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business-purpose doctrine The principle that a transaction must serve a bona fide business purpose (i.e., not just for tax avoidance) to qualify for beneficial tax treatment.

business-records exception A hearsay exception allowing business records (such as reports or memoranda) to be admitted into evidence if they were prepared in the ordinary course of business . If there is good reason to doubt a record's reliability (e.g., the record was prepared in anticipation of litigation), the exception will not apply. Fed. R. Evid. 803(6). - Also termed business-entry rule.

business-risk exclusion An exclusion in some commercial general liability policies, excluding coverage for common risks of doing business, including harm to the insured's product or work, damages arising from a product recall, damages arising from the insured's failure to perform under a contract, or damages arising from a failure of the insured's product to perform as intended.

business-risk exdusion See EXCLUSION (3).

business-to-business Of or relating to commerce between businesses, as distingUished from commerce between a business and consumers. - Abbr. B2B. Cf. BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER.

business-to-business e-commerce Electronic commerce between businesses over the Internet.

business-to-consumer Of or relating to commerce between a business and consumers, as distinguished from commerce between businesses. - Abbr. B2C. Cf. BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS.

business-to-consumer e-commerce Electronic commerce between a business and consumers over the Internet.

bust-up merger See MERGER.

but see See SED VIDE.

but so insane as not to be responsible See GUILTY BUT MENTALLY ILL.

but-for cause See CAUSE (1).

but-for causec The cause without which the event could not have occurred. Also termed actual cause; cause in fact;factual cause.

but-for materiality In an analysis of allegedly inequitable conduct, a test for determining the materiality of withheld information by assessing whether the withheld information, if disclosed, would have resulted in a finding of unpatentability .o Under this test, the issue is whether the patent would have issued if not for the misconduct of the applicant. By contrast, under the subjective but-for test, the issue is whether the misrep-resentation caused the examiner to issue the patent. Although both tests have been applied by the courts, the Federal Circuit has rejected the but-for materiality test in favor of the materiality test codified in 37 CFR 1.56. Also termed objective but-for test. Cf. REASON-ABLE EXAMINER TEST.

but-for test The doctrine that causation exists only when the result would not have occurred without the party's conduct. Also termed (in criminal law) had-not test. See but-for cause under CAUSE Cf. SUBSTANTIAL-CAUSE TEST.

butlerage A duty on wine imported into England, payable to the royal butler. Cf. PRISAGE.

buttals (bat-alz). See ABUTTALS.

butterfly ballot A punchcard ballot that opens like a book and usu. has arrows pointing to the punchhole beside a candidate's name . The butterfly ballots used in Florida during the 2000 presidential elections produced widespread controversy because the layout of the candidates' names on the ballots allegedly confused voters and caused them to cast votes mis-takenly for candidates they did not support.

butterfly ballot- See BALLOT.

butts and bounds See METES AND BOUNDS.

buy See PURCHASE (1).

buy order See ORDER (8).

buy-and-sell agreement See BUY-SELL AGREEMENT.

buy-back clause 1. A provision that requires a manufacturer or franchiser to buy back inventory and equipment if the distributor or franchisee's contract is terminated prematurely. 2. Contracts. A clause allowing the seller of property the right or opportunity to repur-chase the property under stated conditions. 3. Insurance. An insurance-policy clause that provides for the reinstatement of coverage that the insurer excludes or cancels if the insured meets certain conditions . For instance, buy-back clauses are often used to reinstate some of the coverage taken away under pollution-exclusion clauses.

buy-down Money paid by the buyer of a house to reduce the mortgage-interest payments.

buyer (12c) One who makes a purchase. See PURCHASER.

buyer in ordinary course of business A person who in good faith and without knowledge that the sale violates a third party's ownership rights or security interest in the goods - buys from a person regularly engaged in the business of selling goods of that kind . Pawnbrokers are excluded from the defi-nition. UCC § 1-201(9),- Also termed buyer in due course.

buyer's market See MARKET.

buying in The purchase of property by the original owner or an interested party at an auction or foreclosure sale. buy in, vb.

buying on margin See MARGIN TRANSACTION.

buying syndicate See SYNDICATE.

buying syndicate A group of investment bankers who share the risk in underwriting a securities issue.

buyout The purchase of all or a controlling percent-age of the assets or shares of a business. Cf. MERGER (8). buyout, vb.

buy-sell agreement 1. An arrangement between owners of a business by which the surviving owners agree to purchase the interest of a withdrawing or deceased owner. Also termed cross-purchase buy-sell agreement. Cf. CONTINUATION AGREEMENT. 2. Corporations. A share-transfer restriction that commits the shareholder to sell, and the corporation or other share-holders to buy, the shareholder's shares at a fixed price when a specified event occurs. - Also termed buy-and-sell agreement. Cf. OPTION AGREEMENT.

