Daniel Oran - Oran's Dictionary of the Law

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510 Value added tax

market value. 2. “For value” or “for value received ” means “for consideration.”

Value added tax A tax based on the sale price of goods and services minus the cost of raw material and goods purchased to produce the goods and services. V.A.T.s are used in Europe.

Value rule A way to measure damages that compares the value of what was promised to the value of what was actually received.

Valued policy An insurance policy in which the items insured are given an exact value. This is in contrast to an open (or unvalued) policy in which a value need not be placed on items until they are lost, damaged, etc.

Vandalism The intentional harming, defacing, or destroying of another person’s property.

Variable annuity (or insurance) An annuity (or insurance policy) with payments that depend on the income generated by particular investments. Also called asset-linked annuity (or insurance).

Variable rate mortgage A mortgage with payments that change (every month, year, two years, five years, etc.) based on a standard index such as the prime rate.

Variance 1. A difference between what is alleged (said will be proved) in pleading and what is actually proved in a trial. 2. Official permission to use land or buildings in a way that would otherwise violate the zoning regulations for the neighborhood.

Vel non (Latin) Or not.

Vendee Buyer.

Vendor Seller.

Vendor’s lien A catchall phrase for various types of liens held by the seller of property, including the purchase price lien (not usually recognized by law) of a person who sells land with no security and the lien of a seller who holds goods until the price is paid.

Venire facias (Latin) Describes a command to the sheriff to assemble a jury. [pronounce: ve-neer fay-she-as]

Venireperson (or member, man, or woman) Juror or prospective juror (person on a jury panel).

Venture capital Money invested in a young company with high risk and the potential for high reward.

Venue The local area where a case may be tried. A court system may have jurisdiction (power) to take a case in a wide geographic area, but the proper venue for the case may be one place within that area for the

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convenience of the parties, etc. Jurisdiction is the subject of fixed rules, but venue is often left up to the discretion (good judgment) of the judge.

Verba (Latin) Words. Verba artis means “words of art” or technical terms.

Verbal Spoken; partly spoken and partly written; written but unsigned; or lacking some other formality.

Verbal act Words that have legal effect as part of a transaction. For example, the words “I give you this ring” are a verbal act if the ring is handed over at the same time, making the words part of the “gift transaction.” (A gift requires both intent, supplied by the words, and delivery, supplied by handing over the ring.) Verbal acts are usually admissible as evidence because they are conduct, not mere words that might be barred as hearsay. Compare with res gestae.

Verdict 1. The jury’s decision. 2. The usual verdict in a civil case, one where the jury decides which side wins (and how much, sometimes), is called a general verdict. When the jury is asked to answer specific questions of fact, it is called a special verdict. For compromise, directed, partial, sealed, etc., verdicts, see those words. 3. The jury’s verdict in a criminal case is usually “guilty” or “not guilty” of each charge. A jury might also make sentencing decisions.

Verify 1. Swear in writing to the truth or accuracy of a document. 2. Confirm; prove the truth of; back up; check up on.

Versus Against.

Vertical In a chain, such as from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer (as opposed to among various manufacturers, among various retailers, etc.). In antitrust law, a vertical trust (or vertical integration) is the combination of several of these levels under one ownership or control.

Vertical union An industrial union.

Vest 1. Give an immediate, fixed, and full right. 2. Take immediate effect (see vested).

Vested 1. Absolute, accrued, complete, not subject to any conditions that could take it away; not contingent on anything. For example, if a person sells you a house and gives you a deed, you have a vested interest in the property; and a pension is vested if you get it at retirement age even if you leave the company before that. 2. There are several types of pension plan vesting. For example, “cliff ” vesting (until you work a certain number of years, you get nothing; after that, you get all your accrued benefits); “graded ” vesting (additional percentages of

512 Veterans Administration

your accrued benefits are added the longer you work); and “rule of 45 ” vesting (after your age plus the number of years you have worked for the company equals 45, part of your accrued benefits become vested, with the rest vested in the next few years). There are variations on all of these methods.

Veterans Administration See V.A.

Veterans preference Federal and state laws giving honorably discharged war veterans various hiring preferences, with the strongest usually going to disabled veterans.

Veto A refusal by the president or a governor to sign into law a bill that has been passed by a legislature. In the case of a presidential veto, the bill can still become a law if two-thirds of each house of Congress votes to override the veto. An item veto (or line item veto) is the veto by a state governor of only part of an appropriations bill, and a pocket veto is the failure by the president to sign a bill passed within ten days of the end of a legislative session (which has the same effect as a veto). Also, any member of the United Nations Security Council can veto a resolution of the Council.

Vexatious litigation Lawsuits brought without any just cause or good reason. Also see malicious prosecution.

Vi et armis (Latin) “Force and arms” (see trespass). Via (Latin) A right of way or road.

