Terms beginning with D

1,832 headwords

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D reorganizationA reorganization in which a company transfers some or all of its assets to another company controlled by it or by its…
D.AA public official, elected or appointed, who prosecutes criminal cases for the state in a particular judicial district.
D.BThe Domesday Book, the survey of English landholding compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086.
D.CThe seat of the U.S. government, on the Potomac between Maryland and Virginia. It is neither a state nor a territory,…
D.PThe House of Lords.
dactylographyThe study of fingerprints as a means of identifying people.
dailiaA dale or ditch; also, a strip of pasture lying between two plowed furrows.
dailusA dale or ditch; also, a strip of pasture lying between two plowed furrows.
daily balanceThe closing balance in an account for a day on which interest is added or paid.
daily newspaperA newspaper published five to seven days a week.
daisy chainA run of purchases and sales of the same stock among a small group of dealers, made to push the price up and draw in…
dalusA dale or ditch; also, a strip of pasture lying between two plowed furrows.
damageTo do with money paid to make good a loss or injury to a person or property.
damage feasantDoing damage: the phrase for harm to someone's land caused by another's animals straying onto it and eating the crops…
damage ruleThe rule that the limitation period on a claim does not start until the claimant has suffered some damage the law wil…
damage-cleerA fixed fee a claimant had to pay to the Court of Common Pleas, King's Bench, or Exchequer before enforcing an award…
damagesMoney claimed by, or ordered to be paid to, someone as compensation for loss or injury.
damages for detentionDemurrage a court orders where the contract makes no provision for it.
damages for lost expectationsCompensation for what someone reasonably expected to gain from a transaction that fell through.
damages ultraFurther damages claimed by a claimant who is not satisfied with the sum the defendant has paid into court.
damages, mitigation ofAnother name for the mitigation-of-damages doctrine.
dameThe legal title of the wife of a knight or baronet, and the female equivalent of a knight; also, a formal way of addr…
damn-fool doctrineIn insurance law, the idea that an insurer may refuse cover where the insured behaved so foolishly that it should not…
damnaDamages, whether or not costs are included. In the phrase damna clericorum it meant the portion of damages that made…
damna clericorumA fixed fee a claimant had to pay to the Court of Common Pleas, King's Bench, or Exchequer before enforcing an award…
damnatusIn Roman law, someone condemned, especially in a capital case. In older usage the word also described something the l…
damni injuriae actioIn Roman law, the right to sue someone who wrongfully injured or killed one's slave or animal, or wrongfully caused l…
damnificationSomething that causes damage or loss.
damnifyTo cause loss or damage to someone; to injure them.
damnosa hereditasAn inheritance that costs more than it is worth, because the debts and burdens attached to it exceed the property.
damnumA loss, or damage suffered.
damnum absque injuriaLoss or harm for which the law gives no remedy.
damnum facientesDoing damage: the phrase for harm to someone's land caused by another's animals straying onto it and eating the crops…
damnum fataleIn Roman law, damage caused by something no one could avoid, such as a storm or shipwreck, for which a bailee is not…
damnum sine injuriaLoss or harm for which the law gives no remedy.
DanIn England, an old title of respect for a man, matching the Spanish Don. It gave way in time to Master, Mister, and Sir.
danelawThe body of rules the Danes brought with them during their invasions of England, mainly in the ninth century, and kep…
dangerExposure to harm, loss, or pain; also, the thing that creates the peril.
danger of navigationAction by the elements at sea so violent that it overcomes a well-found ship handled with the ordinary precautions of…
danger of riverAction by the water and weather on a river so violent that it overcomes a well-found vessel handled with the ordinary…
danger-creation doctrineThe rule that where a state's own conduct puts someone in danger, the state may be liable for the harm a third party…
danger-invites-rescue doctrineThe rule that a defendant is liable not only to the person they put in danger but also to anyone injured while trying…
danger-utility testA way of holding a manufacturer liable for a product where a reasonable person would conclude that the benefits of it…
dangeriaA payment forest tenants made to the lord for the right to plow and sow while swine were feeding on the forest mast.
dangerousOf a condition or situation, perilous or unsafe; of a person or object, likely to cause serious bodily harm.
dangerous conditionA defect in property that creates a real risk of injury when the property is used in a way that could be expected. Su…
dangerous criminalAn offender who has either committed a violent crime or used force in trying to escape custody.
