barratry

(băr'ə-trē)
n., pl., -tries.

1. The offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones.
2. An unlawful breach of duty on the part of a ship's master or crew resulting in injury to the ship's owner.
3. Sale or purchase of positions in church or state.

[Middle English barratrie, the sale of church offices, from Old French baraterie, deception, malversation, from barater, to cheat. See barrator.]

barratrous bar'ra·trous (-trəs) adj.
barratrously bar'ra·trous·ly adv.

View more Law & Legal Issues videos

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

In criminal law, the frequent incitement of lawsuits and quarrels that is a punishable offense.

Barratry is most commonly applied to an attorney who attempts to bring about a lawsuit that will be profitable to her or him. Barratry is an offense both at common law and under some state statutes. The broader common-law crime has been limited by certain statutes. An attorney who is overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosecution of groundless litigation might be guilty of common barratry under a particular statute. The requirement for the crime of barratry is that repeated or persistent acts of litigation are performed by the accused. Barratry is generally a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment. In the case of an attorney, disbarment is the usual punishment. Since few cases have been prosecuted, barratry is considered by the legal community at large to be an archaic crime. This is particularly true today due to a highly litigious atmosphere.

In maritime law, barratry is the commission of an act by the master or mariners of a vessel for an unlawful or fraudulent purpose that is contrary to the duty owed to the owners, by which act the owners sustain injury.

A form of barratry is misconduct of the master of a ship in taking commodities on board that subject the ship to seizure for smuggling. It is essential in barratry that a criminal act or intent exist on the part of the master or mariners which inures to their own benefit and causes injury to the owners of the ship.

1) the purchase or sale of ecclesiastical preferment, or of offices of state
2) the acceptance of bribes by a judge
3) Marine Law  fraud, or gross and criminal negligence, on the part of the master or mariners of a ship, to the prejudice of the owners, and without their consent
4) the offence of habitually exciting quarrels, or moving or maintaining lawsuits; vexatious persistnace in, or incitement to, litagation

For a list of words related to barratry, see:

• Intrigues, Plots, and Corruption - barratry: purchase or sale of preferment or office in church or state

---