foot fault

n. in jurisprudence, a minor criminal or procedural violation; a legal misstep. Subjects: English, Law, Jargon

Etymological Note: This is a direct borrowing from net-based sports, such as tennis, badminton, and volleyball, where a foot fault is the placement of a foot outside the baseline when serving.

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Citations: 1997 Coffey Eschbach, Diane P. Wood @ Ill. FindLaw (June 9) “U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit: No. 96-3406”: This argument rests on a procedural foot fault that our circuit has held should not defeat jurisdiction where the district court asserts its jurisdiction by directing proceedings even in the absence of a formal grant of leave to appeal. 2000 John M. Allinotte, Glen S. Pye, David V. Daubaras, David M. Penney, et al. Tax Executive (Jan. 1) “Misrepresentation of a tax matter by a third party” vol. 52, no. 1, p. 64-70: TEI is highly concerned that even the slightest misstep—a mere foot fault—by a corporate employee could lead to Draconian personal penalties. 2001 John Gilmour Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) (Mar. 17) “How The Big End Of Town Makes Its Own Rules” p. 48: Telstra suffered a judicial humiliation when it was constrained from making false and misleading statements about charges for its services and in what might be regarded as another foot fault, it was forced to give refunds to customers who were overcharged. Some little mistake that. Just $45 million. 2003 Dahlia Lithwick Slate (Dec. 3) “The Wing Nut’s Revenge”: [Antonin] Scalia, the only justice on Favish’s side today, puts it bluntly to him: “We have relatives here who will be very much harmed. You’ve demonstrated some foot faults, the investigators made mistakes. Who cares?” 2004 Bill Barnhart WGN-TV (Chicago) (June 13) “Wall Street vs. A state that cries foul: Watch this trial”: But if the jury finds against Forstmann, a cascade of copycat litigation and reform proposals could erupt. “We will all examine every inch of what occurred and find out if there was a foot fault that was justifiable.”

Posted 22 Oct 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend