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pret a usage A gratuitous loan for use.

pretax adj. Existing or occurring before the assessment or deduction of taxes <pretax income>.

pretax earnings See EARNINGS.

pretax earnings Net earnings before income taxes.

prete-nom (pret-nohm). [French] One who lends his name.

pretensive joinder See JOINDER.

pretensive joinder Joinder of defendants solely to obtain venue in a jurisdiction in which the action could not otherwise be tried.

preterlegal (pree-tar-Iee-gal), adj. Rare. Beyond the range of what is legal; not according to law <preterlegal customs>.

pretermission (pree-tar-mish-~an). 1. The condition of one who is pretermitted, as an heir of a testator. 2. The act of omitting an heir from a will.

pretermission statute See PRETERMITTED-HEIR STATUTE.

pretermit (pree-tar-mit), vb. 1. To ignore or disregard purposely <the court pretermitted the constitutional question by deciding the case on procedural grounds>. 2. To neglect, overlook, or omit accidentally <the third child was pretermitted in the will>. Although in ordinary usage sense 1 prevails, in legal contexts (esp. involving heirs) sense 2 is usual.

pretermitted child See pretermitted heir under HEIR.

pretermitted defense See DEFENSE (1).

pretermitted defense (pree-tar-mit-id). A defense available to a party that must be pleaded at the right time or be waived.

pretermitted heir (pree-tar-mit-id). A child or spouse who has been omitted from a will, as when a testator makes a will naming his or her two children and then, sometime later, has two more children who are not mentioned in the will. Also termed (more specif.) pretermitted child; pretermitted spouse. See PRETERMITTED-HEIR STATUTE.

pretermitted heir See HEIR.

pretermitted spouse See pretermitted heir under HEIR.

pretermitted-heir statute A state law that, under certain circumstances, grants an omitted heir the right to inherit a share of the testator s estate, usu. by treating the heir as though the testator had died intestate. Most states have a pretermitted-heir statute, under which an omitted child or spouse receives the same share of the estate as if the testator had died intestate, unless the omission was intentional. The majority rule, and that found in the Uniform Probate Code, is that only afterborn children that is, children born after th~ execution of a will receive protection as pretermitted heirs. Under that circumstance, an inference arises that their omission was inadvertent rather than purposeful. - Also termed retermission statute.

pretext (pree-tekst), n. A false or weak reason or motive advanced to hide the actual or strong reason or motive. pretextual (pree-teks-choo-al), adj.

pretextual arrest See ARREST.

pretextual arrest An arrest of a person for a minor offense to create an opportunity to investigate the person's involvement in a more serious offense for which there is no lawful ground to make an arrest. Also termed pretext arrest.

pretextus (pree-teks-tas). [Latin] A pretext.

pretium (pree-shee-am). [Latin) Price; value; worth.

pretium affectionis (pree-shee-am-a-fek-shee-oh-nis). An enhanced value placed on a thing by the fancy of its owner, growing out of an attachment for the specific article and its associations; sentimental value. This value is not taken as a basis for measuring damages.

pretium periculi (pree-shee-am pa-rik-ya-li). The price of the risk, such as the premium paid on an insurance policy.

pretorial court (pri-tor-ee-al). See COURT.

pretorial court A 17th-century Maryland court that had jurisdiction over capital and other serious crimes. It consisted of three judges: the colony's lord proprietor or his lieutenant-general, the Secretary or Register of the Council of State, and one other member of the Council.

pretrial conference An informal meeting at which opposing attorneys confer, usu. with the judge, to work toward the disposition of the case by discussing matters of evidence and narrowing the issues that will be tried. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16; Fed. R. Crim. P. 17.1. The conference takes place shortly before trial and ordinarily results in a pretrial order. Often shortened to pretrial. - Also termed pretrial hearing.

pretrial detention See DETENTION.

pretrial detention 1. The holding of a defendant before trial on criminal charges either because the established bail could not be posted or because release was denied. 2. In a juvenile-delinquency case, the court's authority to hold in custody, from the initial hearing until the probable-cause hearing, any juvenile charged with an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime. If the court finds that releasing the juvenile would create a serious risk that before the return date the juvenile might commit a criminal act, it may order the juvenile detained pending a probable-cause hearing. Juveniles do not have a constitutional right to bail. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of such statutes in Schall v. Martin, 467 U.S. 253, 104 S.Ct. 2403 (1984). Also termed temporary detention.

