Definition
Tam quam is a Latin phrase meaning "as well as." In legal practice, it describes proceedings or writs that apply simultaneously to two things, persons, or purposes — covering both equally rather than one at the expense of the other.
Two principal uses appear in historical practice:
1. Writ of error tam quam: A writ of error issued from an inferior court when the alleged error is said to exist as well in the rendering of the judgment as in the awarding of execution upon it — that is, the challenge runs to both the judgment and the execution, not merely one. The full Latin formulation is tam in redditione judicii quam in adjudicatione executionis.
2. Venire tam quam: A form of jury summons by which a jury was called as well to try an issue as to inquire of damages on a default — tam ad triandum quam ad inquirendum. A single panel was thus empaneled for two distinct functions simultaneously.
Common Confusion
Tam quam is occasionally grouped with qui tam in discussions of Latin legal phrases, and both involve the word "tam." They are unrelated in function. Qui tam ("who as well") names the relator-plaintiff mechanism in false claims actions, where a private party sues on behalf of the government and shares in any recovery. Tam quam describes a procedural doubling — a writ or process that addresses two targets or purposes at once. The shared syllable is a false connection. Researchers encountering "tam" in historical pleading records should determine which phrase is present before drawing any inference about the nature of the proceeding.
Why It Matters in Research
Tam quam is obsolete as an active procedural device. Modern researchers encounter it almost exclusively in historical pleading records, writ registers, and older English and American practice manuals. Its primary research value is interpretive: identifying a writ of error tam quam tells the researcher that the attacking party was challenging both the judgment below and the execution issued on it, which has implications for understanding the scope of the appellate or supervisory proceeding being reviewed.
The venire tam quam form matters in a different context — jury assembly records, particularly from 18th- and early 19th-century English and American courts. When a venire tam quam appears in a case record, it signals a procedurally consolidated jury empanelment, and researchers should not expect separate jury panels for the trial issue and the damages inquiry.
The phrase disappears from American practice manuals by the mid-19th century as common law pleading reforms reduced the complexity of writ practice. Researchers working in pre-reform federal or state court records — particularly before the Field Code era (1848) and the eventual adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1938) — are most likely to encounter it.
One trap in corpus research: the phrase appears in abbreviated or corrupted forms in transcribed records. "Tam quam" may be rendered as "t.q." or split across lines in manuscript sources in ways that obscure the phrase. Context — particularly the presence of a writ of error or a jury summons — is the better guide than text matching alone.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries agree on the core meaning and the two principal applications. Burrill's is the most informative, tracing the phrase to its root sense ("as well — as") and providing the additional illustrative usage tam de fortia quam de facto (as well of force as of fact) from Bracton, which demonstrates that the construction was a general-purpose conjunctive formula in medieval Latin legal writing before it attached to specific writ forms.
Black's 2nd edition and Burrill's both cite 2 Tidd's Practice at pages 722 and 895 for the venire tam quam, which is a reliable historical anchor — Tidd's Practice was a standard English common law procedure treatise used widely in American courts before procedural codification.
None of the historical dictionaries address the phrase's disappearance from practice or provide guidance on encountering it in American as opposed to English sources. The historical entries treat it as a still-functioning device, which reflects their period of composition rather than any current relevance.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
For the related qui tam mechanism (false claims relator actions), see: False Claims Act — Qui Tam Actions, Implied Certification, and Healthcare Fraud Enforcement (The Law Mind Health Law & Bioethics Encyclopedia)