Lay

In English Law. That which relates to persons or things not ecclesiastical. In the United States, the people are not by law divided, as in England, into ecclesiastical and lay. The law makes no distinction between them. In Pleading. To state or to allege. The place from whence a jury are to be suinmoned is called the "venue," and the allegation in the declaration of the place where the jury is to be summoned is, in technical language, said to "lay the venue."

3 Steph. Comm. 574; 3 Bouv. Inst, note 2826.

To state at the conclusion of a declaration the amount of damages which the plaintiff claims is to "lay damages."