dangerous drugA drug whose use is restricted by law because of the harm it can do, whether by causing dependence or by altering per…
dangerous instrumentalityA thing, substance, or condition so dangerous in itself that it can cause serious injury or death without anyone usin…
dangerous situationUnder the last-clear-chance doctrine, the position a claimant driving a vehicle has got into, such as being on the pa…
dangerous weaponAn object or device that, given how it is being used, can cause serious bodily injury.
dangerous-propensity testAnother name for the dangerous-tendency test.
dangerous-proximity testA common-law test for attempt, asking whether the defendant came dangerously close to completing the offense. It weig…
dangerous-tendency testA test asking whether a person or animal has shown a tendency to cause injury. It is used especially in dog-bite case…
Darden hearingIn criminal procedure, a hearing held with only one side present to decide whether revealing an informer's identity m…
dareTo give or transfer something, especially property, whether to pay a debt, create an obligation, or make a gift; also…
darraignTo displace or disarrange; also, to answer an accusation or settle a dispute.
darreinThe last, as in the last presentment to a church living.
darrein continuanceThe last continuance: the most recent adjournment of a case, after which a party might plead matters that had arisen…
darrein presentmentAnother name for the assize of darrein presentment, which decided who had last presented a clergyman to a vacant living.
darrein seisinA tenant's plea, in a writ of right, that they hold the most recent seisin of the land.
dateThe day on which something happened or will happen; also, a stretch of time in general.
date certainA fixed and appointed day, especially one named in a document such as a deed.
date of bankruptcyThe day a court declares someone bankrupt. It may be the same day a voluntary petition was filed.
date of cleavageThe day a voluntary bankruptcy petition is filed. With a few exceptions, only debts existing at that moment can be di…
date of injuryThe day an injury began, or the day of the accident that caused it.
date of issueIn commercial law, the date fixed as the start of the term for notes, bonds, and similar documents issued in a series…
date of maturityThe day a debt falls due, such as one owed on a promissory note or a bond.
date of recordThe day on which a shareholder must own the shares to be entitled to vote or to receive a dividend.
date rapeRape committed by someone the victim knows, especially a social companion.
datioThe act of giving, as in giving something in payment of a debt.
datio in solutumIn Roman law, the discharge of an obligation by giving, and the creditor accepting, something other than what was owed.
dationA grant of something the recipient is already entitled to, such as an office.
dation en paiementHanding over something other than money to settle a debt; in particular, satisfying a mortgage by transferring the mo…
dativeIn Roman and civil law, an appointment made by a judge or magistrate, especially of something the law or a will does…
datumA piece of information; in older usage, something given or executed, or a date.
Daubert hearingA hearing federal district courts hold, usually before trial, to decide whether proposed expert evidence meets the fe…
Daubert testThe approach federal district courts use in deciding whether expert evidence may be admitted under Federal Rule of Ev…
daughterA parent's female child; also, any female descendant.
Davis-Bacon ActA federal law of 1931 setting minimum wage rates for workers on federal public-works projects.
dayAny period of 24 hours; also, the hours between sunrise and sunset, or any particular stretch of time marked off from…
day in courtThe chance to bring a claim, seek relief, or defend one's rights before a court; also, the right to be notified and t…
day loanA short-term loan to a broker to finance the day's transactions.
day orderAn order to buy or sell that lapses at the end of the trading day if it is not filled.
day ruleA Queen's Bench writ letting a prisoner leave prison to attend to business, such as a trial at the assizes, so long a…
day tradingThe buying and selling of shares within the same day, often over the internet, to profit from small movements in price.
day writA Queen's Bench writ letting a prisoner leave prison to attend to business, such as a trial at the assizes, so long a…
daybookA merchant's first record of each day's transactions.
days in bankDays the Court of Common Pleas set aside for particular business, including the appearance of parties and the service…
days of graceExtra time allowed for doing something required, such as making a payment, without incurring the usual penalty for la…
daysmanAn arbitrator, elected judge, or umpire; also, a day laborer.
daytimeThe hours between sunrise and sunset, together with the light in the early morning and late evening in which a person…
dayworkShort-term work meant to last only a day or a few days. Formerly in England it also meant a measure of land, being as…
DCFA way of assessing an investment by working out what its expected future income is worth in today's money.
de admensuratione dotisFormerly, a writ by which an heir, or the heir's guardian, could cut down the dower of an ancestor's widow who had be…
de advisamento consilii nostriWith the advice of our council: words once used in writs summoning members to Parliament.
de aestimatoIn Roman law, a claim available to an owner of goods against someone who took them to sell but then neither paid the…
de alto et bassoThe submission of every difference between the parties, great and small, to arbitration.
