Also known as: legal right · rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A right recognized and enforceable in a court of law through remedies such as damages or restitution. Such rights arise from common-law actions or statutes and stand in contrast to interests enforceable only through equitable remedies like specific performance or constructive trusts.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lakeshore Industries signed a contract to buy a warehouse from Landmark Realty. Before closing a fire destroyed the building. Because the contract had already been formed the buyer held an equitable interest while the seller retained only legal title in trust. The buyer therefore bore the risk of loss and remained obligated to pay the full purchase price under its legal rights.
Luna Lang represented Leo Lynch in a high-profile criminal case. Before the representation ended Lang proposed that Lynch sign an agreement granting her the exclusive right to write a book about the trial. The proposed agreement violated the prohibition on acquiring literary rights based on information obtained during representation, so Lynch could enforce his legal rights to bar the deal.
Lola Langley agreed to sell her software business to Lorenzo Lugo but the parties never specified the payment schedule. When a dispute arose the court supplied a reasonable term requiring payment in installments over three years because the contract was otherwise sufficiently definite to be enforced through legal rights to damages.
Luke Latham allowed Levi Lowe to borrow his diagnostic equipment for a weekend inspection. When Lowe kept the equipment an extra day Latham could not recover in conversion because he had consented to the initial interference with his possessory rights, extinguishing the legal right to damages.
Luna Lang sued federal officers alleging an unreasonable search that violated the Fourth Amendment. Although the statute did not expressly create a damages remedy the court recognized an implied cause of action directly under the Constitution and therefore exercised federal question jurisdiction to enforce those legal rights.
Lakeshore Industries formed a limited partnership in which Levi Lowe served simultaneously as general partner and limited partner. When the firm incurred liabilities Lowe was subject to the full obligations of a general partner for acts taken in that capacity while retaining the limited liability protections available to a limited partner for acts taken in that separate role, each enforced as distinct legal rights.
Once a binding contract forms the buyer acquires an equitable interest and the seller holds legal title only as trustee. In most jurisdictions the buyer therefore bears the risk of loss if the property is damaged before closing.
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Yes. The rule prohibits a lawyer from making or negotiating any agreement giving the lawyer literary or media rights based on information relating to the representation until the representation has concluded.
…is of no concern; but when the officer is not removable at the will of the Executive the appointment is not revocable and vests legal rights which cannot be resumed. The discretion of the Executive is to be exercised until appointment is made; once made his power over the office is terminated where by law the officer is not…
…abortion, the law has been reluctant to endorse any theory that life, as we recognize it, begins before live birth or to accord legal rights to the unborn except in narrowly defined situations and except when the
…the three children as if they had only one parent. And, were tragedy to befall either DeBoer or Rowse, the other would have no legal rights over the children she had not been permitted to adopt. This couple seeks relief from the continuing uncertainty their unmarried status creates in their lives. Army Reserve Sergeant First…
…-- exemption from legal discriminations, implying inferiority in civil society, lessening the security of their enjoyment of the
…in United States History (rev. ed. 1935) 89: "Probably no decision of the Court has ever given rise to more uncertainty as to legal rights; and though doubtless intended to promote uniformity in the operation of business transactions, its chief effect has been to render it difficult for business men to know in advance to what…
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A court supplies a reasonable term when the parties have formed a sufficiently definite bargain but have omitted an essential term needed to determine their rights and duties.
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Consent to the interference defeats liability for conversion or trespass to chattels to the extent of the consent given.
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Yes. Federal question jurisdiction exists when the plaintiff asserts a right to relief directly under the Constitution or federal law even if Congress has not provided an express cause of action.
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The person is subject to the obligations of a general partner when acting in that capacity and to the obligations of a limited partner when acting in that capacity.
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