Dispossession: The wrongful, nonconsensual ouster or removal of a person from his or her property by trick, compulsion, or misuse of the law, whereby the violator obtains actual occupation of the land. Dispossessi on encompasses intrusion, disseisin, or deforcement. Dispute: A conflict or controversy; a conflict of claims or rights; an assertion of a right, claim, or demand on one side, met by contrary claims or allegations on the other. The subject of litigation; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon which issue is joined, and in relation to which jurors are called and witnesses examined. Disqualify: To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. Dissent: An explicit disagreement by one or more judges with the decision of the majority on a case before them. Dissolution: Act or process of dissolving; termination; winding up. In this sense it is frequently used in the phrase dissolution of a partnership. Dissolve: To terminate; abrogate; cancel; annul; disintegrate. To release or unloose the binding force of anything. Distinguish: To set apart as being separate or different; to point out an essential disparity. Distrain: To seize the property of an individual and retain it until an obligation is performed. The taking of the goods and chattels of a tenant by a landlord in order to satisfy an unpaid debt. Distress: The seizure of PERSONAL PROPERTY for the satisfaction of a demand. Distributee: An heir; a person entitled to share in the distribution of an estate. This term is used to denote one of the persons who is entitled, under the statute of distributions, to the personal estate of one who is dead intestate. Distributor: A wholesaler; an individual, corporation, or partnership buying goods in bulk quantities from a manufacturer at a price close to the cost of manufacturing them and reselling them at a higher price to other dealers, or to various retailers, but not directly to the general public. District: One of the territorial areas into which an entire state or country, county, municipality, or other political subdivision is divided, for judicial, political, electoral, or administrative purposes. The circuit or territory within which a person may be compelled to appear. Circuit of authority; province. District and prosecuting attorneys: The elected or appointed public officers of each state, county, or other political subdivision who institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the government. District court: A designation of an inferior state court that exercises general jurisdiction that it has been granted by the constitution or statute which created it. A U.S. judicial tribunal with original jurisdiction to try cases or controversies that fall within its limited jurisdiction. Disturbance of the peace: An offense constituting a malicious and willful intrusion upon the peace and quiet of a community or neighborhood. Divers: Several; any number more than two; di fferent. Diversion: A turning aside or altering of the natural course or route of a thing. The term is chiefly applied to the unauthorized change or alteration of a water course to the prejudice of a lower riparian, or to the unauthorized use of funds. A program for the disposition of a criminal charge without a criminal trial; so metimes called operation de nova, intervention, or deferred prosecution. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS DIVERSION 77 Diversity of c itizenship: A phrase used w ith reference to the jurisdiction of the federal courts which, under the U.S. Constitution, Art. III, § 2, extends to cases between citizens of different states designating the condition existing w hen the party on one side of a lawsuit is a citizen of one state and the party on the other side is a citizen of another state, or between a citizen of a state and an alien. The requisite jurisdictional amount must, in addition, be met. Divest: Todepriveortakeaway. Dividend: The distribution of current or accumulated earnings to the shareholders of a corporation p ro rata based on the number of sh ares owned. Dividends are usually issued in cash. However, they may be issued in the form of stock or property. The dividend on preferred shares is generally a fixed amount; however, on common shares the dividend varies depending on such things as the earnings and available cash of the corporation as well as future plans for the acquisition of property and equipment by the corpo ration. Divine right of kings: The authority of a monarch to rule a realm by virtue of birth. Divorce: A court decree that terminates a marriage; also known as marital dissolution. Dock: To curtail or diminish, as, for example, to dock a person’s wages for lateness or poor work. The cage or enclosed space in a criminal court where prisoners stand when brought in for trial. Docket: To enter the dates o f judicial proceedings scheduled for trial in a book kept by a court. Doctrine: A legal rule, tenet, theory, or principle. A political policy. Document: A written or printed instrument that conveys information. Document of title: Any written instrument, such as a bill of lading, a warehouse receipt, or an order for the delivery of goods, that in the usual course of business or