Maritime law. An amount paid by a shipowner to a vessel’s charterer if the vessel’s cargo is unloaded at the port sooner than provided for in the agreement between the charterer and the shipowner. — Also termed dispatch. Cf. contract demurrage under DEMURRAGE. [Cases: Shipping 49(6). C.J.S. Shipping § 108.]
insuring clause. A provision in an insurance policy or bond reciting the risk assumed by the insurer or establishing the scope of the coverage. — Also termed insuring agreement. [Cases: Insurance 2097. C.J.S. Insurance §§ 282–283, 395, 860.]
termination fee. A fee paid if a party voluntarily backs out of a deal to sell or purchase a business or a business’s assets. • Termination fees are usu. negotiated and agreed on as part of corporate merger or acquisition negotiations. The fee is designed to protect the prospective buyer and to deter the target
negotium (ni-goh-shee-[schwa]m), n. [Latin] Roman law. 1. A matter; an affair, as in negotium absentis, a matter concerning an absent person. 2. A transaction; an agreement. 3. A trade; a business. 4. A civil or criminal trial. Pl. negotia.
parking. 1. The sale of securities subject to an agreement that the seller will buy them back at a later time for a similar price. • Parking is illegal if done to circumvent securities regulations or tax laws. It is often a method of evading the net-capital requirements of the National Association of Securities Dealers
Secured transactions. A person who becomes bound as debtor under a security agreement previously entered into by another person. UCC §§ 9-102(a)(56), 9-203(e).
joint venture. A business undertaking by two or more persons engaged in a single defined project. • The necessary elements are: (1) an express or implied agreement; (2) a common purpose that the group intends to carry out; (3) shared profits and losses; and (4) each member’s equal voice in controlling the project. — Also
heedlessness, n. The quality of being thoughtless and inconsiderate; esp., conduct whereby the actor disregards the rights or safety of others. • Heedlessness is often construed to involve the same degree of fault as recklessness. See RECKLESSNESS. — heedless, adj.
re-up, vb. 1. To reenlist in one of the armed forces (the soldier re-upped the day after being discharged). [Cases: Armed Services 18. C.J.S. Armed Services §§ 43, 45–46.] 2. To sign an extension to a contract, esp. an employment agreement (the star athlete re-upped in a three-year deal worth $12 million).