de ambituThe offense of gaining office by underhand means, especially bribery. Several Roman statutes dealt with it.
de ampliori gratiaOf fuller or more abundant grace, said of a favor granted beyond what was owed.
de anno bissextiliA rule of Henry III telling the judges that where something had to be done within a year, the leap day and the day be…
de arrestandis bonis ne dissipenturA writ to seize a party's goods so that they will not disappear while a lawsuit is pending.
de arrestando ipsum qui pecuniam recepitFormerly, a writ ordering the arrest of someone who took the king's money for war service and then went into hiding t…
de asportatis religiosorumA statute of Edward I aimed at curbing abuses of church property, including its removal abroad.
de assisa prorogandaFormerly, a writ ordering the justices to put off an assize because a party was engaged on the Crown's business.
de bien et de malOf good and ill: the words by which a defendant put themselves wholly on the verdict of a jury.
de biens le mortFormerly, of the goods of the deceased.
de bonis asportatisThe wrongful carrying away of goods. Such a taking was also an element of larceny at common law, and the phrase names…
de bonis nonA grant of administration to settle the remainder of an estate that the previous executor or administrator left unadm…
de bonis non administratisOf the goods not administered. Where the first administrator of an intestate estate dies or is removed, the successor…
de bonis propriisOut of his own goods: words in a judgment making an executor personally liable, out of their own property, rather tha…
de bonis testatoris ac siOut of the goods of the testator if there are any: words in a judgment charging the estate first, and the executor pe…
de bono et maloFor good and ill: the words by which a defendant put themselves wholly on the verdict of a jury.
de caeteroHenceforth; from now on.
de capite minutisIn Roman law, a title of the Pandects dealing with people who had lost their civil status.
de catallis reddendisA writ ordering a bailee to hand back goods withheld from the owner. The writ of detinue took its place.
de cautione admittendaFormerly, a writ ordering a bishop who had imprisoned an excommunicated person for contempt to accept the security of…
de certiorandoA writ requiring an official to certify a matter to the court.
de cibariis utendisA statute of Edward III restraining the cost of entertaining, one of several laws limiting spending on luxuries.
de claro dieBy daylight; in the hours between sunrise and sunset.
de clerico admittendoA writ commanding a bishop to accept a nominee for a vacant church living. A patron with the right to fill the vacanc…
de coelo usque ad inferosFrom the heavens to the depths of the earth: the common-law maxim describing how far a landowner's ownership was said…
de communi dividundoIn Roman and civil law, an action to divide property held in common.
de comon droitBy the common law; of common right.
de consanguineoA writ by which an heir claimed land held by a great-great-grandfather or by certain collateral relatives.
de consanguinitateA writ by which an heir claimed land held by a great-great-grandfather or by certain collateral relatives.
de continuando assisamA writ to continue an assize.
de contumace capiendoFormerly, a writ issuing from the Court of Chancery at the request of a church court that had found someone in contem…
de copia libelli deliberandaFormerly, a writ ordering that a copy of the complaint be given to the defendant in an ecclesiastical court.
de cursuOf course: said of regular, formal proceedings, as opposed to incidental or summary ones.
de custode admittendoFormerly, a writ for admitting a guardian.
de deoneranda pro rata portionisFormerly, a writ for someone made to pay the whole of a rent that others should have contributed their share of.
De Donis ConditionalibusAn English statute of 1285 that made it possible to create a fee tail, keeping land within a family line.
de dote assignandaA writ ordering a royal escheator to set out dower for the widow of a tenant holding land directly from the Crown.
de dote unde nil habetA writ ordering a tenant who was standing in the way of a widow's dower to give her a reasonable share.
de ea re ita censuereConcerning that matter they have so decreed: the words used to record a decree of the Roman senate.
de escambio monetaeA writ authorizing a merchant to draw a bill of exchange.
de essendo quietum de theolonioFormerly, a writ letting someone exempt from a toll enforce that exemption without being harassed for payment.
de essonio de malo lectiFormerly, a writ to have it decided whether someone was truly ill, after they had excused their absence from court by…
de estoveriis habendisA writ by which a wife separated from bed and board could recover maintenance from her husband.
de estrepamentoFormerly, a writ to stop a tenant committing waste while an action to recover the land was pending. Because it only s…
de eu et treneOf water and of the whip of three cords: words describing a bondwoman who, as a servant, could be physically punished.
de eve et de treveFrom grandfather and great-grandfather: words describing a lord's inherited rights over villeins born on the manor.