financing is considered sufficient proof that the person who possesses it is entitled to receive, hold, and dispose of the instrument and the goods that it covers. Documentary evidence: A type of written proof that is offered at a trial to establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact that is in dispute. Doing business: A q ualification imposed in state long-arm statutes governing the service of process, the method by which a lawsuit is commenced, which requires nonresident corporations to engage in commercial transactions within state borders in order to be subject to the personal jurisdiction of state courts. Domain: The complete and absolute ownership of land. Also the real estate so owned. The inherent sovereign power claimed by the legislature of a state, of controlling private property for public uses, is termed the rig ht of eminent domain. National domain is sometimes applied to the aggregate of the property owned directly by a nation. Public domain embraces all lands, the ti tle to which is in the United States, including land occupied for the purposes of federal buildings, arsenals, dock-yards, and so on, and land of an agricultural or mineral character not yet granted to private owners. Sphere of influence. Range of control or rule; realm. Dombec: [Saxon, Judgment book.] The name given by the Saxons to the cod e of laws by which they live d. Domesday Boo k: An ancient record of land ownership in England. Domestic: Pertaining to the house or home. A person employed by a household to perform various servient d uties. Any household servant, such as a maid or butler. Relating to a p lac e of birth, origin, or domicile. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 78 DIVERSITY OF CITIZENSHIP DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS Domestic partnership law: The area of law that concerns the rights of unmarried adults who choose to live together in the same manner as a married couple but who are not married. Domestic violence: Any abusive, violent, coercive, forceful, or threatening act or word inflicted by one member of a family or household on another can constitute domestic violence. Domiciliary administration: The settlement and distribution of a decedent’s estate in the state of his or h er permanent residence, the place to which the decedent intended to return even though he or she might actually have resided elsewhere. Dominant: Prevalent; paramount in force or effect; of primary importance or consideration. That which is dominant possesses rights that prevail over those of others. Dominant cause: The essential or most direct source of an accident or injury, regardless of when it occurred. Dominion: Perfect control in right of ownership. The word implies b oth title and possession and appears to r equire a complete retention of control over disposition. Title to an article of property, which arises from the power of disposition and the right of claiming it. Sovereignty; as in the dominion of th e seas or over a territo ry. In civil law, with reference to the title to property that is transferred by a sale of it, d ominion is said to be either proximate or remote, the former being the kind of title vesting in the purchaser when he or she has acquired both the ownership and the possession of the article, the latter describing the nature of the title when he or she has legitimately acquired the ownership of the property but there has been no deli very. Donative: Relating to the gratuitous transfer of something as in the nature of a gift. Donee: The recipient of a gift. An individual to whom a power of appointment is conveyed. Donor: The party conferring a power. One who makes a gift. One who creates a trust. Doom: An archaic term for a court’s judgment. For example, some criminal sentences still end with the phrase “ which is pronounced for doom.” Dormant: Latent; inactive; silent. That which is dormant is not used, asserted, or enforced. Double entry: A bookkeeping system that lists each transaction twice in the ledger. Double indemnity: A term of an insurance policy by which the insurance company promises to pay the insured or the beneficiary twice the amount of coverage if loss occurs due to a particular cause or set of circumstances. Double insurance: Duplicate protection provided when two companies deal with the same individual and undertake to indemnify that person against the same losses. Double jeopardy: A second prosecution for the same offens e after acquittal or conviction or multiple punishments for same offense. The evil sough t to be avoided by prohibiting double jeopardy is double trial and double conviction, not necessarily double punishment. Double taxation agreements: The requirement that an entity or individual pay two separate taxes onthesamepropertyforthesamepurposeandduringthesametimeperiod.Under Subchapter C of the INTERNAL REVENUE CODE, the federal government imposes double taxation on corporations by taxing both the profits received by the corporation and the earnings distributed to shareholders of the corporation through stock dividends. Doubt: To question or hold questionable. Uncertainty of mind; the absence of a settled opinion or conviction; the attitude of mind toward the acceptance of or belief in a proposition, theory, or statement, in which the judgment is not at rest but inclines alternately to either side. