An intervening act or force that the law considers sufficient to override the cause for which the original tortfeasor was responsible, thereby exonerating that tortfeasor from liability. — Also termed sole cause. Cf. intervening cause. [Cases: Negligence 431. C.J.S. Negligence §§ 202, 315.]
Fraud that is presumed under the circumstances, as when a debtor transfers assets and thereby impairs creditors’ efforts to collect sums due. — Also termed constructive fraud.
delivered ex quay. A mercantile-contract term allocating the rights and duties of the buyer and the seller of goods with respect to delivery, payment, and risk of loss, whereby the seller must (1) clear the goods for export, (2) bear the costs of transportation to the port named by the importing buyer, and (3) place
at-issue waiver. An exemption from the attorney–client privilege, whereby a litigant is considered to have waived the privilege by taking a position that cannot be effectively challenged without analyzing privileged information. Cf. OFFENSIVE-USE WAIVER. [Cases: Witnesses 219(3).]
lien-stripping. Bankruptcy. The practice of splitting a mortgagee’s secured claim into secured and unsecured components and reducing the claim to the market value of the debtor’s residence, thereby allowing the debtor to modify the terms of the mortgage and reduce the amount of the debt. • The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited lien-stripping in all
meeting-competition defense. Antitrust. A defense to a charge of price discrimination whereby the defendant shows that the lower price was a good-faith attempt to match what it believed to be a competitor’s equally low offer.
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book entry. 1. A notation made in an accounting journal. 2. The method of reflecting ownership of publicly traded securities whereby a customer of a brokerage firm receives confirmations of transactions and monthly statements, but not stock certificates. See CENTRAL CLEARING SYSTEM. [Cases: Brokers 23, 26. C.J.S. Brokers §§ 65, 67–69.]
field warehousing. An inventory-financing method by which a merchant pledges its inventory, which is in the possession of a third person (a warehouser). • This is a method of financing an inventory that cannot economically be delivered to the creditor or third party. The borrower segregates part of the inventory and places it under the
accomenda (ak-[schwa]-men-d[schwa]). Hist. Maritime law. A contract between a cargo owner and a shipmaster whereby the parties agree to sell the cargo and divide the profits (after deducting the owner’s costs). • This contract actually consists of two agreements: a mandatum, by which the owner gives the shipmaster the power to dispose of the cargo,
Palace Court. Hist. A court having jurisdiction over all personal actions arising within 12 miles of Whitehall. • This court was created by James I in response to complaints about the inconvenience of using the itinerant Court of the Marshalsea; its jurisdiction was similar, but the court remained in Whitehall. It was abolished along with