family-purpose rule. Torts. The principle that a vehicle’s owner is liable for injuries or damage caused by a family member’s negligent driving. • Many states have abolished this rule. — Also termed family-purpose doctrine; family-automobile doctrine; family-car doctrine. Cf. GUEST STATUTE. [Cases: Automobiles 195(5). C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 843.] “A number of jurisdictions have adopted […]
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A monetary loss such as lost wages or lost profits. • The term usu. refers to a type of damages recoverable in a lawsuit. For example, in a products-liability suit, economic loss includes the cost of repair or replacement of defective property, as well as commercial loss for the property’s inadequate value and consequent loss
survival action. A lawsuit brought on behalf of a decedent’s estate for injuries or damages incurred by the decedent immediately before dying. • A survival action derives from the claim that a decedent would have had — such as for pain and suffering — if he or she had survived. In contrast is a claim
battered-child syndrome. Family law. A constellation of medical and psychological conditions of a child who has suffered continuing injuries that could not be accidental and are therefore presumed to have been inflicted by someone close to the child, usu. a caregiver. • Diagnosis typically results from a radiological finding of distinct bone trauma and persistent
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no-bonus clause. Landlord–tenant law. A lease provision that takes effect upon governmental condemnation, limiting the lessee’s damages to the value of any improvements to the property and preventing the lessee from recovering the difference between the lease’s fixed rent and the property’s market rental value. See CONDEMNATION. [Cases: Eminent Domain 155. C.J.S. Eminent Domain §
A breach of contract caused by a party’s anticipatory repudiation, i.e., unequivocally indicating that the party will not perform when performance is due. • Under these circumstances, the nonbreaching party may elect to treat the repudiation as an immediate breach and sue for damages. — Also termed breach by anticipatory repudiation; constructive breach. See anticipatory
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Repudiation of a contractual duty before the time for performance, giving the injured party an immediate right to damages for total breach, as well as discharging the injured party’s remaining duties of performance. • This type of repudiation occurs when the promisor unequivocally disavows any intention to perform when the time for performance comes. Once
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prayer for relief. A request addressed to the court and appearing at the end of a pleading; esp., a request for specific relief or damages. — Often shortened to prayer. — Also termed demand for relief. See AD DAMNUM CLAUSE. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 680; Pleading 72. C.J.S. Pleading §§ 110–115.] “The prayer for relief.
thereto, adv. To that place, thing, issue, or the like (the jury awarded $750,000 in actual damages, and it added thereto another $250,000 in punitive damages). — Also termed thereunto.
crime score. A number assigned from an established scale, indicating the relative seriousness of an offense based on the nature of the injury or the extent of property damage. • Prosecutors use crime scores and defendant scores to promote uniform treatment of similar cases and to alert them to which cases need extensive pretrial preparation.