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS DOUBT 79 Dower: The provision that the law makes for a widow out of the lands or tenements of her husband, for her support and the nurture of her children. A species of life estate that a woman is, by law, entitled to claim on the death of her husband, in the lands and tenements of which he was seised in fee during the marriage, and which her issue, if any, might by possibility have inherited. The life estate to which every married woman is entitled on the death of her husband, intestate, or, in case she dissents from his will, one-third in value of all lands of which her husband was beneficially seized in law or in fact, at any time during coverture. Down payment: A percentage of the total purchase price of an item that is proffered when the item is bought on credit. Draconian laws: A code of laws prepared by Draco, the celebrated lawgiver of Athens, that, by modern standards, are considered exceedingly severe. The term draconian has come to be used to refer to any unusually harsh law. Draft: A written order by the first party, called the drawer, instructing a second party, called the drawee (such as a bank), to pay money to a third-party, called the payee. An order to p ay a sum certain in money, signed by a drawer, payable on demand or at a definite time, to order or bearer. A tentative, provisional, or p reparatory writing out of any document (as a will, contract, lease, and so on) for purposes of discussion and correction, which i s afterward to be prepared in its final form. Compulsory CONSCRIPTION of persons into military service. Also, a small arbitrary dedu ction or allowan ce made to a merchant or importer, in the case of goods sold by weight or t axable by weig ht, to c over possible loss of weight in handling or from differences in scales. Drafter: The person who draws or frames a legal document such as a will, pleading, conveyance, or contract. One who writes an original legislative bill for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives is called the drafter of that bill. Drain: A trench o r ditch to convey water from wet land; a channel through which water may flow off. The word has no technical legal meaning. Any hollow space in the ground, natural or artificial, where water is collected and passes off, is a ditch or drain. Also, sometimes, the easement or servitude (acquired by grant or prescription) that consists of the right to drain water through another’sland. Dramshop acts: Statutes, also called civil liability acts, that impose civil liability upon one who sells intoxicating liquors when a third party has been injured as a result of the purchaser’s intoxication and such sale has either caused or contributed to the state of intoxication. Draw: To aim a firearm, or deadly weapon, at a particular target. To prepare a written bill of exchange, COMMERCIAL PAPER, draft, or negotiable instrument and place one’s signature on it, creating a legal obligation under its terms. To write a document, such as a deed, complaint, or petition, including the essential information necessary to make it legally effective upon its execution by the designated parties. To lawfully remove money from an account held in a bank, treasury, or other depository. Drawee: A person or bank that is ordered by its depositor, a drawer, to withdraw money from an account to pay a designated sum to a person according to the terms of a check or a draft. Drawer: A person who orders a bank to withdraw money from an account to pay a designated person a specific sum according to the term of a bill, a check, or a draft. An individual who writes and sig ns a COMMERCIAL PAPER, thereby becoming obligated under its terms. Droit: [French, Justice, right, law.] A term denoting the abstract concept of law or a right. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 80 DOWER DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS Drug courts: Drug courts are a type of special court with jurisd iction over cases involving drug- using offenders. Drug courts are treatment-based alternatives to prisons, youth-detention facilities, jails, and probation. These courts make extensive use of comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services, immediate sanctions, and incentives. Druggist: A druggist is an individual who, as a regular course of business, mixes, compounds, dispenses, and sells medicines and similar health aids. Drugs and narcotics: Drugs are articles that are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or animals, and any articles other than food, water, or oxygen that are intended to affect the mental or body function of humans or animals. Narcotics are any drugs that dull the senses and commonly become addictive after prolonged use. Drunkard: One who habitually engages in the overindulgence of alcohol. Drunkenness: The state of an individual whose mind is affected by the consumption of alcohol. Dual nationality: An equal claim, simultaneously possessed by two nations, to the allegiance of an individual. Duces tecum: [Latin, Bring with you.] Commonly