control-group test. A method of determining whether the attorney–client privilege protects communications made by corporate employees, by providing that those communications are protected only if made by an employee who is a member of the group with authority to direct the corporation’s actions as a result of that communication. • The U.S. Supreme Court rejected […]
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no-action letter. A letter from the staff of a governmental agency stating that if the facts are as represented in a person’s request for an agency ruling, the staff will advise the agency not to take action against the person. • Typically, a no-action letter is requested from the SEC on such matters as shareholder
superlien. A government’s lien that is imposed on a property whose condition violates environmental and public-health and public-safety rules and that has priority over all other liens, so that the government can recover public funds spent on cleanup operations. • A statutory lien is superior to all existing liens and all later-filed liens on the
Defamation. The privilege protecting (1) any statement made in a legislature by one of its members, and (2) any paper published as part of legislative business. — Also termed (in a parliamentary system) parliamentary privilege. [Cases: Libel and Slander 37. C.J.S. Libel and Slander; Injurious Falsehood § 76.]
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family of nations. Int’l law. The community of countries to which international law applies. • This term is now obsolescent. It is increasingly rejected as Eurocentric. “ ‘The family of nations’ is an aggregate of States which, as the result of their historical antecedents, have inherited a common civilisation, and are at a similar level
Securities and Exchange Commission. The five-member federal agency that regulates the issuance and trading of securities to protect investors against fraudulent or unfair practices. • The Commission was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. — Abbr. SEC. [Cases: Securities Regulation 81–89. C.J.S. Securities Regulation §§ 242–253.]
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Force that is not excessive and that is appropriate for protecting oneself or one’s property. • The use of reasonable force will not render a person criminally or tortiously liable. — Also termed legal force.
enrolled agent. One who, though neither a certified public accountant nor an attorney, has been admitted to practice before the IRS, either by passing an examination or by working for the IRS in a technical area for at least five years. • The enrolled agent is one of four types of persons who are allowed
guarantee clause. 1. A provision in a contract, deed, or mortgage by which one person promises to pay the ob-ligation of another. [Cases: Mortgages 111. C.J.S. Mortgages § 74.] 2. (cap.) U.S. Const. art. IV, § 4, under which the federal government ensures for the states both a republican form of government and protection from