Viable child A child developed enough to live outside the womb. Viatical settlement The purchase of a person’s life insurance policy (or

the transfer of rights to the person’s death benefit) for less than the value of the death benefit because the person needs immediate money to cope with an illness that is likely terminal.

Vicarious liability Legal responsibility for the acts of another person because of some relationship with that person; for example, the liability of an employer for certain acts of an employee. [pronounce: vi- care-ee-us]

Vice 1. Illegal (and considered immoral) activities such as prostitution. 2. An imperfection or defect. 3. Describes a second in command or substitute.

Victimless crime A term often applied to illegal, but consensual, sexual acts or drug use.

Vide (Latin) See. For example, vide ante means “look at the words or sections that come before this one.” [pronounce: vee-de]

Videlicet (Latin) “That is to say.” Sometimes used to separate a general statement from the specific things that explain it. Usually abbreviated

Voiceprint 513

viz; the term is unnecessary because a colon (:) can be used in its place.

View 1. The right in some cases to have your windows free from new obstructions. See also ancient lights. 2. An inspection by a jury, or by persons appointed by a court (called “viewers”), of an accident scene, a crime scene, a route for a proposed road, etc. 3. For majority or minority view, see majority.

Vigilance Watchfulness. Reasonable promptness in pursuing or guarding a right, enforcing a claim, etc.

Vinculo matrimonii (Latin) See a vinculo matrimonii.

Violent presumption Complete, even though indirect proof. For example, the fact that the sun was shining is a violent presumption that an event did not take place at midnight in New York.

Vir (Latin) A man; a husband.

Virtual adoption See equitable adoption.

Virtue 1. Something worthwhile or good (in a practical, rather than a moral sense). 2. “By virtue of ” means “by the power of” or “because.” Vis (Latin) Force or violence. For example, vis major is an irresistible force or a natural disaster. See also act of God, force majeure, and trespass.

Visa Permission to travel in a country, given by officials of that country who usually mark it into a person’s passport. A visa is also sometimes required as permission from your own country to travel to an otherwise “off-limits” country.

Visitation 1. Meeting with a person who is under the supervision of another. Visitation rights usually refers to the right of a parent to see a child who is in the legal custody of the other parent. 2. Inspection or supervision by an outsider.

Vital statistics Data on births, deaths, diseases, marriages, divorces, etc. Vitiate Invalidate or make ineffective, void, or voidable. [pronounce:

vish-ee-ate]

Viva voce 1. (Latin) “Living voice”; orally, as opposed to in writing. 2. A viva voce vote is usually taken on minor questions decided by a legislature or other assembly. The person leading the session decides who wins based on which side sounds louder.

Viz See videlicet.

Voiceprint A graph of the pitch, intensity, and timing of the sound waves that make up a person’s voice. Some courts allow this graph, produced by a spectograph machine, as evidence that identifies a speaker.

514 Void

Void Without legal effect; of no binding force; wiped out. For example, a void contract is an “agreement” by which no one is (or ever was) bound because something legally necessary is missing from it. Sometimes void is used imprecisely in legal documents to mean voidable.

Void for vagueness See vague.

Voidable Can be made void. Describes something that is in force but can be legally avoided. For example, a voidable contract is a contract that one or both sides can legally get out of, but is effective and binding if no one chooses to get out of it.

Voir dire (French) “To see, to say”; “to state the truth.” The preliminary in-court questioning of a prospective witness (or juror) to determine competency to testify (or suitability to decide a case). [pronounce: vwahr deer]

Volenti non fit injuria (Latin) “A willing person cannot be injured legally.” See assumption of risk.

Volstead Act A defunct federal law that prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. The law was passed under the repealed

Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Voluntary 1. With complete free will; intentional. In this sense, a voluntary trust is one set up intentionally, rather than imposed by law. 2. Free; without consideration. In this sense, a voluntary trust is set up as a gift, rather than as a way of protecting, for example, a mortgage holder. 3. For voluntary intoxication and manslaughter, see those words.

Volunteer A person who pays another’s debt without being asked and with no requirement to pay it. See officiousness.

Voter A person who has the legal qualifications to vote; a person who has registered to vote; a person who has actually voted.

Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 1973) A 1965 federal law that prohibited literacy and character tests, provided for federal voter registration, and prohibited states from certain other practices.

Voting stock Any type of corporate stock (often only common stock) entitled to vote.

Voting trust An arrangement by which stockholders in a company pool their shares of stock for the purpose of voting as a block at stockholders’ meetings.

Vouch Give personal assurance of the truthfulness, validity, or existence of something. A prosecutor is not permitted to vouch for a witness’s trustworthiness to a jury.

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Voucher 1. A document that authorizes the giving out of something, usually cash. 2. A receipt or release; the account book that shows receipts and releases.

Vouching in A procedure by which a defendant in a lawsuit notifies another person that the person may be liable for what the plaintiff asks. Under some circumstances, the person notified may be bound by the court’s decision.

Vs. Versus. See v.

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