called a SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM,atypeoflegal writ requiring one who has been summoned to appear in court to bring some specified item with him or her for use or examination by the court. Due: Just; p roper; regular; lawful; sufficient; reasonable, as in the phrases due care, due process of law, due notice. Owing; payable; justly owed. That which one contracts to pay or perform to another; that which law or justice requires to be paid or done. Owed, or owing, a s distinguished from payable. A debt is o ften said to be due from a person where he or she is the party owing it, or primarily b ound to pay, whether the time for payment has or has not arrived. The same thing is true of the phrase due and owing. Due date: The particular day on or before which something must be done to comply with law or contractual obligation. Due notice: Information that must be given or made available to a particular person or to the public within a legally mandated period of time so that its recipient will have the opportunity to respond to a situation or to allegations that affect the individual’sorpublic’s legal rights or duties. Due process of law: Due process of law is a fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one’s life, liberty, or property. Also, a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious. Dueling: The fighting of two persons, one against the other, at an appointed time and place, due to an earlier quarrel. If death results, the crime is murder. It differs from an affray in this, that the latter occurs on a sudden quarrel, while the former is always the result of design. Dummy: Sham; make-believe; pretended; imitation. Person who serves in place of another, or who serves until the proper person is named or available to take his place (e.g., dummy corporate directors; dummy owners of real estate). Duress: Unlawful pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform. Durham rule: A principle of criminal law used to determine the validity of the INSANITY DEFENSE asserted by an accused, that he or she was insane at the time of committing a crime and therefore should not be held legally responsible for the action. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS DURHAM RULE 81 Duty: A legal obligation that entails mandatory conduct or performance. With respect to the laws relating to CU STOM S DUTIES, a tax owed to the government for the import or export of goods. Duty of tonnage: A fee that encompasses all taxes and CUSTOMS DUTIES, regardless of their name or form, imposed upon a vessel as an instrument of commerce for entering, remaining in, or exiting from a port. DWI: In many states, the criminal charge for drunk driving is driving while intoxicated (DWI). In genealogical tables, DWI is an abbreviation for died without issue. Dying decla ration: A statement by a person who is conscious and knows that death is imminent concerning what he or she believes to be the cause or circumstances of death that can be introduced into evidence during a trial in certain cases. Earned income: Sources of money derived from the labor, professional service, or entrepreneurship of an individual taxpayer as opposed to funds generated by investments, dividends, and interest. Earnest money: A sum of money paid by a buyer at the time of entering a contract to indicate the intention and ability of the buyer to carry out the contract. Normally such earnest money is applied against the purchase price. Often the contract provides for FORFEITURE of this sum if the buyer defaults. A deposit of part payment of purchase price on sale to be consummated in future . Easement: A right of use over the property of another. Traditionally the permitted kinds of uses were limited, the most important being rights of way and rights concerning flowing waters. The easement was normally for the benefit of adjoining lands, no matter who the owner was (an easement appurtenant), rather than for the benefit of a specific individual (easement in gross). Ecclesiastical courts: In England, the collective classification of particular courts that exercised jurisdiction primarily over spiritual matters. A system of courts, held by authority granted by the sovereign, that assumed jurisdiction over matters concerning the ritual and religion of the established church, and over the rights, obligations, and discipline of the clergy. Economic bailout: A plan through which the government provides financial assistance to troubled industries and companies, often during times of national economic crisis. Edict: A decree or law of major import promulgated by a king, queen, o r other sovereign of a government. Education l aw: Education law is the b ody of state and federal constitutional provisions; local, state, and federal statutes; court opinions; and government regulations that provide the legal framework for educational institutions. Effect: As a verb, to do; to produce; to make; to bring to pass; to execute; enforce; accomplish. As a noun, that which is produced by an agent or cause; result; outcome; consequence. The result that an instrument between parties will produce in their relative rights, or which a statute will produce upon the existing law, as