Legal Term Dictionary

The fixtures, tools, machinery, and apparatus which are necessary to carry on a trade or business. Wharton. Southern Bell Tel. Co. v. EKAlemberte, 89 Fla. 25, 21 South. 570; Sloss-Sheffleld Steel Co. v. Mobley, 139 Ala. 425, 36 South. 181; Maxwell v. Wilmington Dental Mfg. Co. (C. CO 77 Fed. More...

The fixtures, tools, machinery, and apparatus which are necessary to carry on a trade or business. Wharton. Southern Bell Tel. Co. v. EKAlemberte, 89 Fla. 25, 21 South. 570; Sloss-Sheffleld Steel Co. v. Mobley, 139 Ala. 425, 36 South. 181; Maxwell v. Wilmington Dental Mfg. Co. (C. CO 77 Fed. 941. Less...

In English law. A colony; an original settlement in a new country. See 1 Bl. Comm. 107. In American law. A farm; a large cultivated estate. Used chiefly in the southern states. In North Carolina, "plantation" signifies the land a man owns which he is cultivating mote or less in More...

In English law. A colony; an original settlement in a new country. See 1 Bl. Comm. 107. In American law. A farm; a large cultivated estate. Used chiefly in the southern states. In North Carolina, "plantation" signifies the land a man owns which he is cultivating mote or less in annual crops. Strictly, it designates the place planted; but in wills it is generally used to denote more than the inclosed and cultivated fields, and to take in the necessary woodland, and, indeed, commonly all the land forming the parcel or parcels under culture as one farm, or even what is worked by one set of hands. Stowe v. Davis, 32 N. C. 431. Less...

A map, or representation on paper, of a piece of land subdivided into lots, with streets, alleys, etc., usually drawn to a scale. McDaniel v. Mace, 47

A map, or representation on paper, of a piece of land subdivided into lots, with streets, alleys, etc., usually drawn to a scale. McDaniel v. Mace, 47 Less...

Debt contracted by gaming.

Debt contracted by gaming. Less...

A Spanish word, meaning a ' public square in a city or town. Sachs v. Towauda, 79 111. App. 441.

A Spanish word, meaning a ' public square in a city or town. Sachs v. Towauda, 79 111. App. 441. Less...

In old English law. . A suit or action. Thus, the power to "hold pleas" Is the power to take cognizance of actions or suits; so "common pleas" are actions or suits between private persons. And this meaning of the word still appears In the modern declarations, where it is More...

