Also known as: nocumenta · nocumenti · nuisance · harm · annoyance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A historical term for a nuisance. A remedy existed at common law when the nuisance caused personal injury but not when it caused only property damage.
Nicholas Nunez fired a pistol at Nestor Navarro during a confrontation on a shared driveway. The shot struck a vital area and caused serious injury. The factfinder inferred intent to kill from the deliberate use of the weapon, satisfying the malice requirement for the resulting homicide charge.
Nimbus Cloud installed new guardrails on its loading dock after Neville Norton fell and broke his leg. Norton sought to introduce the installation to prove the dock had been negligently designed. The court excluded the evidence for that purpose while allowing it to impeach a defense witness who claimed no feasible precaution existed.
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Nyah Ndlovu was acquitted in federal court of wire fraud. State prosecutors later charged her with theft by deception arising from the same transaction. Because each offense required proof of an element the other did not and protected distinct societal interests, the second prosecution was not barred.
Nathan Nguyen, an elderly client, showed signs of severe cognitive decline and faced imminent financial exploitation. His lawyer reasonably believed Nguyen could not protect his own interests. The lawyer consulted family members and petitioned for appointment of a conservator to safeguard Nguyen's assets.
Neptune Energy held an easement to run pipes across New Horizon Media's lot. After Neptune relocated its operations, New Horizon Media built a permanent studio on the route in reliance on the nonuse. Restoring the easement would now require demolition of the studio and cause unreasonable harm, extinguishing the easement.
Nestor Navarro leased a warehouse from Nobel Dynamics. The landlord knew of a concealed structural defect that created an unreasonable risk of collapse but did not disclose it. After Navarro took possession the defect caused injury. Nobel Dynamics was liable because Navarro neither knew nor had reason to know of the condition.
It is a Latin term used in early English law to denote a nuisance. Courts distinguished between nuisances causing only property damage, for which no common-law remedy existed, and those causing personal injury, for which a remedy was available.
The distinction reflected the limited scope of early trespass and case actions. Only direct or forcible invasions of person or land supported a writ. Purely economic or possessory harms from a neighbor's use of land often fell outside those writs.
When restoring an easement would cause unreasonable harm to the servient owner, courts treat the easement as extinguished by estoppel. That outcome prevents the dominant owner from imposing a continuing nuisance-like burden on the servient land.
…detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying this choice altogether is apparent. Specific and direct harm medically diagnosable even in early pregnancy may be involved. Maternity, or additional offspring, may force upon the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be…