Also known as: uses · used · using · usage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act of employing or applying property, information, force, or other resources for a particular purpose. The concept determines whether a given employment satisfies or violates a legal standard such as trespass, confidentiality, care, or habitability.
Uriah Urban invited his neighbor into the home for a scheduled repair visit between 9 a.m. and noon. When the neighbor arrived at 2 p.m. and forced the door after no one answered, Uriah later reported a burglary. Because the original consent covered only the agreed window, the neighbor's use of force at the later time constituted a breaking.
Umar Usmani, a taxpayer, challenged a federal statute that levied an excise and directed the revenue to national defense. Because the appropriation for raising armies was limited to a two-year term, Congress's use of the funds beyond that period would have violated the constitutional restriction on the use of such money.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ugo Uberti, a sitting judge, drafted estate-planning documents for a paying client outside his family. The judge's use of legal skills for compensation violated the prohibition on practicing law while on the bench.
Usha Upton, a former government lawyer, represented a private company adverse to an individual whose confidential records she had reviewed while in office. Her use of that information to the individual's material disadvantage barred the representation under the rule.
Ugo Ucelli, an agent managing a principal's warehouse, ignored obvious signs of structural weakness that an ordinary person would have noticed. The agent's failure to use due care in inspecting the premises exposed the principal to liability for resulting damage.
Una Unger leased an apartment that the parties intended for residential living. On the move-in date the unit lacked working plumbing and heat, rendering it unsuitable. The tenant could terminate the lease before entry because the property was not suitable for the contemplated residential use.
Consent eliminates breaking only when it is unlimited in time and not obtained by fraud or threats. Limited consent does not authorize force outside the agreed period, and fraudulently procured consent is treated as constructive breaking.
Supporting sources
A judge may give uncompensated advice and draft documents only for immediate family members and may represent herself pro se. Any compensated work or representation of non-family members in a forum is prohibited.
Supporting sources
Confidential government information acquired during public service that the government is prohibited from disclosing and that is not publicly available may not be used against the subject in private representation.
Supporting sources
An agent must know what a person of ordinary experience and intelligence would know plus whatever additional facts the agent would discover by using due care in performing duties to the principal.
Supporting sources
The tenant may terminate the lease and recover damages or affirm the lease and obtain equitable or legal relief, including rent abatement or use of rent to cure the defect.
Supporting sources
…law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Appellants sought a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief barring the city from using the Landmarks Law to impede the construction of any structure that might otherwise lawfully be constructed on the Terminal site, and damages for the “temporary taking” that occurred between…