de excommunicato recapiendoA writ for retaking an excommunicated person who had been released or had escaped.
de excusationibusThe opening title of the 27th book of the Digest, setting out the lawful excuses for not serving as a tutor or curato…
de executione facienda in withernamiumFormerly, a writ of execution in withernam, directing the sheriff to take from the defendant goods equal in value to…
de executione judiciiFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff or bailiff to carry out a judgment.
de expensis civium et burgensiumA writ ordering the sheriff to raise the expenses of each citizen and burgess attending Parliament.
de expensis militum levandisFormerly, a writ ordering the sheriff to raise an allowance for the knights of the shire sitting in Parliament.
de factoIn fact, though not as a matter of law; existing in practice whether or not the law recognizes it.
de facto adoptionAn adoption that falls short of what a state's statute requires. It may ripen into a full legal adoption once the for…
de facto contract of saleA contract that purports to pass property but is defective in some element.
de facto corporationA company that was never properly formed but whose apparent existence protects the directors, officers, and sharehold…
de facto courtA court operating under a statute later held invalid; also, a court set up and acting under the authority of a de fac…
de facto dissolutionThe ending of a company's existence in practice, where it has stopped doing business and wound down its affairs witho…
de facto governmentA government that actually holds and exercises power in a country, whether or not it holds office lawfully or is reco…
de facto judgeA judge acting with the appearance of legal authority whose appointment is defective in some way, as where the statut…
de facto marriageA marriage that is defective in some way, though the parties live together as husband and wife with the appearance of…
de facto mergerA transaction that produces the economic effect of a merger while taking the form of a purchase of assets or voting s…
de facto officerSomeone carrying out the duties of an office with the appearance of a valid appointment or election, but who has not…
de facto segregationSegregation that arises without any action by the state, usually out of social and economic conditions.
de facto takingGovernment action that so interferes with private property that it amounts to a taking, even though no formal condemn…
de fine forceOf sheer necessity; because there was no alternative.
de fine non capiendo pro pulchre placitandoFormerly, a writ forbidding a fine to be imposed for faulty pleading.
de fine pro redisseisina capiendoFormerly, a writ for taking a fine from someone who had disseised a landowner a second time after the land had alread…
de finibus levatisFormerly, the statute requiring that any fines levied be read out solemnly in open court.
de forisfactura maritagiiFormerly, a writ for the forfeiture of a marriage right.
de frangentibus prisonamFormerly, the statute providing that an escaped prisoner would not be put to death or lose a limb merely for escaping…
de gestu et famaFormerly, a writ available to someone whose character and reputation had been attacked.
de haerede rapto et abductoFormerly, a writ letting a lord recover a ward whom someone else had carried off.
de haeretico comburendoFormerly, a writ ordering the burning of a heretic who, having been convicted by the bishop and recanted, was convict…
de identitate nominisFormerly, a writ to free someone who had been mistaken for another person of the same name and wrongly arrested and i…
de iis qui ponendi sunt in assisisFormerly, the statute setting out who was qualified to serve on a jury.
de injuriaOf his own wrong: a claimant's reply denying the defendant's plea of justification and asserting that the defendant a…
de jure corporationA company formed in full compliance with the law and recognized as a company for the purpose of limiting liability.
de jure officerSomeone carrying out the duties of an office for which they have met every qualification.
de jure segregationSegregation imposed or sanctioned by law.
de la plus belleFormerly, of the most fair: a form of dower assigned out of the husband's best holdings. It belonged to military tenu…
de legatis et fidei commissisOf legacies and trusts: a title in the Pandects.
de libera faldaOf free fold: a lord's right to keep a fold for sheep on the land, and to require tenants' sheep to be folded there f…
de libertatibus allocandisA writ by which someone entitled to certain liberties could obtain them.
de licentia transfretandiFormerly, a writ ordering the wardens of the seaports to let a named person cross the sea, on stated conditions.
de lunatico inquirendoA writ or commission to inquire whether someone is of unsound mind.
de magna assisa eligendaFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff first to summon four knights to be sworn before the justices of assize, and then…
de manutenendoFormerly, a writ against someone who had wrongfully meddled in a lawsuit by helping a party keep it going.
de maritagio amisso per defaltamFormerly, a writ by which a tenant in frankmarriage could recover land lost by default.