In old English law. . A suit or action. Thus, the power to "hold pleas" Is the power to take cognizance of actions or suits; so "common pleas" are actions or suits between private persons. And this meaning of the word still appears In the modern declarations, where it is stated, 6. p., that the defendant "has been summoned to answer the plaintiff in a plea of debt." In common-law praetiee. A pleading; any one in the series of pleadings. More particularly, the first pleading on the nart of the defendant In the Ptrictest sense, the answer which the defendant in an action at law makes to the plaintiff's declaration, and in which be sets up matter of fact as defense, thus distinguished from a demurrer* which Interposes objections on grounds of law. In eqnity. A special answer showing or relying upon one or more things as a cause, why the suit should be either dismissed or delayed or barred. Mitf. Eq. PI. 219; Coop. Eq. PI. 223. A short statement in response to a bill In equity, of facts which, if inserted in the bill, would render it demurrable; while an answer is a complete statement of the defendant's case, and contains answers to any interrogatories the plaintiff may have administered. Hunt, Eq. pt 1, c 3. -Affirmative plea. One which sets up a single fact, not appearing in the bill, or sets up a number of circumstances all tending to establish a single fact, which fact, if existing, destroys the comnlainant's case. Potts v. Potts (N. J. Ch.) 42 Atl. 1055.-Anomalous plea. o One which is partly affirmative and partly negative. Baldwin v. Elizabeth, 42 N. J. Eq. 11, 6 Atl. 275; Potts v. Potts (N. J. Ch.) 42 Atl. 1055.-Bad plea. One which is unsound or insufficient In form or substance, or which does not technically answer or correspond with the pleading which preceded it In the action.-Common pleas. Common causes or suits; civil actions brought and prosecuted between subjects or citizens, as distinguished from pleas, of the crown or criminal cases.-Counter-plea. A plea to some matter incidental to the main object of the suit and out of the direct Hne of pleadings. In the more ancient system of pleading, counter-plea was applied to what was, in effect a replication to aid prayer, (q. r.;) that is, where a tenant for life or other limited interest in land, having an action brought against him in respect to the title to such land, prayed in aid of the lord or reversioner for his better defense, that which the demandant alleged against either request was called a "counter-plea." Cowell.-Dilatory See DILATORY.-ODouble plea. One ving the* technical fault of duplicity; one consisting of several distinct and independent matters alleged to the same point and requiring different answers^-False plea. A sham plea. See infra* And see People v. McCumi PLEA ber. 18 N. T. 321, 72 Am. Dec. 515: Pierson v. Evans, 1 Wend. (N. Y.) 30.-Foreign plea. A plea objecting to the jurisdiction of a judge, on the ground that he had not cognisance of the subject-matter of the suit. Cowell.-Negative plea. One which does not undertake to answer the various allegations of the bill, but specifically denies some particular fact or matter the existence of which is essential to entitle the complainant to any relief. See Potts v. Potts (N. J. Ch.) 42 Atl. 1056.-Peremptory pleas. "Pleas ia bar" are so termed in contradistinction to that class of pleas called "dilatory pleas." The former, viz., peremptory pleas, are usually pleaded to the merits of the action, with the view of raising a material issue between the parties; while the latter class, viz., dilatory pleas, are generally pleaded with a view of retarding the plaintiff's proceedings, and not for the purpose of raising an* issue upon which the parties may go to trial and settle tbe point in dispute. Peremptory pleas are also called "pleas in bar," while dilatory pleas are said to be in abatement only. Brown.-Plea In abatement. In practice. A plea which goes to abate the plaintiff's action; that is, to suspend or put it off for the present 3 Bl. Comm. 801; Hurst v. Everett (C. C.) 21 Fed. 221; Wilson v. Winchester A P. R. Co. (C. O.) 82 Fed. 18; Middlebrook v. Ames, 5 Stew. A P. (Ala.) 166.-Plea in bac In practice. A plea which goes to bar the plaintiff'8 action; that is, to defeat it absolutely and entirely. 1 Burrill, Pr. 162; 3 Bl. Comm. 303; Rawson v. Knight, 71 Me. 102; Norton v. Winter, 1 Or. 48. 62 Am. Dec. 297; Wilson v. Knox County, 132 Mo. 387. 34 S. W. 45^-Plea in disoharge. One which admits that the plaintiff had a cause of action, but shows that it was discharged by some subsequent or collateral matter, as, payment or accord and satisfaction. Nichols v. Cecil. 106 Tenn. 455, 61 S. W. 768.-Plea in reconvention. In the dvil law. A plea which sets up. new matter, not in defense to the action, but by way. of cross-complaint, set-off, or counterclaim.-^ Plea of release. One which admits the cause, of action, but sets forth a release subsequently executed by the party authorized to release the claim. Landis v. Morrissey, 69 Cal. 83, 10 Pac. 258.-Plea side. The plea side of a court is that branch or department of the court which entertains or takes cognizance of civil actions and suits, as distinguished from Its criminal or crown denartment Thus the court of king's bench, is said to have a plea side and a crown or criminal side; the one branch or department of it being devoted to tbe cognizance of civil actions, the other to criminal proceedings and matters peculiarly concerning the crown. So the court of exchequer is said to have a plea side and a crown side; the one being appropriated to civil actions, the other to matters of revenue. Brown.-Pleas of the crown. In English law. A phrase now employed to signify criminal causes, In which the king is a party. Formerly It signified royal causes for offenses of a greater magnitude than mere misdemeanors.-Pleas rolL In English practice. A record upon which are entered all the pleadings in a cause, In their regular order, and the issue.-Pure plea. In equity pleading. One which relies wholly on some matter outside those referred to in the bill: as a plea of a release on a settled account.-Sham plea. A false plea; a plea of false or fictitious matter, subtly drawn so as to entrap an opponent, or create delay. 3 Chit. Pr. 729, 730. A vexatious or false defense, resorted to under the old system of pleading for purposes of delay and annoyance. Steph. PI. 383. Mr. Chitty defines sham pleas to be pleas so palpably and manifestly untrue that the court will assume them to be so; manifestly absurd. When answers or-efenses admit of lawyer-like argument such as courts should listen to, they ate not "sham," in the sense of the statute. When it needs argument to prove that an answer or demurrer ia frivolous, it is not frivolous, and should not be4 stricken off. To warrant this summary mode' of disposing of a defense,, the mere reading of the pleadings should be sufficient to dis-" close, without deliberation and without a doubt, that the defense is sham or irrelevant. ' Cottrill v. Cramer, 40 Wis.. 559.-Special plea. A special kind of plea in bar, distinguished by this name from the general issue, and consisting usually of some new affirmative matter, though it may also be in the form of a traverse or denial. See Steph. PI. 52, 162; Allen v. New Haven & N. Co., 49 Conn. 245.-Special plea in bar. One which advances new matter. It differs from the general, in this: that the latter, denies some- material allegation, but neves advancesi new matter. Gould, PL c. 2, $ 3& Less...

To make, deliver, or file any pleading; to conduct the pleadings in a cause. To interpose any pleading in a suit which contains allegations of fact; in this sense the word is the antithesis of "demur." More particularly', to deliver in a formal manner the defendant's answer to the plaintiffs More...