discovered from the language used , the forms employed, or other materials for construing it. The operation of a law, of an agre ement, or an act. The phrases take effect, be in force, and go into operation, are used interchangeably. In the plural, a person’s effects are the real and personal property of someone who has died or who makes a will. E GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 82 DUTY DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS Effective rate: Another name for annual percentage rate that refers to the amount of yearly interest to be charged by a lender on the money borrowed by a debtor. In federal INCOME TAX law, the actual tax rate that an individual taxpayer pays based upon h is or her taxable income. Efficient cause: That which actually precipitates an accident or injury. E.G.: An abbreviation for exempli gratia [Latin, for the sake of an example]. Ejectment: One of the old forms of action fo r recovery of the possession of real property. Elder l aw: As of the early 2000s, elder law is a relatively new specialty devoted to the legal issues of SENIOR CITIZENS, including estate planning, HEALTH CARE, planning for incapacity or mental incompetence, the receipt of benefits, and employment discrimination. Election of remedies: The liberty of choosing (or the act of choosing) one out of several means afforded by law for the redress of an injury, or one out of several available FORMS OF ACTION.An election of remedies arises when one having two coexistent but inconsistent remedies chooses to exercise one, in which event she or he loses the right to thereafter exercise the other. Doctrine provides that if two or more remedies exist that are repugnant and inconsistent with one another, a party will be bound if he or she has chosen one of them. Elections: The processes o f voting to decide a public question or to select one person from a designated group to perform certain obligations in a government, corporation, or society. Elective share: Statutory provision that a surviving spouse may choose between taking that which is provided in the will of the deceased spouse or taking a statutorily prescribed share of the estate. Such election may be presented if the will leaves the spouse less than he or she would otherwise receive by statute. This election may also be taken if the spouse seeks to set aside a will that contains a provision to the effect that an attempt to contest the will defeats the rights ofonetotakeunderthewill. Elector: A voter who has fulfilled the qualifications imposed by law; a constituent; a selector of a public officer; a person who h as the right to cast a ballot for the approval or rejection of a political proposal or question, such as the issuance of bonds by a state or municipality to finance public works projects. A member of the electoral college—an association of voters elected by the populace of each state and the District of C olumbia—which convenes every four years to select the president and vice president of the United States. Electoral college: Consists of nominated p ersons, known as electors, from the states and the District of Columbia, who meet every four years in their home state or district and cast ballots to choose the president and vice president of the United States. Electronic surveillance: Observing o r listening to persons, places, or activities—usually in a secretive or unobtrusive manner—with the aid of electronic devices such as cameras, microphones, tape recorders, or wire taps. The objective of electronic surveillance when used in law enforcement is to gather evidence o f a crime or to accumulate intelligence about suspected criminal activity. Corporations use electronic surveillance to m aintain the security of their buildings and grounds or to gather information about competitors. Element: A material factor; a basic component. Emancipation: The act or process by which a person is liberated from the authority and control of another person. Embargo: A proclamation or order of government, usually issued in time of war or threatened hostilities, prohibiting the departure of ships or goods from some or all ports until further GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS EMBARGO 83 order. Government order prohibiting commercial trade with individuals or businesses of other specified nations. Legal prohibition on commerce. The temporary or permanent SEQUESTRATION of the property of individuals for the purposes of a government, e.g., to obtain vessels for the transport of troops, the owners being reimbursed for this forced service. Embargo Act: A legislative measure enacted by Congress in 1807 at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson that banned trade between U.S. ports and foreign nations. Embezzlem ent: The fraudulent conversion of another’s property by a person who is in a position of trust, such as an agent or employee. Emblemen ts: Crops annually produced by the labor of a tenant. Corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, garden vegetables, and other crops that are produced annually, not spontaneously, but by labor and industry. The doctrine of emblements denotes the right of a tenant to take and carry away, after the tenancy