Law Dictionary Definitions

alternative constituency.See NONSHAREHOLDER CONSTITUENCY. [Blacks Law 8th]

alternatim (al-t<<schwa>>r-nay-tim or awl-), adv.[Latin] Interchangeably; by turns. ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND COMMERCIALIZATION Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Corporation.A  federally  chartered corporation  in  the  U.S. Department of  Agriculture responsible  for  funding  the  development and marketing of new nonfood products made from farm and forestry materials. — Abbr. AARCC. [Blacks Law 8th]

alternate valuation date.Tax law. The date six months after a decedent’s death. • Generally, the estate can elect to appraise the decedent’s property either as of the date of the decedent’s death or as  of  the  alternate  valuation  date.  See  BASIS.  [Cases:  Internal  Revenue    4184.20;  Taxation 895(4). C.J.S. Taxation §§ 1902–1903.] [Blacks Law 8th]

alternate legacy.See LEGACY. [Blacks Law 8th]

alternate.Parliamentary law.  A  proxy for a  delegate,  usu. chosen in the same  manner as the delegate rather than chosen by the delegate. See DELEGATE(2); PROXY(1). [Blacks Law 8th]

alternat  (awl-t<<schwa>>r-nit  or  al-ter-nah).  [French]  The  rotation  in  precedence  among states, diplomats, etc., esp. in the signing of treaties. • This practice gives each diplomat a copy of the treaty with the diplomat’s signature appearing first. [Blacks Law 8th]

altering  or  amending  a  judgment.A  trial  court’s  act of  correcting  a  substantive  mistake  in  a judgment, as by correcting a  manifest error of law or fact. Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e). [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure    2641–2662.] [Blacks Law 8th]

alter-ego rule. 1.Corporations.The doctrine that shareholders will be treated as the owners of a  corporation’s  property,  or  as  the  real  parties  in  interest,  whenever  it  is  necessary  to  do  so  to prevent fraud or to do justice. [Cases: Corporations    1.4(4). C.J.S. Corporations § 12.] 2.Criminal law. The principle that one who defends another against attack…

alter  ego.A  corporation  used  by  an  individual  in  conducting  personal  business,  the  result being that a court may impose liability on the individual by piercing the corporate veil when fraud has   been   perpetrated   on   someone   dealing   with   the   corporation.   See   PIERCING   THE CORPORATE VEIL. [Cases: Corporations    1.4(4). C.J.S. Corporations § 12.] [Blacks Law 8th]

altercation. A vehement dispute; a noisy argument. “altercation.  The  traditional  view  is that  this  word  refers to ‘a  noisy  brawl  or  dispute,’  not rising  to  the  seriousness  of  physical  violence…. But in  AmE,  the  word  now  often  denotes some type  of  scuffling  or  fighting,  especially  in  police  jargon.”  Bryan  A.  Garner,  A  Dictionary  of Modern…