CHAMPERTY

champerty, or champarty (lat. _campi partitio_, o. fr. _champ parti_), in english law, a bargain between a plaintiff or defendant in a cause and another person, to divide the land (_campum partiri_) or other matter sued for, if they prevail, in consideration of that person carrying on or defending the suit at his own expense. it is a misdemeanour punishable by fine or imprisonment. it differs only from maintenance (q.v.), in that the recompense for the service which has been given is always part of the matter in suit, or some profit growing out of it. so an agreement by a solicitor not to charge costs on condition of retaining for himself a share of the sums recovered would be illegal and void. it is not, however, champerty to charge the subject-matter of a suit in order to obtain the means of prosecuting it. see _fifth report of the criminal law commissioners_, pp. 34-9. champion (fr. _champion_, late lat. _campio_ from _campus_, a field or open space, i.e. one "who takes the field" or fights; cf. ger. _kampf_, battle, and _kampfer_, fighter), in the judicial combats of the middle ages the substitute for a party to the suit disabled from bearing arms or specially exempt from the duty to do so (see wager). hence the word has come to be applied to any one who "champions," or contends on behalf of, any person or cause. in the laws of the lombards (lib. ii. tit. 56