chance bargain. Contracts. A transaction in which the parties mutually agree to accept the risk that facts and circumstances assumed by the parties at the time of contracting may not actually be what the parties believe they are. • If no fraud or misrepresentation is involved, a court will uphold a chance bargain. For instance, […]
Latin. The language of the ancient Romans and a primary language of the civil and canon law, and formerly of the common law. — Abbr. L. “The value of the Latin has always consisted in its peculiar expressiveness as a language of law terms, in its superior conciseness which has made it the appropriate language
The use of material, nonpublic information in trading the shares of a company by a corporate insider or other person who owes a fiduciary duty to the company. • This is the classic definition. The Supreme Court has also approved a broader definition, known as the “misappropriation theory”: the deceitful acquisition and misuse of information
divine right of kings. The political theory that the sovereign is a direct representative of God and has the right to rule absolutely by virtue of birth. “Divine Right of Kings … originated in the mediaeval concept of God’s award of temporal power to civil rulers and spiritual power to the Church. It was claimed
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trover (troh-v[schwa]r). A common-law action for the recovery of damages for the conversion of personal property, the damages generally being measured by the value of the property. — Also termed trover and conversion. Cf. DETINUE; REPLEVIN. [Cases: Trover and Conversion 1, 43. C.J.S. Trover and Conversion §§ 1–3, 5–7, 120–121.] “Trover may be maintained for
serf. Hist. A person in a condition of feudal servitude, bound to labor at the will of a lord; a villein. • Serfs differed from slaves in that they were bound to the native soil rather than being the absolute property of a master. “As the categories became indistinct, the more abject varieties of slavery
de arrestandis bonis ne dissipentur (dee ar-[schwa]-stan-dis boh-nis nee dis-[schwa]-pen-t[schwa]r), n. [Law Latin “of goods arrested lest they be dispersed”] Hist. A writ to seize goods from a party to ensure that the goods do not disappear while a lawsuit is pending.
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Uniform Trade Secrets Act. A 1979 model statute, now enacted by most states, defining trade secret differently from the common law by being at once broader (because there is no continuous-use requirement) and narrower (because information “readily ascertainable by proper means” cannot qualify). • The Act has three elements: (1) the information must qualify as
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agunah (ah-goo-nah), n. Jewish law. 1. A woman whose husband has deserted her or otherwise disappeared. • She may not remarry until either proving his death or obtaining a divorce. 2. A woman whose husband will not agree to a divorce.
moral law. A collection of principles defining right and wrong conduct; a standard to which an action must conform to be right or virtuous. “It quite often happens that the moral law disapproves of something which the secular permits as a concession to human frailty.” Patrick Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals 78 (1968).