Legal Term Dictionary

(Lat Campus Maii.) The field or assembly of May. The national assembly of the Franks, held in the month: of May.

(Lat Campus Maii.) The field or assembly of May. The national assembly of the Franks, held in the month: of May. Less...

(Lat. Campus Mar-til) The field or assembly of March. The national assembly of the Franks, held in the month of March, in the open air.

(Lat. Campus Mar-til) The field or assembly of March. The national assembly of the Franks, held in the month of March, in the open air. Less...

In French law. The grant of a piece of land by the owner to another, on condition that the latter would deliver to him a portion of the crops. 18 Toul-lier, n. 182.

In French law. The grant of a piece of land by the owner to another, on condition that the latter would deliver to him a portion of the crops. 18 Toul-lier, n. 182. Less...

In old English law. A share or division of land; champerty. In old Scotch law. A gift or bribe, taken by any great man or judge from any person, for delay of just actions, or furthering of wrongous actions, whether it be lands or any goods movable. Skene.

In old English law. A share or division of land; champerty. In old Scotch law. A gift or bribe, taken by any great man or judge from any person, for delay of just actions, or furthering of wrongous actions, whether it be lands or any goods movable. Skene. Less...

In criminal law. One who makes pleas or suits, or causes them to be moved, either directly or indirectly, and sues them at his proper costs, upon condition of having a part of the gain. One guilty of champerty. St 33 Edw. I. c. 2.

In criminal law. One who makes pleas or suits, or causes them to be moved, either directly or indirectly, and sues them at his proper costs, upon condition of having a part of the gain. One guilty of champerty. St 33 Edw. I. c. 2. Less...

Of the nature of champerty; affected with champerty,

Of the nature of champerty; affected with champerty, Less...

A bargain made by a stranger with one of the parties to a suit, by which such third person undertakes to carry on the litigation at his own cost and risk, in consideration of receiving, if he wins the suit, a part of the land or other subject sought to More...

A bargain made by a stranger with one of the parties to a suit, by which such third person undertakes to carry on the litigation at his own cost and risk, in consideration of receiving, if he wins the suit, a part of the land or other subject sought to be recovered by the action. Small v. Mott, 22 Wend. (N. Y.) 405 ; Jewel v. Neidy, 61 Iowa, 299, 16 N. W. 141; Weakly v. Hall, 13 Ohio, 175. 42 Am. Dec. 191; Toe v. Davis, 29 Ala. 683; Glluian v. Jones. 87 Ala. 691, 5 South. 785, 7 South. 48, 4 L. R. A. 113: Torrence v. Shedd, 112 111. 466; Cas-serleigh v. Wood, 119 Fed. 308, 56 C. C. A. 212. The purchase of an interest in a thing in dispute, with the object of maintaining and taking part in the litigation. 7 Bing, 378. The act of assisting the plaintiff or defendant in a legal proceeding in which the person giving the assistance has no valuable interest, on an agreement that, if the proceeding is successful, the proceeds shall be divided between the plaintiff or defendant, as the case may be, and the assisting person. Sweet. Champerty is the carrying on a suit in the name of another, but at one's own expense, with the view of receiving as compensation a certain share of the avails of the suit. Ogden v. Des Arts. 4 Duer (N. Y.) 275. The distinction between champerty and maintenance lies in the interest which the interfering party is to have in the issue of the suit. In the former case, he is to receive a share or portion of what may be recovered; in the latter case, he is in no way benefited by the success of the party aided, but simply Intermeddles officiously. Thus every champerty includes maintenance, hut not every maintenance is champerty. See 2 Inst 208; Stotsenburg v. Marks, 79 Ind. 196; Lytle v. State, 17 Ark. 624. Less...

A person who fights a combat In his own cause, or in place of another. The person who, in the trial by battel, fought either for the tenant or demandant. 3 Bl. Comm. 339. —Champion of the hinjg or queen. An ancient officer, whose duty it was to ride armed More...

A person who fights a combat In his own cause, or in place of another. The person who, in the trial by battel, fought either for the tenant or demandant. 3 Bl. Comm. 339. —Champion of the hinjg or queen. An ancient officer, whose duty it was to ride armed cap-a-pid, into Westminster Hall at the coronation, while the king was at dinner, and, by the proclamation of a herald, make a challenge "that, if any man shall deny the king's title to the crown, he is there ready to defend it in single combat." The king drank to him, and sent him a gilt cup covered, full of wine, which the champion drank, retaining the cup for his fee. This ceremony, long discontinued, was revived at the coronation of George IV., but not afterwards. Wharton. Less...

In criminal law. An accident; an unexpected, unforeseen, or unintended consequence of an act; a fortuitous event The opposite of intention, design, or contrivance. There is a wide difference between chance and accident. The one is the intervention of some unlooked-for circumstance to prevent an expected result; the other is More...

In criminal law. An accident; an unexpected, unforeseen, or unintended consequence of an act; a fortuitous event The opposite of intention, design, or contrivance. There is a wide difference between chance and accident. The one is the intervention of some unlooked-for circumstance to prevent an expected result; the other is the uncalculated effect of mere luck. The shot discharged at random strikes its object by chance; that which is turned aside from its well-directed aim by some unforeseen circumstance misses its mark by accident Pure chance consists in the entire absence of all the means of calculating results; accident, in the unusual prevention of an effect naturally resulting from the means employed. Harless v. U. S., Morris (Iowa) 173. —Chance verdict. One determined by hazard or lot, and not by the deliberate understanding and agreement of the jury. Goodman v. Cody, 1 Wash. T. 335, 34 Am. Rep. 808; Dixon v. Pluns, 98 Cal. 384, 33 Pac. 268, 20 L. R. A. 698. 35 Am. St Rep. 180; Improvement Co. v. Adams, 1 Colo. App. 250, 28 Pac. 662. Less...

In criminal law. A sudden affray. This word is sometimes applied to any kind of homicide by misadventure, but in strictness it is applicable to such killing only as happens in defending one's self. 4 Bl. Comm. 184.

In criminal law. A sudden affray. This word is sometimes applied to any kind of homicide by misadventure, but in strictness it is applicable to such killing only as happens in defending one's self. 4 Bl. Comm. 184. Less...