de meOf me: words in a feudal grant confirming that no permission from a superior lord was needed for the transfer, as dis…
de medietate linguaeOf half tongue: a jury made up half of local people and half of foreigners. Edward III first allowed it in commercial…
de medioA writ against a middle lord, protecting an undertenant from being harassed by the paramount lord for rent the middle…
de melioribus damnisOf the better damages: the claimant's choice of which defendant to take judgment against where a jury has wrongly ass…
de mercatoribusFormerly, the title of two statutes of Edward I providing that a business debtor's land could be held by a creditor a…
de minimisSo small or trifling that a court may disregard it in deciding a case. The law does not concern itself with trifles.
de minimis non curat lexThe law does not concern itself with trifles.
de minisA writ ordering someone to keep the peace after they have threatened another with bodily harm or damage to property.
de mittendo tenorem recordiFormerly, a writ requiring a record to be certified under seal.
de moderata misericordia capiendaFormerly, a writ for the taking of a moderate amercement, that is, a fine proportionate to the offense.
de modo decimandiOf a way of tithing: any special local custom of tithing that departs from the general rule of a tenth part of the ye…
de nativo habendoFormerly, a writ directing a sheriff to seize a runaway serf and return them to their lord. A trial on the writ settl…
de novi operis nuntiationeA formal protest forbidding new building work until the objector's rights have been determined.
de novo judicial reviewA court's review of an administrative decision without deferring to the agency, usually on the administrative record…
de novo reviewAn appeal in which the appeal court works from the trial court's record but decides the facts and the law afresh, wit…
de odio et atiaFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff to summon a jury of twelve to inquire whether a prisoner held for murder was char…
de onerando pro rata portioneA writ for a joint tenant or co-tenant distrained for more rent than their proper share.
de pace et legalitate tenendaFormerly, a writ requiring someone to keep the peace and obey the law.
de pace et plagisFormerly, a kind of criminal appeal used in cases of assault, wounding, and breach of the peace.
de parco fractoOf pound breach: the offense of breaking open a pound and taking out animals or goods lawfully impounded there.
de plagis et mahemioOf wounds and mayhem: a writ or appeal for injuries causing wounding or the loss of a limb.
de planoFrom ground level: without formality, said of a matter dealt with summarily rather than by full process.
de plegiis acquietandisFormerly, a writ ordering a principal debtor to reimburse a surety who had to pay because the principal did not.
de post disseisinaA writ to recover land for someone who had already recovered it from a disseisor, whether by action, default, or surr…
de praerogativa regisThe royal prerogative: the special rights and powers belonging to the Crown, including wardship of the lands of idiot…
de proprietate probandaA writ ordering a sheriff to inquire who owns goods that have been distrained and that the defendant claims in a repl…
de quarantina habendaFormerly, a writ ordering a sheriff to put a widow in possession of part of her husband's estate, where she had been…
de quoOf which: formal words used in a writ of entry.
de raptu virginumFormerly, a writ for bringing an appeal in a rape case.
de rationabili parte bonorumFormerly, a writ by which a dead man's wife and children could recover a reasonable share of his goods from his execu…
de rationabilibus divisisA writ to settle the boundary between landowners of different towns where one claimed the other had trespassed.
de recordo et processu mittendisA kind of writ of error, ordering the record and proceedings to be sent up for review.
de recto de advocationeA writ restoring someone's right to present a clergyman to a church living where that right had been interfered with.…
de recto de rationabili parteFormerly, a writ by which one co-heir holding land in fee simple could obtain a rightful share from another. It was a…
de recto patensA writ of right patent: the writ by which a claimant asserted the strongest form of title to land, addressed to the l…
de redisseisinaA writ to recover land or rent for someone who had already recovered it by an assize of novel disseisin and was then…
de replegiore de averiisAnother name for the writ de averiis replegiandis, by which distrained cattle were replevied.
de rescussuFormerly, a writ available where cattle that had been distrained, or people who had been arrested, were forcibly take…
de retorno habendoFor having a return: the phrase covering a judgment for the defendant in a replevin action, the writ of execution iss…
de sa vieOf one's own life, as distinct from an estate measured by another person's life.
de salva gardiaA writ protecting strangers from harm while they pursued their legal rights in England.
de salvo conductuA writ of safe conduct.
de scutagio habendoA writ ordering a tenant holding directly of the Crown by knight service to serve in a war, send a substitute, or pay…
de secta ad molendinumA writ compelling someone to go on grinding their corn at a particular mill, as custom required, or to show good reas…
de son tortOf his own wrong: describing someone who acts in a role, such as executor or trustee, without any lawful authority to…
de son tort demesneOf his own wrong: the law French equivalent of the Latin phrase de injuria, used in a replication denying the defenda…
de tabulis exhibendisOf producing the tablets of a will: a Roman procedure requiring a dead person's will to be produced and opened so tha…
de transgressioneThe general name for the various writs of trespass.