pretrial discovery Discovery conducted before trial to reveal facts and develop evidence. Modern procedural rules have broadened the scope ofpretrial discovery to prevent the parties from surprising each other with evidence at trial.

pretrial discovery See DISCOVERY.

pretrial diversion See DIVERSION PROGRAM (1).

pretrial hearing See PRETRIAL CONFERENCE.

pretrial hearing See PRETRIAL CONFERENCE.

pretrial intervention 1. DIVERSION PROGRAM (1). 2. See deferred judgment under JUDGMENT.

pretrial investigation An investigation to decide whether a case should be recommended for forwarding to a general court-martial.

pretrial order A court order setting out the claims and defenses to be tried, the stipulations of the parties, and the case s procedural rules, as agreed to by the parties or mandated by the court at a pretrial conference. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e). In federal court, a pretrial order supersedes the pleadings.

pretrial order See PRETRIAL ORDER.

prevail 1. To obtain the relief sought in an action; to win a lawsuit <the plaintiff prevailed in the Supreme Court>. 2. To be commonly accepted or predominant <it s unclear which line of precedent will prevail>.

prevailing party See PARTY (2).

prevailing party A party in whose favor a judgment is rendered, regardless of the amount of damages awarded <in certain cases, the court will award attorney fees to the prevailing party>.Also termed successful party. See Buckhannon Bd. & Care Horne, Inc. v. West Va. Dept ofHealth & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598,603, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 1839 (2001) (relying on the seventh edition of Black Law Dictionary [1999]).

prevarication (pri-var-a-kay-shan), The act or an instance oflying or avoiding the truth; equivocation. prevaricate (pri-var-a-kayt), vb.

prevaricator (pri-var-a-kay-tar), [Latin] 1. A liar; an equivocator. 2. Roman law. One who betrays another s trust, such as an advocate who aids the opposing party by betraying the client. Also spelled (in sense 2) praevaricator.

prevent To hinder or impede <a gag order to prevent further leaks to the press>.

preventative law See PREVENTIVE LAW.

prevention The right of one of several judges having concurrent jurisdiction to exercise that jurisdiction over a case that the judge is first to hear.

prevention doctrine The principle that each contracting party has an implied duty to not do anything that prevents the other party from performing its obligation. - Also termed prevention-of-performance doctrine.

preventive custody See CUSTODY (1).

preventive custody Custody intended to prevent further dangerous or criminal behavior.

preventive detention Confinement imposed usu. on a criminal defendant who has threatened to escape, poses a risk of harm, or has otherwise violated the law while awaiting trial, or on a mentally ill person who may cause harm.

preventive detention See DETENTION.

preventive injunction See INJUNCTION.

preventive injunction An injunction designed to prevent a loss or injury in the future. Cf. reparative injunction.

preventive justice See JUSTICE (1).

preventive justice Justice intended to protect against probable future misbehavior. Specific types of preventive justice include appointing a receiver or administrator, issuing a restraining order or injunction, and binding over to keep the peace.

preventive law A practice oflaw that seeks to minimize a client s risk of litigation or secure more certainty with regard to the client s legal rights and duties. Empha¬sizing planning, counseling, and the nonadversarial resolution of disputes, preventive law focuses on the lawyer s role as adviser and negotiator. Also termed (less correctly) preventative law.

preventive punishment See PUNISHMENT.

preventive punishment Punishment intended to prevent a repetition of wrongdOing by disabling the offender.

previous notice See NOTICE (6).

previous question See CLOSE DEBATE.

previously taxed income See INCOME.

previously taxed income An S corporation's undistributed taxable income taxed to the shareholders as of the last day of the corporation's tax year. This income could usu. be withdrawn later by the shareholders without tax consequences. PTr has been replaced by the accumulated adjustments account. - Abbr. PTI.

price The amount of money or other consideration asked for or given in exchange for something else; the cost at which something is bought or sold.

price amendment A change in a registration statement, prospectus, or prospectus supplement affecting the offering price, the underwriting and selling discounts or commissions, the amount of proceeds, the conversion rates, the call prices, or some other matter relating to the offering price.

price discrimination The practice of offering identical or similar goods to different buyers at different prices when the costs of producing the goods are the same. Price discrimination can violate antitrust laws if it reduces competition. It may be either direct, as when a seller charges different prices to different buyers, or indirect, as when a seller offers special concessions (such as favorable credit terms) to some but not all buyers.

price expectancy See EXHIBITION VALUE.

price index An index of average prices as a percentage of the average prevailing at some other time (such as a base year). See CONSUMER PRICE INDEX; PRODUCER PRICE INDEX.

