hotchpot (hoch-pot), n. 1. The blending of items of property to secure equality of division, esp. as practiced either in cases of divorce or in cases in which advancements of an intestate’s property must be made up to the estate by a contribution or by an accounting. — Also termed hotchpotch; hotchpot rule. Cf. RAPPORT […]
death-knell doctrine. A rule allowing an interlocutory appeal if precluding an appeal until final judgment would moot the issue on appeal and irreparably injure the appellant’s rights. • Once recognized as an exception to the final-judgment rule, the doctrine was limited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463,
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ceorl (chorl). Hist. A Saxon freeman who either possessed no landed property or held land of a thane by paying rent or providing services. • After the Norman Conquest, ceorls were reduced to the status of unfree villeins. Under Norman rule, the variant form of the word, churl, became associated with a base peasant, and
A coworker having the same employer; esp., an employee who is so closely related to another employee’s work that there is a special risk of harm if either one is negligent. See FELLOW-SERVANT RULE; DIFFERENT-DEPARTMENT RULE E.
holograph (hol-[schwa]-graf), n. A document (such as a will or deed) that is handwritten by its author. • The majority rule is that a holographic will need not be entirely handwritten — only the “material provisions” — to take into account the popular use of fill-in-the-blank will forms. This is also the position of the
Interlocutory Appeals Act. A federal statute, enacted in 1958, that grants discretion to a U.S. court of appeals to review an interlocutory order in a civil case if the trial judge states in writing that the order involves a controlling question of law on which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and that
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discretionary (di-skresh-[schwa]-ner-ee), adj. (Of an act or duty) involving an exercise of judgment and choice, not an implementation of a hard-and-fast rule. • Such an act by a court may be overturned only after a showing of abuse of discretion.
act of court. 1. See judicial act under ACT. 2. Scots law. A memorandum setting forth the proceedings in a lawsuit. 3. Scots law. A rule made by a sheriff regulating proceedings within the sheriffalty.
Trademarks. The rule that, absent evidence to the contrary, the sale of an entire business carries with it and transfers to the purchaser any common-law marks used in that business without the need for a written assignment. • For marks registered under the Lanham Act or under some state registration schemes, a written assignment is
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vitium reale (vish-ee-[schwa]m ree-ay-lee). [Latin “true error”] Hist. & Scots law. A defect in a title that renders the movable property nontransferable; specif., an inherent vice in the title of anyone who holds a stolen thing, even if acquired honestly, so that the true owner can reclaim it. Cf. LABES REALIS QUAE REI INHAERET. “A