Law School Term of the Day - eleemosynary

eleemosynary
adj.

1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as, "eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary poor."

"That an expert testifies for money does not necessarily cast doubt on the reliability of his testimony, as few experts appear in court merely as an eleemosynary gesture." Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 43 F.3d 1311 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 869 (1995).

Law School Term of the Day - nugatory

nugatory
adj.

1. Of little or no importance; trifling.
2. Having no force; invalid.

"To have declared that the best means shall not be used, but those alone with which the power given would be nugatory, would have been to deprive the legislature of the capacity to avail itself of experience, to exercise its reason, and to accommodate its legislation to circumstances." McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316, 413 (1819).

LSTotD - Congeries

congeries
n. (used with a singular or plural verb)

a collection of items or parts in one mass; assemblage; aggregation; heap

Heard in Crim. In the same class Prof. Low also referred to certain sentencing guidelines, saying "This is pretty standard poop now."

Law School Term of the Day: supererogatory

supererogatory
adj.

1.	going beyond the requirements of duty.

2.	greater than that required or needed; superfluous.

Encountered in Torts:

"Most of the time we treat rescue as something praise-worthy, as a supererogatory act, rather than as simply doing your duty."

Law School Term of the Day: exiguous

exiguous
adj. Extremely scanty; meager.

I wanted to use exiguous as the Law School Term of the Day but other than the word itself inked across the margin of my Civil Procedure notes, I don't remember the context in which it occurred.

Law School Term of the Day: vituperative

vituperative
adj. Using, containing, or marked by harshly abusive censure.


Encountered in Contracts, quoting Wilson v. Brett, 152 Eng. Rep. 737 (Ex. 1843):

"Gross negligence [is] the same thing as ordinary negligence 'with the addition of a vituperative epithet.'"

Law School Term of the Day: mucilage

mucilage
n.

1. A sticky substance used as an adhesive.
2. A gummy substance obtained from certain plants.


Encountered in Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville, 405 U.S. 156 (1972):

"The rule of law, evenly applied to minorities as well as majorities, to the poor as well as the rich, is the great mucilage that holds society together."