Legal Definitions - writ of mesne

The term writ of mesne refers to a historical legal order used primarily in feudal land law. It was a remedy available to a tenant who held land from an intermediate landlord (known as the "mesne lord") when that intermediate landlord failed to fulfill their obligations, such as paying rent or performing services, to their own superior landlord (known as the "tenant paramount").

In essence, if the lowest tenant (sometimes called the "tenant paravail") was being harassed or had their property seized by the superior landlord because their immediate landlord (the mesne lord) had defaulted on their duties, the writ of mesne allowed the lowest tenant to compel the mesne lord to fulfill those obligations and to compensate the lowest tenant for any damages suffered. It protected the lowest tenant from being caught in the middle of a dispute between their landlord and that landlord's superior.

While the specific writ of mesne is largely obsolete in modern legal systems, the principle it addressed—a subordinate party suffering due to an intermediate party's default to a superior party—can still be understood through analogous situations.

• Example 1: Commercial Sublease Dispute

  Imagine a property owner, Sarah, who leases an entire commercial building to "Main Street Corp." Main Street Corp. then subleases a small office suite within that building to "Startup Innovations LLC." Startup Innovations diligently pays its monthly rent to Main Street Corp. However, Main Street Corp. falls significantly behind on its rent payments to Sarah, the building owner. Sarah, as the superior landlord, initiates eviction proceedings against Main Street Corp. and, by extension, all occupants of the building, including Startup Innovations LLC.

  How this illustrates the term: In this scenario, Sarah is the "tenant paramount" (superior landlord), Main Street Corp. is the "mesne lord" (intermediate landlord), and Startup Innovations LLC is the "tenant paravail" (lowest tenant). Startup Innovations is suffering harm (potential eviction) due to Main Street Corp.'s failure to fulfill its financial obligation to Sarah, even though Startup Innovations itself is current on its payments. Historically, a writ of mesne would have allowed Startup Innovations to compel Main Street Corp. to pay Sarah and protect its sublease.

• Example 2: Chained Service Agreement

  Consider a large university that contracts with a facilities management company, "CampusCare Inc.," to oversee all maintenance and cleaning for a specific dormitory building. CampusCare Inc. then subcontracts the daily cleaning services for that dormitory to "Sparkle Cleaners." Sparkle Cleaners performs its cleaning duties perfectly and submits its invoices to CampusCare Inc. However, CampusCare Inc. fails to pay its monthly management fee to the university for the overall facilities contract. The university, citing CampusCare Inc.'s breach, threatens to terminate the entire contract, which would also mean Sparkle Cleaners loses its cleaning contract for the dormitory, even though Sparkle Cleaners has performed its work flawlessly and is owed money by CampusCare Inc.

  How this illustrates the term: Here, the university acts as the "tenant paramount" (the superior party), CampusCare Inc. is the "mesne lord" (the intermediate party), and Sparkle Cleaners is the "tenant paravail" (the subordinate party). Sparkle Cleaners is caught in the middle, facing the loss of its contract and potential non-payment due to CampusCare Inc.'s failure to meet its obligations to the university. A historical "writ of mesne" would have provided a mechanism for Sparkle Cleaners to compel CampusCare Inc. to fulfill its duties to the university, thereby protecting Sparkle Cleaners' interests.