has ended, such annual products of the land as have resulted from the tenant’scareandlabor. Embracery: The crime of attempting to influence a jury corruptly to one side or the other by promises, persuasions, entreaties, entertainments, and the like. The person guilty of it is called an embraceor. This is both a state and federal crime, and is commonly included under the offense of obstructing justice. Emergency doctrine: A principle that allows individuals to take action in the face of a sudden or urgent need for aid, without being subject to normal standards of reasonable care. Also called imminent peril doctrine, or sudden peril doctrin e. Emigration: The act of moving from one country to another with intention not to return. It is to be distinguished from expatriation, which means the ABANDONMENT of one’s country and renunciation of one’s citizenship in it, while emigration denotes merely the removal of person and property to another country. Expatriation is usually the consequence of emigration. Emigration is also sometimes used in reference to the removal from one section to another of the same country . Eminent domain: The power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exer cise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property. Emolument : The profit arising from office, employment, or labor; that which is received as a compensation for services, or which is annexed to the possession of office as salary, fees, and perquisites. Any perquisite, advantage, p rofit, or gain arising from the possession of an office. Employer s’ liability acts: State and federal laws that define or restrict the grounds under which, and the extent to which, the owner of a business who hires workers can be held liable for damages arising from injuries to such workers that occur during the course of the work. Employment at will: Acommon-lawrulethatanemploymentcontractofindefinitedurationcan be terminated by either the employer or the employee at any time for any reason; also known as terminable at will. Employment law: The body of law that governs the employer-employee relationship, including individual employment contracts, the application of tort and contract doctrines, and a large group of statutory regulations on issues such as the right to organize and negotiate collective bargaining agreements, protection from discrimination, wages and hours, and health and safety. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 84 EMBARGO ACT DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS En banc: [Latin, French. In the bench.] Full bench. Refers to a session where the entire membership of the court will participate in the decision rather than th e regular quorum. In other countries, it is common for a court to have m ore members than are usually necessary to hear an appeal. In the United States, the Circuit Courts of Appeal usually sit in panels of judges but for important cases may expand the bench to a larger number, when the judges are said to be sitting en banc. Similarly, only one of the judges of the U.S. TAX COURT will typically hear and decide on a tax controversy. However, when the issues involved are unusually novel or of wide impact, the case will be heard and decided by the full court sitting en banc. Enabling clause: The section of a constitution or statute that provides government officials w ith the power to put the constitution or statute into force and effect. Enabling statut e: A law that gives new or extended authority or powers, generally to a public official or to a corporation. Enact: To establish by law; to perform or effect; to decree. Encroachment: An illegal intrusion in a highway or navigable river, with or without obstruction. An encroachment upon a street or highway is a fixture, such as a wall or fence, which illegally intrudes into or invades the highway or encloses a portion of it, diminishing its width or area, but without closing it to public travel. Encumber: To burden property by way of a charge that must be removed before ownership is free and clear. Encumbrance: A burden, obstruction, or impediment on property that lessens its value or makes it less marketable. An encumbrance (also spelled incumbrance) is any right or interest that exists in someone other than the owner of an estate and that restricts or impairs the transfer of the estate or lowers its value. This might include an EASEMENT, a lien, a mortgage, a mechanic’s lien, or accrued and unpaid taxes. Endorse: To sign a paper or document, thereby making it possible for the ri ghts represented therein to pass to another individual. Also spelled indorse. Endorsement: A signature on a COMMERCIAL PAPER or document. Endowment: A transfer, generally as a gift, of money or property to an institution for a particular purpose. The bestowal of money as a permanent fund, the income of which is to be used for the benefit of a charity, college, or other institution. Enemy combatant: Captured fighter in a war who is not entitled to prisoner-of-war status because he or she does not meet the definition of a lawful combatant as established by the Geneva Convention; a saboteur. Enfeoffment: Also known as feoffment. Complete surrender and transfer of all land ownership rights from one person to another. In old English law, an enfeoffment was a transfer of property by which the new owner was given both the right to sell the land and the right to pass it on to heirs, evidenced by livery of seisin, a ceremony for transferring the possession of real property from one individual to another. Enfranchisement: The act of making free (as from SLAVERY); giving a franchise or freedom to; investiture with privileges or capacities of freedom, or municipal or political liberty. Conferring the privilege of voting upon classes of persons who have not previously possessed such. Engage: To become involved with, do, or take part in something. Engagement: A binding, pledging, or coming together. A mutual pact, contract, or agreement. