Legal Definitions - coterminous

Coterminous describes two or more things that share the exact same boundaries, extent, or duration. This term is used to indicate that elements begin and end at the same point, or cover precisely the same area or scope.

• Example 1 (Time): A company's non-compete agreement with an executive might be declared coterminous with their employment contract. This means the executive's obligation not to work for a competitor begins and ends on the exact same dates as their overall employment with the company.

  Explanation: Here, "coterminous" illustrates that two distinct legal agreements or obligations (the non-compete clause and the employment itself) are perfectly aligned in their duration, starting and ending simultaneously.

• Example 2 (Space/Boundaries): In some states, the jurisdiction of a municipal court is coterminous with the geographical boundaries of the city it serves. This means the court's authority to hear cases extends precisely to the city limits and no further, sharing the exact same physical borders.

  Explanation: This example uses "coterminous" to show that the spatial extent or territorial reach of two different entities (the court's jurisdiction and the city's physical area) are identical.

• Example 3 (Time/Event-driven): A temporary government task force established to address a specific public health crisis might have its mandate declared coterminous with the official declaration of the end of the crisis. This implies the task force will automatically dissolve once the public health emergency is officially over, without a pre-set end date.

  Explanation: In this scenario, "coterminous" signifies that the existence and authority of the task force are directly linked to and will conclude at the same moment as a specific event (the end of the crisis).