The rank, situation, or degree of a particular person in some one of the different orders of society; or his status or situation, considered as a juridicial person, arising from positive law or the institutions of society. Thill v. Pohlman, 70 Iowa, 038, 41 N. W. 3S5. A clause in a contract or agreement which has for its object to suspend, rescind, or modify the principal obligation , or, in case of a will, to suspend, revoke, or modify the devise or bequest. Towle v. Remsen, 70 N. Y. 303. A modus or quality annexed by him that hath an estate, or interest or right to the same, whereby an estate, etc., may either be defeated, enlarged, or created upon an uncertain event. Co. Litt. 201 a. A qualification or restriction annexed to a conveyance of lands, whereby it is provided that in case a particular event does or does not happen, or in case the grantor or grantee does or omits to do a particular act, an estate shall commence, be enlarged, or be defeated. Ileaston v. Randolph County, 20 Ind. 398; Cooper v. Green. 28 Ark. 54; State v. Board of Public Works , 42 Ohio St. 015: Selden v. Pringle, 17 Barb. (N. Y.) 405
Search Results for: common law
FEDERAL COMMON LAW
a group of laws established by the federal courts that is not influenced by laws and decisions of state courts.
DOWER BY COMMON LAW
a law in some states where a widow has the right to one third of her husband’s land.
DOWER BY THE COMMON LAW
The ordinary kind of dower in English and American law, consisting of a life interest in one-third of the lands of whichthe husband was seised in fee at any time during the coverture. Litt.
COMMON LAW EMPLOYEE
A party that does work for a firm but isn’t a partner or proprietor.
COMMON LAW PROPERTY
The way a spouse’s ownership is decided wen a marraige occurs. Joint purchases are kept together but seperate ones are kept seperate. Should a death or divorce occur it is helpful.
COMMON LAW TEST
A test federal tax systmes use to decide if you are an employee or independent contractor . An employee is directed by the employer.
COMMON LAWYER
A lawyer learned in the common law. Common opinion is good authority in law. Co. Litt. 186a; Bank of Utica v. Mersereau. 3 Barb. Ch. (N. Y.) 528, 577, 49 Am. Dec. 1S9. COMMON PLEAS . The name of a court of record having general original jurisdiction in civil suits.
COMMON LAW
As distinguished from the Roman law, the modern civil law, the canon law, and other systems, the common law is that body of law and juristic theory which was originated, developed, and formulated and is administered in England, and has obtained among most of the states and peoples of Anglo-Saxon stock. Lux v. Haggin, 69 Cal. 255, 10 Pac. 674. 2. As distinguished from law created by the enactment of legislatures, the common COMMON LAW 227 COMMON PLEAS law comprises the body of those principles and rules of action, relating to the government and security of persons and property, which derive their authority solely from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity, or from the judgments and decrees of the courts recognizing, affirming, and enforcing such usages and customs; and, in this sense, particularly the ancient unwritten law of England. Western Union Tel. Co. v. Call Pub. Co., 181 U. S. 92, 21 Sup. Ct. 5G1, 45 L. Ed. 7G5; State v. Buchanan, 5 Har. & J. (Md.) 3G5, 9 Am. Dec. 534; Lux v. Ilaggin, G9 Cal. 255, 10 Pac. G74; Barry v. Port Jervis, 64 App. Div. 268, 72 N. Y. Supp. 104. 3. As distinguished from equity law, it is a body of rules and principles, written or unwritten, which are of fixed and immutable authority, and which must be applied to controversies rigorously and in their entirety, and cannot be modified to suit the peculiarities of a specific case, or colored by any judicial discretion , and which rests confessedly upon custom or statute, as distinguished from any claim to ethical superiority . Klever v. Seawall, 65 Fed. 395, 12 C. C. A. 661. 4. As distinguished from ecclesiastical law , it is the system of jurisprudence administered by the purely secular tribunals. 5. As concerns its force and authority in the United States , the phrase designates that portion of the common law of England (including such acts of parliament as were applicable ) which had been adopted and was in force here at the time of the Revolution. This, so far as it has not since been expressly abrogated, is recognized as an organic part of the jurisprudence of most of the United States . Browning v. Browning, 3 N. M. 371, 9 Pac. 677; Guardians of Poor v. Greene, 5 Bin. (Pa.) 557; U. S. v. New Bedford Bridge, 27 Fed. Cas. 107. 6. In a wider sense than any of the foregoing, the “common law” may designate all that part of the positive law , juristic theory, and ancient custom of any state or nation which is of general and universal application , thus marking off special or local rules or customs. As a compound adjective “common-law” is understood as contrasted with or opposed to “statutory,” and sometimes also to “equitable” or to “criminal.” See examples below
AT COMMON LAW
As distinguished from a criminal action , it is one which seeks the establishment , recovery, or redress of private and civil rights . Civil suits relate to and affect, as to the parties against whom they are brought, only individual rights which are within their individual control, and which they may part with at their pleasure. The design of such suits is the enforcement of merely private obligations and duties. Criminal prosecutions, on the other hand, involve public wrongs, or a breach and violation of public rights and duties, which affect the whole community, considered as such in its social and aggregate capacity. The end they have in view is the prevention of similar offenses, not atonement or expiation for crime committed. Cancemi v. People, 18 N. Y. 128. Civil cases are those which involve disputes or contests between man and man, and which only terminate in the adjustment of the rights of plaintiffs and defendants. They include all cases which cannot legally be denominated “criminal eases.” Fenstermacher v. State, 19 Or. 504, 25 Pac. 142.