Bryan treaties. Int’l law. Any of 48 treaties designed to avert war by requiring the signatories to submit disputes of any kind to standing peace commissions. • The first of these treaties, named after Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, was signed between the United States and Great Britain in 1914.
A financial or operational transaction designed to make a present or future takeover bid more difficult by raising a company’s share price, paying off the bidder, or reducing a bidder’s profit. • Examples include issuing new shares of stock, acquiring expensive assets, and adopting a poison-pill defense. See POISON PILL; PORCUPINE PROVISION.
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wanton (wahn-t[schwa]n), adj. Unreasonably or maliciously risking harm while being utterly indifferent to the consequences. • In criminal law, wanton usu. connotes malice (in the criminal-law sense), while reckless does not. Cf. RECKLESS; WILLFUL. [Cases: Criminal Law 23; Negligence 275. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 38; Negligence §§ 98–103, 106–113, 913–914.] “Wanton differs from reckless both
self-defense, n. 1. The use of force to protect oneself, one’s family, or one’s property from a real or threatened attack. • Generally, a person is justified in using a reasonable amount of force in self-defense if he or she believes that the danger of bodily harm is imminent and that force is necessary to
Scots law. An irregular marriage created by cohabitation that implies a mutual agreement to be married. • This type of marriage is still recognized in Scotland. See Scotch marriage.
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socage (sok-ij). Hist. A type of lay tenure in which a tenant held lands in exchange for providing the lord husbandry-related (rather than military) service. • Socage, the great residuary tenure, was any free tenure that did not fall within the definition of knight-service, serjeanty, or frankalmoin. Cf. KNIGHT-SERVICE; VILLEINAGE. “If they [the peasant’s duties]
Dieu et mon droit (dyuu ay mawndrwah). [French “God and my right”] The motto of the royal arms of England. • It was first used by Richard I and, with the exception of Elizabeth I, was continually used from Edward III to William III, who used the motto je maintiendrey. Queen Anne used Elizabeth I’s
An election held by the National Labor Relations Board to decide whether a certain union will represent employees in a bargaining unit. See BARGAINING UNIT. [Cases: Labor Relations 210. C.J.S. Labor Relations §§ 191–192, 195–197, 203, 207–209.]
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The unlawful killing of another person with conscious indifference toward that person’s life. Cf. MANSLAUGHTER. [Cases: Homicide 709.]
Act of Settlement. Hist. An act of Parliament (12 & 13 Will. 3, ch. 2 (1701)) that resolved the question of royal succession unsettled after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. • The question was resolved by limiting the Crown to Protestant members of the House of Hanover. The Act also provided that the sovereign must