choate lien
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 347 U.S. 81 - United States v. City of New Britain · 1954Most cited · 2,299 citing opinions
A lien may be perfected in the sense that there is nothing more to be done to have a choate lien—when the identity of the lienor, the property subject to the lien, and the amount of the lien are established.
How the Supreme Court has restated “choate lien”
Each Supreme Court definition of “choate lien,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “choate lien”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “choate lien” — 3,488 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1954–1964
liens are 'perfected in the sense that there is nothing more to be done to have a choate lien—when the identity of the lienor, the property subject to the lien, and the amount of the lien are established
liens may also be perfected in the sense that there is nothing more to be done to have a choate lien—when the identity of the lienor, the property subject to the lien, and the amount of the lien are established