De Bene Esse

A technical phrase applied to certain proceedings which are deemed to be well done for the present, or until an exception or other avoidance (i.e., 'conditionally'). For example, a declaration is filed or delivered, special bail put in, witness examined, etc. de bene esse, or good for the present.

When a judge has a doubt as to the propriety of finding a verdict, he may direct the jury to find one de bene esse; which verdict, if the court shall afterwards be of opinion it ought to have been found, shall stand.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.