Legal Definition and Related Resources of Ab initio mundi

(Lat.) From the beginning of the world.

What does Ab initio mundi mean in American Law?

The definition of Ab initio mundi in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

From the beginning of the world. The phrase appears (in translation) in many modem general releases, where reference is made to all claims of any kind or description which the releasing party may have against [the] released party “from the beginning of the world to the date hereof.” As such, its use is an interesting example of a particular kind of legal drafting, one in which, out of caution, one specifies a range of coverage far in excess of the matter really at hand (usually a particular, recent claim is being released) because the area of excess is so far from the then present interest of either party as to make the expansive drafting appear to both of them as essentially cost free. Upon occasion, however, later developments make this expansive kind of drafting substantively and unpleasantly significant, e.g., when the giver of the release has forgotten another wholly unrelated earlier claim which, by its terms, the expansive release discharges.

Cf a coelo ad centrum.

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This definition of Ab Initio Mundi Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

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