To make, deliver, or file any pleading; to conduct the pleadings in a cause. To interpose any pleading in a suit which contains allegations of fact; in this sense the word is the antithesis of "demur." More particularly', to deliver in a formal manner the defendant's answer to the plaintiffs declaration, or to the indictment, as the case may be. . To appear as a pleader or advocate in a cause; to argue a cause in a court of justice. But this meaning of the word is not technical, but colloquial. -Plead a statute. Pleading a statute is stating the facts which bring the case .within it; and "counting" on it, in the strict language of pleading, is making express reference to it by apt terms to show the source of right relied on. McCnllough v. Colfax County, 4 Neb. fUnof.} 543, 95 N. W. 31.-Plead issuably. This means to interpose such a plea as is calculated to raise a material issue, either of law er of fact.-Plead over. To pass over, pr omit to notice, a material allegation in the last pleading of the opposite party; to pass by a defect in the pleading of the other party without* taking advantage of it. In another sense, to plead the general issue, after one has interposed a demurrer or special plea which has been dismissed by a judgment of respondeat ouster. -Plead to the merits. This is a phrase of long standing and accepted usage hi the law, and distinguishes those pleas which answer the cause of action and on which a trial may be had from all pleas of a different character; Kahn v. Gunnison, 12 Wis. 529. Less...

Alleged or averred, inform, in a judicial proceeding. It more often refers to matter of defense, but not invariably. To say that matter in a declaration or replication is not well pleaded weuld not be deemed erroneous. Abbott

Alleged or averred, inform, in a judicial proceeding. It more often refers to matter of defense, but not invariably. To say that matter in a declaration or replication is not well pleaded weuld not be deemed erroneous. Abbott Less...

A person, whose business it Is to draw pleadings. Formerly, when pleading at common law was a highly technical and difficult art, there was a class of men known as "special pleaders not at the bar," who held a position intermediate between counsel and attorneys. The elass Is now almost More...

A person, whose business it Is to draw pleadings. Formerly, when pleading at common law was a highly technical and difficult art, there was a class of men known as "special pleaders not at the bar," who held a position intermediate between counsel and attorneys. The elass Is now almost extinct and the term "pleaders" is generally applied. In England, to junior members of the common-law bar. Sweet. ----Special pleader. In English practice. A person whose professional occupation is to give verbal or written opinions upon statements made verbally or in writing, and to draw pleadings, civil or criminal, and such practical proceedings as may be out of the usual course-2 Chit. Pr. 42 Less...

The peculiar science ot system of rules and principles, established in the common law, according to which the pleading or responsive allegations of litigating parties are framed, with a view to preserve technical propriety and to produce a proper Issue. The process performed by the parties to a suit or More...

The peculiar science ot system of rules and principles, established in the common law, according to which the pleading or responsive allegations of litigating parties are framed, with a view to preserve technical propriety and to produce a proper Issue. The process performed by the parties to a suit or action, in alternately presenting written statements of their contention, each responsive to that which precedes, and each serving to narrow the field of controversy, until there evolves a single point, affirmed on one side and denied on the other, called the tissue," upon which they then go to trial. The act or step of interposing any one of the pleadings in a cause, but particularly one on the part of the defendant; and, in the strictest sense, one which sets up allegations of fact in defense to the action. The name "a pleading" is also given to any one of the formal written statements of accusation or defense presented by the parties alternately in an action at law; the-aggregate of such statements filed in any one cause are termed "the pleadings." - The oral advocacy of a client's cause in court, by his barrister or counsel, is sometimes called "pleading;" but this.Is a popular, rather than technical, use. In chancery practice. Consists in making the formal written allegations or statements of the respective parties on the record to maintain the suit, or to defeat it of which, when contested in matters of fact they propose to offer proofs, and in matters of law to offer arguments to the court. Story. Bq. PI- f 4, note. -Double pleading;. This Is not allowed either in the declaration or subsequent pleadings. Its meaning with respect to the former is that the declaration must not, in support of a single demand, allege several distinct matters, by any one of which that demand is sufficiently supported. With respect to the subsequent pleadings, the meaning is that none of them is to contain several distinct answers to that which preceded it; and the reason of the rule in each case is that such pleading tends to several issues in resnect of a single claim. Wharton.-Special pleading. When the allegations (or "pleadings," as they are called) of the contending parties in an action are not of the general or ordinary form, but are of a more complex or special character, they are denominated "special pleadings;" and, when a defendant pleads a plea of this description, (t. e., a special plea.) -be is said to plead specially, in opposition to pleading the general issue. These terms have given rise to the popular denomination of that science which, though properly called "pleading," is generally known by the name of "special pleading." Brown. The allegation of special or new matter ia opposition or explanation of the last previous averments on the other side, as distinguished from a direct denial of matter previously alleged by the opposite party. Gould, PL c 1, 11& la popuUi language^ the adroit and plausible advocacy of a client's case in court' Stiuison, Law Gloss. Less...