BVA BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS.

bw BID WANTED.

bxa BUREAU OF EXPORT ADMINISTRATION.

by God and my country A customary reply for a criminal defendant when asked at arraignment, "Culprit, how wilt thou be tried?"

by operation of law See OPERATION OF LAW.

by-bidder At an auction, a person employed by the seller to bid on property for the sole purpose of stimulating bidding by potential genuine buyers; SHILL (2). - Also termed puffer.

by-bidding The illegal practice of employing a person to bid at an auction for the sole purpose of stimulat-ing bidding on the seller's property. - Also termed puffing. Cf. BIDDING UP; SHILLING (1).

by-election See ELECTION (3).

by-election- An election specially held to fill a vacant post. Also spelled bye-election. Cf. general election.

bylaw (fr. Danish bye, Old Norse byr, "town"] 1. Parliamentary law. (usu. pl.) A rule or administrative provision adopted by an organization for its internal governance and its external dealings . Although the bylaws may be an organization's most authoritative governing document, they are subordinate to a charter or articles of incorporation or association or to a constitution. The "constitution and bylaws" are sometimes a single document. See governing document under DOCUMENT; ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. Cf. CONSTITUTION. 2. ORDINANCE. Sometimes spelled by-law; byelaw. "By·law is now felt to be a compound of the preposition by and law, but originally bywas the Danish by 'town, village' (found in Derby, Whitby, etc.), and the Danish genitive-ending is preserved in the other English form byr-Iaw," Otto Jespersen, Growth and Structure of the English Language 75 (9th ed, 1938).

bylaw man One of the chief men of a town, usu. appointed for some purpose under the town's corpo-rate bylaws.

bypass trust See TRUST.

byrlaw (bir-lah), n. Eng. & Scots Hist. 1. The local custom of a township or district for resolving disputes over boundaries, trespasses, and the use of common lands, as well as farming issues. 2. A particular custom established by the common consent of landholders in a township or district. 3. The area over which a township or district court has jurisdiction. - Also spelled burlaw.

byrlaw court A community assembly that judged minor disputes arising in the community. 2The assembly members were called byrlawmen or birleymen. - Also spelled burlaw court.

byrlaw court- See BYRLAW COURT.

byrthynsak (bar-than-sak), [Anglo-Saxon byrthen "burden" + sacu "lawsuit"] Hist. The theft of a calf or ram that is the most a man can carryon his back.

bystander One who is present when an event takes place, but who does not become directly involved in it.

c 1. CIRCA. 2. COPYRIGHT.

c & f COST AND FREIGHT. Also spelled CandF.

c corporation See CORPORATION.

c corporation- A corporation whose income is taxed through it rather than through its shareholders. Any corporation not electing S-corporation tax status under the Internal Revenue Code is a C corporation by default. Also termed subchapter-C corporation. Cf. S corporation.

c reorganization See REORGANIZATION (2).

C reorganization A reorganization in which one corporation exchanges its voting shares for substantially all the assets of another corporation.

c.a.f Cost, assurance, and freight. This term is synonymous with C.I.F. "[I]n a French contract the term 'C.A.F.' does not mean Cost and Freight' but has exactly the same meaning as the term 'C.I.F.,' Since it is merely the French equivalent of that term. The 'A' does not stand for 'and' but for 'assurance,' which means insurance." William D. Hawkland, Uniform Commercial Code Series § 2-320 (1984).

c.a.v CURIA ADVISARI VULT.

c.b 1. COMMON BENCH. 2. Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

c.f COST AND FREIGHT.

c.j 1. See chiefjustice under JUSTICE (2). 2. See chiefjudge under JUDGE. 3. See circuit judge under JUDGE. 4. CORPUS JURIS.

c.j.s Corpus Juris Secundum. Also written CIS.

c.o.d 1. Cash on delivery; collect on delivery. By consenting to this delivery term, the buyer agrees to pay Simultaneously with delivery and appoints the carrier as the buyer's agent to receive and transmit the payment to the seller. With C.O.D. contracts, the practice of carriers has traditionally been to disallow inspection before payment. 2. Costs on delivery. 3. Cash on demand. Sometimes written c.o.d.

c.p abbr. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

c.t.a abbr. See administration cum testamento annexo under ADMINISTRATION.

c/o Care of.

ca CIRCA.

ca- CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY.

ca canny strike See slowdown strike.

ca. ad re See capias ad respondendum under CAPIAS.

ca. re See capias ad respondendum under CAPIAS.

ca. resp oSee capias ad respondendum under CAPIAS.

ca. sa See capias ad satisfaciendum under CAPIAS.

cabal (ka-.bal or ka-bahl). A small group of political schemers or conspirators . The term is sometimes said to have originated as an acronym from a committee of five ministers of Charles II, whose surnames began with C, A, B, A, and L (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale). Though colorful, this etymology is false: the term came into English directly from the French cabale "intrigue," which derives ulti mately from Hebrew kabbalah "received lore."

cabala (kab-a-la or ka-bahl-a). An esoteric or obscure doctrine.