de una parteOf one party: said of a deed in which only one party grants something to another, as distinct from a deed made betwee…
de ventre inspiciendoA writ allowing a presumptive heir to summon a jury of matrons to check whether a widow was really pregnant, where sh…
de verbo in verbumWord for word.
de vicinetoFrom the neighborhood: a phrase used of the area from which a jury panel was drawn.
de warrantia chartaeFormerly, a writ letting a tenant who held land with a warranty, and who was sued in an action where the warranty cou…
deaconIn some churches, a member of the clergy who assists the priest, including in presenting the sacrament. In the Church…
dead assetAn asset with no realizable value, such as a debt that cannot be collected.
dead freightMoney a shipper pays the shipowner for cargo space booked but not used.
dead letterA law or practice that, though never formally repealed, is no longer used or enforced; also, a piece of mail that can…
dead pledgeA transfer of title to property as security for a debt or duty, which becomes void once the debt is paid or the duty…
dead rentA payment under a mining lease, either on top of or as part of the royalty, that falls due whether or not the mine is…
dead stockGoods left in stock because there is no market for them.
dead storageThe storing of goods, especially vehicles, for long periods in a public store, as opposed to the daily coming and goi…
dead timeTime that does not count for a particular purpose, such as time excluded from an employee's wages or time not credite…
dead useA use that is to take effect at some future time.
dead-and-buried companyA business that has been wound up and has no assets left.
dead-ship doctrineThe rule that admiralty law stops applying to a ship once its purpose has changed so completely that it is no longer…
deadbeatInformally, someone who does not pay their debts, with the suggestion that they are practiced at dodging creditors.
deadhand controlThe use of interests that vest only at some remote future time to tie property up and keep it within a particular fam…
deadlockA standstill caused by opposition or a refusal to compromise. In company law it means the blocking of corporate actio…
deadlocked juryA jury that cannot reach a verdict by the margin the law requires.
deadly forceForce known to create a real risk of death or serious bodily harm. It may be used in self-defense only against deadly…
deadly weaponAny firearm or other object that, given how it is used or meant to be used, is likely to cause death.
deadly weapon per seAn object so dangerous in itself, such as a loaded gun, that it counts as a deadly weapon whatever the circumstances…
deafforestTo release land from the restrictions of the forest laws and return it to the status of ordinary land.
dealA purchase and sale, or an exchange of something for profit; also, an arrangement made for mutual advantage.
dealerSomeone who buys goods or property to sell on to others; in securities, a person or firm that buys and sells for its…
deanIn church law, an officer heading a chapter, parish, or other subdivision of a church, usually at a bishop's request…
Dean of the ArchesThe presiding judge of the Court of Arches.
deathThe ending of life; the stopping of all vital functions and signs.
death actionA lawsuit brought on behalf of a dead person's survivors for the losses they have suffered.
death benefitsA sum paid to a beneficiary on the death of the insured.
death by misadventureA killing that results from a lawful act done in a lawful way, under a reasonable belief that no harm could come of it.
death caseA criminal case in which the death penalty may be, or has been, imposed; also, a lawsuit brought on behalf of a dead…
death certificateAn official document from a public registry confirming that someone has died, giving details such as the date, time,…
Death on the High Seas ActA federal law of 1920 allowing a wrongful-death claim to be brought in a U.S. district court where the death occurred…
death penaltyDeath imposed by the state as punishment for a serious crime; also, a penalty barring a person or organization from a…
death rowThe part of a prison where those sentenced to death are held.
death sentenceA sentence imposing the death penalty.
death statuteA law protecting the interests of a dead person's family and dependents, letting them recover what they could reasona…
death taxA tax charged on property passing at death, whether as an estate tax on the estate itself or an inheritance tax on th…
death trapA structure or situation carrying an immediate risk of death; also, a situation that looks safe but is in fact very d…
death warrantA warrant authorizing a warden or other prison official to carry out a death sentence, usually setting the time and p…
death-knell doctrineA rule allowing an appeal before final judgment where waiting would make the issue moot and cause the appellant irrep…
death-penalty sanctionIn civil procedure, an order dismissing a case or entering judgment against a party because of gross abuse of the dis…
death-qualified juryA jury fit to try a case in which the death penalty is in issue, because none of the jurors is absolutely opposed to…
death, contemplation ofThe thought of dying, not necessarily from any immediate danger, as the reason for transferring property to someone e…
deathbed declarationA statement about the cause or circumstances of their impending death, made by someone who believes death is close. I…
deathsmanAn executioner or hangman.
