see also id., at 32a (Morrissey-Berru's teaching contract); App.

a shareholder has made a sufficient showing of causal relationship between the violation and the injury for which he seeks redress if, as here, he proves that the proxy solicitatio

The sale and distribution of gas to local consumers made by one engaged in interstate commerce is 'essentially local' in aspect and is subject to state regulation without infringem

The general purpose of the statute was to include in a decedent's gross estate transfers that are essentially testamentary—i.e., transfers which leave the transferor a significant

His (Benson's) order is not, it will be observed, a regulation of the use of the land, as an order to fence the lands might be, but is an absolute prohibition of use. It is not a p

To establish a company for any business means complete and permanent provision for carrying on that business, and putting a company in operation may well include its continued as w

an office that Congress creates "by statute." Lucia v. SEC, 585 U. S. 237, 254 (2018) (THOMAS, J., concurring); see also United States v. Maurice, 26 F. Cas.

established by the State or the Federal Government," the Court tries to palm off the pertinent statutory phrase as "inartful drafting." " Ante, " at 2495.

Where an inventor finds it profitable to exercise his monopoly by selling licenses to make or use his improvement, he has himself fixed the average of his actual damage, when his i

Congress used the word 'establishment' as it is normally used in business and in government—as meaning a distinct physical place of business

the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose o

what are the purpose and the primary effect of the enactment? If either is the advancement or inhibition of religion then the enactment exceeds the scope of legislative power as ci

neither a State nor the Federal Government can constitutionally force a person 'to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.' Neither can constitutionally pass laws or impose

The word 'estate,' or 'that part of my estate,' has always been construed to describe not only the land devised, but the whole interest of the testator in the subject of the devise

Like provisions in earlier acts have been generally upheld as imposing a tax on the privilege of transferring the property of a decedent at death, measured by the value of the inte

The lien attaches at the date of the decedent's death, since the gross estate is determined as of that date and the estate tax itself becomes an obligation of the estate at that ti

The estate tax is not based on the value of the reversionary interest of the decedent at the time of his death but on the value at the time of his death of the property to which th

the foregoing words, "" "to be equally divided among them, &c.and as William is named as one of the " six aforesaid children," among whom the residue of the personal estate was thu

The principle of estoppel is well settled. It precludes a person from denying what he has said or the implication from his silence or conduct upon which another has acted. There mu

That would present the case of estoppel against estoppel, which Lord Coke says setteth the matter at large. No one can set up an estoppel against his own grant.

The title of the lessee is, in fact, the title of the lessor. He comes in by virtue of it, holds by virtue of it, and rests upon it to maintain and justify his possession. He profe

Where the grantor sets forth on the face of his conveyance, by averment or recital, that he is seized of a particular estate in the premises, and which estate the deed purports to

The estoppel, where the judgment was rendered upon the merits, whether on demurrer, agreed statement, or verdict, extends to every material allegation or statement which, having be

Where the second suit is upon the same cause of action set up in the first suit, an estoppel by judgment arises in respect to every matter offered or received in evidence, or which

The question is, whether the subsequent proceedings under the bill in equity, in which that title is asserted to be equitable, and the release given by Stone under that decree, and

In all the cases which have been decided on this principle, the fraud, for such it is supposed to be, has been practised by a party who has himself an interest in the subject-matte

if A sells and conveys his slaves or lands, and then produces to another his previous paper title, and obtains credit upon the goods or lands by pledging them for money loaned, he

whenever the form of the issue in the trial relied on as an estoppel is so vague that it does not determine what questions of fact were submitted to the jury under it, it is compet

it was not necessary as between parties and privies that the record should show that the question upon which the right of the plaintiff to recover, or the validity of the defence,

The warranty estops the grantee, and all persons in privity with him, from denying that he was seized. The estoppel works upon the estate, and binds the after-acquired title as bet

the recitals in the bonds are conclusive, constituting an estoppel in pais upon the defendants in this suit

If the second action is upon the same claim or demand as that in which the judgment pleaded was rendered, the judgment is an absolute bar not only of what was decided but of what m

Estoppels which run with the land and work thereon are not mere conclusions; they pass estates, and constitute titles; they are muniments of title, assuring it to the purchaser. Th

certain bodies of water "having unimpaired natural connection with open sea"); §2802(5) (" 'coastal waters' " includes wetlands "having unimpaired connection with the open sea up t

What is generally called the 'ethics' of the profession is but the consensus of expert opinion as to the necessity of such standards.

To escape; to slip away; To take refuge in evasion; to use artifice in avoidance.

The effect of the qualification is merely to prevent the evasion or avoidance at will of the usury law otherwise applicable, by the parties' entering into the contract or stipulati

We do not speak of evasion, because, when the law draws a line, a case is on one side of it or the other, and if on the safe side is none the worse legally that a party has availed

all such contracts, and yet at the same time it be said that certain contracts of that nature are not included? The asserted exception not only destroys the rule which is relied on

the courts of the District of Columbia, and require those courts to give full faith and credit to the judicial proceedings of the several States when properly authenticated.

the person doing the actual work individually, or through servants or general agents, and that the ownership of the material worked upon does not alter this meaning of the word." *

the loss suffered by the buyer of the totality of the thing sold, or a part thereof, occasioned by the right or claim of a third person.

substantial evidence," "Washington, V. & M. Coach Co. "v.

a definition of the crime charged or to determine by what law the elements of the crime of embezzlement are fixed.

only that the transaction (that the contract "evidences") must turn out, "in fact," to have involved interstate commerce? Or, does it mean more?

Only when there is a complete absence of probative facts to support the conclusion reached does a reversible error appear. But where, as here, there is an evidentiary basis for the

a hearing generally of the type required in Goldberg.

conduct—or at least an attitude or disposition—by the arbitrator favoring one party rather than the other.

It is the 'evil tendency' of the acts to contravene the policy governing banking transactions which lies at the root of the rule.

the theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types, the distinguishable differences being due to modifications in successive gener

the scientific evidences for evolution and inferences from those scientific evidences.

the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to

the state urges modification of an existing constitutional right or accompanying remedy.

to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter." §1030(e)(6).

the fact that he made the point at the trial, and the court decided it against him, is not sufficient to bring the question before this court. He must show that he excepted to the

it may properly' be said that the citizen owes allegiance to two sovereigns, and may be liable to punishment for an infraction of the laws of either, where the same act is a transg

the rule is not so inflexible that it may not yield to exceptional circumstances where the need for the remedy afforded by the writ of habeas corpus is apparent. Among these except

whatever is within the exception, is excluded from the grant; according to the maxim laid down in Co. Litt. 47 a, si quis rem dat et partem retinet, illa pars quam retinet semper c

Where the appellant, having seasonably procured the allowance of the appeal, is prevented from obtaining the transcript by the fraud of the other party, or by the order of the cour

Exceptions to the primary grant of jurisdiction in the section are to be strictly construed

a parent is not available or when the need for the abortion constitutes " 'an emergency requiring immediate action.' " 10 "Id.", at 750, 360 N.E.2d, at 294.

All that is necessary is, that the exception should distinctly point out the finding and conclusion of the master which it seeks to reverse. Having done so, it brings up for examin