caballeria (kah-bah-ye-ree-ah). [Spanish] Spanish law. An allotment of land in regions formerly conquered by Spain, such as Mexico and the southwestern United States.Originally a Spanish feudal tenure held by a soldier, a caballeria eventually came to refer to an area of land. It usu. measures 100 by 200 feet in the United States, and between 30 and 200 acres in Mexico and other former Spanish territories.

cabinet (often cap.) The advisory council to an executive officer, esp. the President. The President's cabinet is a creation of custom and tradition, dating back to the term of George Washington. 1he U.S. Constitution alludes to a group of presidential advisers the President "may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments' upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices" (art. II, § 2, c1. 1) but the term cabinet is not specifically mentioned. The cabinet today comprises the heads of the 15 executive departments: the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary ofCommerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Secretary of Homeland Security. Other officials, such as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the director of the Office of Management and the Budget, have been accorded cabinet rank.

cable and satellite directive See DIRECTIVE ON THE COORDINATION OF CERTAIN RULES CONCERNING COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS APPLICABLE TO SATELLITE BROADCASTING AND CABLE RETRANSMISSION.

cabotage (kab-a-tij). 1. The carrying on of trade along a country's coast; the transport ofgoods or passengers from one port or place to another in the same country. The privilege to carryon this trade is usu. limited to vessels flying the flag of that country. 2. 1he privilege of carrying traffic between two ports in the same country. 3. The right of a foreign airline to carry passengers and cargo between airports in the same country. "Some writers maintain [that cabotage] should be applied only to maritime navigation; in this context one can distin· guish between petit cabotage - transport between ports situated on the same sea (e.g. Bordeauxle Havre), and grand cabotage transport between ports situated on different seas (e.g. Bordeaux-Marseille). However, the term is also properly applied to transport between two inland points on an international river within one State, although the term grand cabotage is sometimes incorrectly applied to transnational transport between the inland ports of different riparian States on the same waterway. River cabotage properly so called is sometimes also referred to as local transport. Finally, the term has also been adopted to describe commercial air transport between airports situated in the same State." Robert C. Lane, "Cabotage," in 1 Encyclopedia ot Public International Law 519--20 (1992).

ca'canny strike See slowdown strike under STRIKE.

cacicazgos (kah-see-kahz-gohs). Land held in entail by caciques (leaders of Indian villages) and their descendants in Spanish America.

cadastre (ka-das-tar). A survey and valuation of real estate in a county or region compiled for tax purposes. - Also spelled cadaster. - cadastral, adj.

cadena (ka-day-na). [Spanish "chain"] Spanish law. A period ofimprisonment; formerly, confinement at hard labor while chained from waist to ankle.

cadena perpetua (ka-day-na- par-pet-wa). Life imprisonment.

cadena temporal (ka-day-na tem-por-ahl). Imprisonment for a term less than life.

cadere (kad-a-ree). [Latin "to fail"] 1. To end, cease, or fail. This term usu. refers to the failure of a writ action. Cadit breve, for example, means "the writ fails." 2. To be changed or turned into. - Cadit assisa in juratum means "the assise is changed into a jury."

cadit quaestio (kay-dit kwes-chee-oh). [Latin],The question falls to the ground; the dispute is over.

caduca (ka-d[y]oo-ka), n. pl. [Latin "fallen things"] 1. Civil law. Heritable property; property descending to an heir. 2. Roman law. Property forfeited for crime. See LAPSE. 3. Roman law. Property that either was without an heir or could not be taken by the testamentary heir or legatee. In many cases, the property would escheat to the state. See ESCHEAT.

caducary (ka-d[y]oo-ka-ree), (Of a bequest or estate) subject to, relating to, or by way of escheat, lapse, or for feiture of property <the statute was intended to waive the rights of the caducary heirs>.

caduce (ka-d[y]oos), To take by escheat or lapse <the government caduced the unclaimed mineral royalties>.

caducity (ka-d[y]oo-sa-tee), The lapse of a testamentary gift <the testator failed to provide a contingency tor the caducity of the legacy>.

caeteris paribus See CETERIS PARIBUS.

caeteris tacentibus See CETERIS TACENTIBUS.

caeterorum administration (set-a-ror-am). [Latin "of the rest"], An administration granted when limited powers previously granted to an administrator are inadequate to settle the estate's residue.

caeterorum administration- See ADMINISTRATION.

cafc UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT.

cafeteria plan An employee fringe-benefit plan allowing a choice of basic benefits up to a certain dollar amount.

cahoots (ka-hoots). Slang. Partnership, esp. in an illegal act; collusion <the lawyer was in cahoots with her client>.

cairns's act (kairn-zaz). An 1858 statute that expanded the relief available in England's chancery courts to include monetary damages in addition to injunctive relief. Cairns's Act was superseded by the Judicature Acts of 1873-1875. Also spelled Cairns' ACT. Cf. JUDICATURE ACTS.