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS ENGAGEMENT 85 English law: The system of law that has developed in England from approximately 1066 to the present. English-onl y laws: Laws that seek to establish English as the official language of the United States. Engross: To print a final copy of a document. In archaic criminal law, engrossment was the process of forcing higher the price of a good by buying it up and creating a MONOPOLY. Engrossed bill: A legislative proposal that has been prepared in a final form for its submission to a vote of the law-making body after it has undergone discussion and been approved by the appropriate committees. Enhancement: Increase in value; improvement. Enjoin: Todirect,require,command,oradmonish. Enjoyment: The exercise of a right; the possession and fruition of a right or privilege. Comfort, consolation, contentment, ease, happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction. Such includes the beneficial use, interest, and purpose to which property may be put, and implies right to profits and income therefrom . Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution that has passed both houses of a legislature and is ready for signature. In legislative practice, a bill that has been duly introduced, finally passed by both houses, signed by the proper officers of each, approved by the governor (or president), and filed by the SECRETARY OF STATE. Entail: To abridge, settle, or limit succession to real property. An estate whose succession is limited to certain people rather than being passed to all heirs. Enter: To form a constituent part; to become a part or partaker; to penetrate; share or mix with, as tin enters into the composition of pewter. To go or come into a place or condition; to make or effect an entrance; to cause to go into or be received into. In the law of real property, to go upon land for the purpose of taking possession of it. In strict usage, the entering is preliminary to the taking possession but in common parlance the entry is now merged in the taking possession. To place anything before a court, or upon or among the records, in a formal and regular manner, and usually in writing as in to enter an appearance, or to enter a judgment. In this sense the word is nearly equivalent to setting down formally in writing, in either a full or abridged form. Entertainment law: Entertainment law covers those areas of law governing professionals and businesses in the entertainment industry, particularly contracts and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; more particularly, certain legal traditions and aspects of these areas of law that are unique to the entertainment industry. Entice : To wrongfully solicit, persuade, procure, allure, attract, draw by blandishment, coax, or seduce. To lure, induce, tempt, incite, or persuade a person to do a thing. Enticement of a child is inviting, persuading, or attempting to persuade a child to enter any vehicle, building, room, or secluded place with intent to commit an unlawful sexual act upon or with the person of said child. Entirety: The whole, in contradistinction to a moiety or part only. When land is conveyed to HUSBAND AND WIFE, they do not take by moieties, but both are seised of the entirety. Parceners, on the other hand, have not an entirety of interest, but each is properly entitled to the whole of a distinct moiety. Entitlement: An individual’s right to receive a value or benefit provided by law. Entity: A real being; existence. An organization or being that possesses separate existence for tax purposes. Examples would be corporations, partnerships, estates, and trusts. The accounting GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 86 ENGLISH LAW DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS . a p lac e of birth, origin, or domicile. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 78 DIVERSITY OF CITIZENSHIP DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS Domestic partnership law: The area of law that concerns. right, law. ] A term denoting the abstract concept of law or a right. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 80 DOWER DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS Drug courts: Drug courts are a type of special. A mutual pact, contract, or agreement. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION DICTIONARY OF LEGAL TERMS ENGAGEMENT 85 English law: The system of law that has developed in England from