debarmentThe act of shutting someone out from having or doing something.
debasementThe lowering of the value, quality, or purity of something, especially of coins, by cutting the gold or silver they c…
debauchIn older usage, to lead someone away from their duty or into corruption, especially by seducing them.
debaucheryExcessive indulgence in sensual pleasure; sexual excess.
debellatioIn international law, the ending of a war and the taking of territory where one side is so completely beaten that the…
debentureA debt secured only by the borrower's earning power, with no lien on any particular asset; also, the document acknowl…
debenture bondA bond backed only by the issuing company's general credit and standing, with no lien over its assets.
debenture indentureAn indenture setting out obligations that no mortgage or other collateral secures. It is a long-term financing device…
debenture stockIn English law, a bond representing money a company has borrowed on the security of its property or fixed assets; als…
debet et detinetHe owes and detains: the form of words used in an action of debt where the original creditor sued the original debtor…
debet sine breveDebt without a writ: a debt claimed by the parties appearing voluntarily in court rather than by suing out a writ.
debitA sum charged as owing; in bookkeeping, an entry on the left side of an account recording an increase in assets or a…
debit cardA card used to pay for purchases by transferring money electronically from the buyer's own bank account.
debit sans breveDebt without a writ: a debt claimed by the parties appearing voluntarily in court rather than by suing out a writ.
debitorSomeone who owes a legal obligation to another.
debitor non praesumitur donareThe presumption that a payment from a debtor is meant to reduce the debt, unless it is clear that a gift was intended.
debitrixIn civil law, a female debtor.
debitumSomething owing; a debt.
debitum sine breveDebt without a writ: a debt claimed by the parties appearing voluntarily in court rather than by suing out a writ.
debtA sum of money owed under an agreement or otherwise; also, all the claims outstanding against a person, business, or…
debt adjustmentAn arrangement bringing a person's debts together, with the creditors agreeing to accept smaller monthly payments or…
debt by simple contractA debt resting on an agreement, spoken or written, that is neither of record nor under seal.
debt by special contractA debt owed, or admitted to be owed, under a sealed document such as a deed of covenant or sale, a lease reserving re…
debt by specialty contractA debt owed, or admitted to be owed, under a sealed document such as a deed of covenant or sale, a lease reserving re…
debt capitalMoney a business raises by borrowing, as opposed to money raised by selling shares.
debt consolidationAn arrangement bringing a person's debts together, with the creditors agreeing to accept smaller monthly payments or…
debt financingRaising money by issuing bonds or notes, or by borrowing from a financial institution.
debt instrumentA written promise to repay a debt, such as a promissory note, bill, bond, or commercial paper.
debt limitationA ceiling on how much an individual, business, or government may borrow. Many state constitutions forbid the state to…
debt of recordA debt proved by a court record, such as a judgment.
debt poolingAn arrangement bringing a person's debts together, with the creditors agreeing to accept smaller monthly payments or…
debt ratioA company's total liabilities, long-term and short-term, divided by its total assets. A low ratio points to cautious…
debt securityA security representing money a company has borrowed from the holder, such as a bond, note, or debenture. Broadly, an…
debt serviceThe money needed to meet a long-term debt's yearly interest, principal repayments, and sinking-fund contributions.
debt-equity ratioA company's long-term debt divided by its owners' equity, used to judge how it is financed.
debt-to-equity ratioA company's long-term debt divided by its owners' equity, used to judge how it is financed.
debt-to-total-assets ratioA company's total liabilities, long-term and short-term, divided by its total assets. A low ratio points to cautious…
debteeSomeone to whom a debt is owed; a person who has given credit for money or goods.
debtorSomeone who owes an obligation to another, especially an obligation to pay money. In bankruptcy law it means the pers…
debtor rehabilitationThe process of helping a debtor recover financially, chiefly by reorganizing debts so that the business or individual…
debtor-in-possessionIn bankruptcy law, a Chapter 11 or Chapter 12 debtor who keeps running the business, holding it on trust for the bank…
decanatusA group of ten people; a tithing.
decanusIn Roman law, an officer commanding ten soldiers. In church and civil law it meant the head of a group of ten, as wit…
decapitationThe cutting off of a head; beheading, once a common form of capital punishment.
