ORIBUS DAMNIS

2 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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ORIBUS DAMNISAuthored
The Law Mind • 593 words
Definition
*Oribus damnis* is a Latin phrase meaning "with all losses" or "for all damages." It appears in older common law pleading and judgment contexts to signify that a party is entitled to, or has been awarded, the full measure of damages sustained — without limitation or reduction. The phrase functioned as a formulaic expression in writs and pleadings to signal that the claim or recovery was comprehensive in scope, encompassing every species of loss alleged. ---
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering *oribus damnis* in historical pleading records, writs, or judgment rolls should treat it as a term of art belonging to the formal language of common law procedure rather than a substantive legal standard. Its significance is positional: it signals the breadth of a damages claim or award as framed at the pleading stage, not necessarily what was proven or recovered at judgment. Because the phrase appears primarily in pre-codification pleading materials, it is unlikely to surface in modern case law or statutory research. Researchers working with Year Books, early English reports, or colonial American court records are most likely to encounter it. Its appearance in a record does not by itself indicate the measure of damages actually applied — courts retained discretion as to quantum even where such expansive language was used in the writ or declaration. The source material supplied for this entry (Bouvier's excerpt) concerns default judgments and judgments in error, not the phrase *oribus damnis* directly. This mismatch is a flag: historical legal dictionaries frequently organized entries in running blocks of text covering multiple related phrases and procedural concepts. A researcher consulting Bouvier's in print may find *oribus damnis* discussed in proximity to passages on judgment practice without the phrase receiving its own dedicated headword. Careful attention to surrounding text is warranted. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary does not provide a standalone definition of *oribus damnis* in the supplied source material. The adjacent Bouvier's text addresses default judgments and judgments in error — procedural contexts in which damages-comprehensive language of this kind would naturally appear as part of a court's formal award language. This placement suggests that Bouvier treated such Latin formulae as embedded within procedural discussion rather than defining them independently. The phrase belongs to a broader family of Latin pleading formulae — alongside terms like *damna* (damages), *pro damnis* (for damages), and related expressions — that populated the formal writ system. Historical dictionaries, including Bouvier's and Black's early editions, are inconsistent in headlining such phrases, often treating them as self-evident to a classically trained bar. Modern legal dictionaries largely omit the phrase entirely, reflecting its obsolescence following the replacement of common law pleading forms by code pleading in the nineteenth century and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in the twentieth. Researchers should not expect cross-dictionary consensus on this term. Its absence from a given historical source is more likely a cataloging choice than evidence that the phrase was unknown or unused. ---
Jurisdictional Note
As a phrase rooted in common law pleading forms, *oribus damnis* would appear in English and English-derived jurisdictions that employed the writ system. It has no operative meaning in modern civil procedure in any U.S. jurisdiction and is not a recognized term of art in civil law systems. ---
Related Terms
Damages — Damna — Pro damnis — Judgment by default — Writ of inquiry — Ad damnum — General damages — Special damages — Common law pleading — Writ system
ORIBUS DAMNISmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
Judgment by default is a judgment ren- dered in consequence of the non-appearance of the defendant. The term is also applied to judgments entered under statutes or rules of court, for want of affidavit of de- fence, plea, answer, and the like, or for failure to take some required step in the cause. Judgment in error is a judgment ren- dered by a court of error on a record sent up from an inferior court. Final judgment is one which puts an end to a suit. As to judgment in rem, inter partes, or in personam, see those titles. Interlocutory judgment is one given in the progress of a cause upon some plea, pro- ceeding, or default which is only interme- diate and does not finally determine or com- plete the suit. 8 Bla. Com, 396. Judgment on the merits is one rendered after argument and investigation, and when it is determined which party is in the right, as distinguished from a judgment rendered upon some preliminary or merely technical point, or by default, and without trial. Judgment of nil capiat per breve or per billam is a judgment in favor of the de fendant upon an issue raised upon a declar- ation or peremptory plea. Judgment by nil dicit is one rendered against a defendant for want of a plea. Judgment of nolle prosequi is a judgment entered against the plaintiff where afterap pearance and before judgment he says "he will not further prosecute his suit." Steph. Pl., Andr. ed. § 97. Judgment of non obstante veredicto is a judgment rendered in favor of one party without regard to the verdict obtained by the other party. Judgment of non pros. (non prosequitur) is one given against the plaintiff for a neg- lect to take any of those steps which it is incumbent on him to take in due time. See

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