price leadership A market condition in which an industry leader establishes a price that others in the field adopt as their own. Price leadership alone does not violate antitrust laws without other evidence of an intent to create a monopoly.

price memorandum A document created by an underwriter to explain how securities are priced for a public offering and, typically, to show estimates and appraisals that are not allowed as part of the offering documents.

price squeeze Discriminatory pricing practiced by a manufacturer or distributor who also supplies materials or products to a competitor, and charges a high wholesale price in an attempt to reduce or eliminate a competitor s ability to make a retail profit.

price support The artificial maintenance of prices (as of a particular commodity) at a certain level, esp. by governmental action (as by subsidy).

price war A period of sustained or repeated price-cutting in an industry (esp. among retailers), designed to undersell competitors or force them out of business.

price/cost analysis A technique of determining, for antitrust purposes, whether predatory pricing has occurred by examining the relationship between a defendant s prices and either its average variable cost or its average total cost.

price-earnings ratio The ratio between a stock s current share price and the corporation s earnings per share for the last year. Some investors avoid stocks with high price-earnings ratios because those stocks may be overpriced. - Abbr. PIE ratio. Cf. earnings yield under YIELD.

price-erosion theory A theory oflost-profits remedy that measures the difference between what an item could have sold for with patent protection and what it actually sold for while having to compete against an infringing item.

price-fixing The artificial setting or maintenance of prices at a certain level, contrary to the workings under antitrust law. See FIX (3). "Price-fixing agreements mayor may not be aimed at complete elimination of price competition. The group making those agreements mayor may not have the power to control the market. But the fact that the group cannot control the market prices does not necessarily mean that the agreement as to prices has no utility to the members of the combination. The effectiveness of price-fixing agreements is dependent on many factors, such as competitive tactics, position in the industry, the formula underlying price policies. Whatever economic justification particular price-fixing agreements may be thought to have, the law does not permit an inquiry into their reasonableness. They are all banned because of their actual or potential threat to the central nervous system of the economy." United States v. Socony-Vawum Oil Co., 310 U.S. 150,225-26 n.59, 60 5.Ct. 811, 845 n.59 (1940)

price-level-adjusted mortgage See MORTGAGE.

price-renegotiation clause Oil & gas. A provision in a gas contract allowing for price renegotiation from time to time or upon election of one of the parties.

priest-penitent privilege See PRIVILEGE (3).

priest-penitent privilege The privilege barring a clergy member from testifying about a confessor s communications. - Also termed clergyman-penitent privilege.

prima facie (pri-ma fay-sha or fay-shee), adv. [Latin]. At first sight; on first appearance but subject to further evidence or information <the is prima facie valid>.]

prima facie adj. Sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted <a prima facie showing>.

prima facie evidence (pri-ma fay-sha). Evidence that will establish a fact or sustain a judgment unless contradictory evidence is produced. The legislative branch may create an evidential presumption, or a rule of 'prima facie' evidence, i.e., a rule which does not shut out evidence, but merely declares that certain conduct shall suffice as evidence until the opponent produces contrary evidence." John H. Wigmore, A Students' Textbook of the Law of Evidence 237 (1935).

prima fade case 1. The establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption. 2. A party s production of enough evidence to allow the fact-trier to infer the fact at issue and rule in the party s favor.

prima fade evidence See EVIDENCE.

prima fade presumption See rebuttable presumption under PRES{;MPTION.

prima fade privilege See qualified immunity under IMMlJNITY (1).

prima fade tort See TORT.

prima jacie presumption See rebuttable presumption.

primae impressionis (pri-mee im-pres[h)-ee-oh-nis). [Law Latin) Of the first impression. See case of first impression under CASE.

primae preces See PRECES PRIMARIAE.

primage (pri-mij). See HAT MONEY.

primary See primary election under ELECTION (3).

primary receiver See principal receiver under RECEIVER.

primary activity Labor law. Concerted action (such as a strike or picketing) directed against an employer with which a union has a dispute. Cf. SECONDARY ACTIVITY.

primary agent See AGENT (2).

primary agent An agent who is directly authorized by a principal. A primary agent generally may hire a subagent to perform all or part of the agency. Cf. subagent.

primary allegation 1. The principal charge made against an adversary in a legal proceeding. 2. Eccles. law. The opening pleading in an action in ecclesiastical court. Also termed primary plea. Cf. defensive allegation. 3. Eccles. law. The entire statement of facts to be used in a contested suit.

primary allegation See ALLEGATION.