First Recorder Wins Priority
Pavel Petrov records his deed to Blackacre on Monday. Perry Pratt records a later deed on Tuesday. The recording statute awards title to the first recorder, so Pavel prevails and holds superior title.
Also known as: prevails · prevailed · prevailing · win · succeed
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To succeed in establishing one's claim or right in a legal proceeding. Success grants priority over competing interests or entitles the party to relief such as fees or costs.
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Pavel Petrov records his deed to Blackacre on Monday. Perry Pratt records a later deed on Tuesday. The recording statute awards title to the first recorder, so Pavel prevails and holds superior title.
Portia Price hires Precision Tools under a signed contingent-fee agreement. After settlement the firm deducts expenses even though the client is the prevailing party. The agreement language controls the deduction and the firm collects its share.
Paul Peterson and Phoebe Park litigate a land transfer. The court applies forum rules to joinder and trial administration but foreign law to capacity. The selective approach lets the foreign rule prevail on the capacity issue.
Alice records her mortgage on Lot 12 on day one. Bob records a later mortgage on day two. Under the race statute Alice prevails and her lien has priority.
Client and counsel sign a contingent-fee agreement that omits expense-allocation language. After recovery counsel seeks to deduct costs even though client prevailed. The missing notice voids the deduction and counsel must return the amount.
In a multistate land dispute the court applies local procedural rules but foreign substantive capacity rules. The foreign rule prevails on the capacity question and determines whether the deed is valid.
No. Fee recovery depends on statute, contract, or rule. Many statutes authorize fees only for the prevailing party, but the agreement or statute must expressly provide the right.
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Race statutes award title to the first recorder. Notice statutes protect a later bona fide purchaser without notice. Race-notice statutes require both first recording and lack of notice.
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Yes. Courts may apply the law of one state to some issues and another state's law to others when the issues would produce different results under each state's local rules.
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…pre-natal application. All this, together with our observation, supra , that throughout the major portion of the 19th century prevailing legal abortion practices were far freer than they are today, persuades us that the word "person," as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn. This is in accord with…