sealed instrument. At common law and under some statutes, an instrument to which the bound party has affixed a personal seal, usu. recognized as providing indisputable evidence of the validity of the underlying obligations. • The common-law distinction between sealed and unsealed instruments has been abolished by many states, and the UCC provides that the […]
Railway Labor Act. A 1926 federal law giving transportation employees the right to organize without management interference and establishing guidelines for the resolution of labor disputes in the transportation industry. • In 1934, the law was amended to include the airline industry and to establish the National Mediation Board. 45 USCA §§ 151–188. See NATIONAL
A lease that is collateral for the loan through which the lessor acquired the leased asset, and that provides the lender’s only recourse for nonpayment of the debt; a lease in which a creditor provides nonrecourse financing to the lessor (who has substantial leverage in the property) and in which the lessor’s net investment in
Insurance that declines in value during the term; esp., life insurance that lessens in value to zero by the end of the term.
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one-book rule. The requirement or practice that only one version of the Sentencing Guidelines be used to calculate all aspects of a defendant’s sentence.
The strategy of wearing down the plaintiff by tenaciously fighting by whatever means anything the plaintiff presents and appealing every ruling favorable to the plaintiff, rather than presenting a meritorious case. • The tactic is named for the Russian city besieged by the Germans in World War II. The defenders refused to surrender and used
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Hepburn Act. A 1906 federal statute that amended the Interstate Commerce Act to (1) increase the (now defunct) Interstate Commerce Commission’s jurisdiction to include pipelines, (2) prohibit free passes except to employees, (3) prohibit common carriers from transporting any products (except timber) in which they had an interest, and (4) require joint tariffs and a
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. An agreement whose purpose is to ensure that when states are involved in the placement or adoption of children across state lines, the states cooperate with each other to facilitate the process and to protect the children. • This compact is intended to secure states’ cooperation in investigating
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consanguinity (kon-sang-gwin-[schwa]-tee), n. The relationship of persons of the same blood or origin. See prohibited degree under DEGREE. Cf. AFFINITY; AFFINITAS AFFINITATIS. [Cases: Incest 5; Marriage 10. C.J.S. Incest § 4; Marriage § 17.] — consanguineous, adj. “In the mode of computing the degrees of consanguinity, the civil law … begins with the intestate, and
index, n. 1. An alphabetized listing of the topics or other items included in a single book or document, or in a series of volumes, usu. found at the end of the book, document, or series (index of authorities). grantee–grantor index. An index, usu. kept in the county recorder’s office, alphabetically listing by grantee the