last-employer rule. The doctrine that liability for an occupational injury or illness falls to the employer that exposed the worker to the injurious substance just before the first onset of the disease or injury. — Also termed last-injurious-exposure rule. [Cases: Workers’ Compensation 201. C.J.S. Workmen’s Compensation §§ 120, 125–127.]
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bright-line rule. A legal rule of decision that tends to resolve issues, esp. ambiguities, simply and straightforwardly, sometimes sacrificing equity for certainty.
Corporations. The presumption that in making business decisions not involving direct self-interest or self-dealing, corporate directors act on an informed basis, in good faith, and in the honest belief that their actions are in the corporation’s best interest. • The rule shields directors and officers from liability for unprofitable or harmful corporate transactions if the
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sole-source rule. In a false-advertising action at common law, the principle that a plaintiff may not recover unless it can demonstrate that it has a monopoly in the sale of goods possessing the advertised trait, because only then is it clear that the plaintiff would be harmed by the defendant’s advertising.
collateral-source rule. Torts. The doctrine that if an injured party receives compensation for the injuries from a source independent of the tortfeasor, the payment should not be deducted from the damages that the tortfeasor must pay. • Insurance proceeds are the most common collateral source. — Also termed collateral-benefit rule. [Cases: Damages 59. C.J.S. Damages
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flash-of-genius rule. Patents. The now-defunct principle that a device is not patentable if it was invented as the result of trial and error rather than a “flash of creative genius.” • The rule, which takes its name from language in Cuno Engineering Corp. v. Automatic Devices Corp., 314 U.S. 84, 91, 62 S.Ct. 37, 41
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rule of lenity (len-[schwa]-tee). The judicial doctrine holding that a court, in construing an ambiguous criminal statute that sets out multiple or inconsistent punishments, should resolve the ambiguity in favor of the more lenient punishment. — Also termed lenity rule. [Cases: Statutes 241(1).]
contemporaneous objection rule 同时(提出的)异议原则该原则要求在上诉程序中，在决定是否采纳某一证据时，如反对采纳，必须及时提出异议。
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minimum en route instrument flight rule altitude 〈美〉联邦民航局制定的空中交通规则
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