deceaseThe ending of life; the stopping of all vital functions and signs.
decedentA dead person, especially one who has died recently.
deceitThe deliberate creation of a false impression; also, the tort of making a false statement knowingly or recklessly, in…
deceiveTo mislead someone deliberately, causing them to believe something that is not true.
decem talesTen such: a writ for summoning ten additional jurors where the original panel is short.
decenaryThe removal of a certification. In labor law it means taking away a union's official status as the collective-bargain…
decencyBehaving properly, as in speech or dress; the quality of being seemly.
decennaA town or district made up of ten freeholding families. Each freeholder was bound by frankpledge to produce any wrong…
decennariusOne of the ten freeholding families making up a decennary.
decennaryA town or district made up of ten freeholding families. Each freeholder was bound by frankpledge to produce any wrong…
deceptive actAs the Federal Trade Commission and most state statutes define it, conduct likely to mislead a consumer acting reason…
deceptive advertisingAdvertising containing false or misleading statements.
deceptive practiceAs the Federal Trade Commission and most state statutes define it, conduct likely to mislead a consumer acting reason…
deceptive sales practiceAs the Federal Trade Commission and most state statutes define it, conduct likely to mislead a consumer acting reason…
deceptive warrantyA warranty containing false or fraudulent statements or promises.
decertificationThe withdrawal of a certification. In labor law it means removing a union's status as bargaining agent; in class acti…
decertifyTo withdraw a certification; in labor law, to take away a union's right to act as collective-bargaining agent; in cla…
decessusIn Roman law, a death; also, a departure. In both civil and common law it has been used of abandoning a ground taken…
decies tantumFormerly, a writ ordering a juror who took a bribe over a verdict to pay ten times what they received, half to the pa…
decimaeA tenth of the yearly profits of a church living, payable at first to the Pope and later, under Henry VIII, to the Cr…
decimationHeavy destruction of a population, or great loss of life. In older usage it also meant a tithing, or a payment of a t…
decisionA court's determination of a case after weighing the facts and the law; a ruling, order, or judgment.
decision on the meritsA judgment resting on the evidence rather than on a technical or procedural point.
decisionalArising from or relating to the decisions of courts.
decisional lawAnother name for caselaw.
decisive oathAn oath one party offers to leave the whole case to, agreeing to accept as conclusive whatever the other party swears…
decisory oathAn oath one party offers to leave the whole case to, agreeing to accept as conclusive whatever the other party swears…
Decker testA way of deciding whether an employee's communication with a company's lawyer was made on the instructions of the emp…
declarantSomeone who has made a statement; also, someone who has signed a declaration, especially one stating an intention to…
declarationA formal statement, proclamation, or announcement, especially one set out in a document.
declaration against interestA statement by someone who is not a party to the case and cannot be called to testify, about a matter within their ow…
declaration dateThe day a company's directors declare a dividend.
declaration in chiefA declaration on the principal cause of action.
declaration of alienageA declaration by someone holding dual citizenship that they wish to give up the citizenship of one of the states. To…
declaration of dividendA company's setting aside part of its earnings for distribution to its shareholders.
declaration of estimated taxA filing certain individuals and businesses must make with the IRS estimating the tax they will owe, together with pa…
declaration of homesteadA statement filed with a state or local authority proving ownership of property in order to claim homestead-exemption…
Declaration of IndependenceThe formal proclamation of July 4, 1776, made in the name of the people of the American colonies, asserting their ind…
declaration of intentionA foreign national's formal statement of intention to become a U.S. citizen and to give up allegiance to any other co…
declaration of legitimacyA formal ruling that a child is legitimate.
declaration of no defensesIn real-estate law, a document in which the borrower acknowledges that the mortgage is valid for the full amount of t…
declaration of painA person's exclamation of pain they are feeling at that moment, which may be given in evidence as an exception to the…
Declaration of ParisAn international agreement signed in 1856 at the end of the Crimean War by Great Britain, France, Turkey, Sardinia, A…
declaration of rightsAn action in which a party asks the court's help not because a right has been infringed but because the rights themse…
declaration of state of mindA person's statement about their own state of mind, which may be given in evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule.
Declaration of Taking ActThe federal law governing how the government takes private property for public use under eminent domain, which requir…
declaration of trustThe act by which someone holding legal title acknowledges that they hold the property in trust for another or for sta…
declaration of warA country's formal announcement that it is at war with another country.
declaration under penalty of perjuryA written statement signed by the maker affirming that its contents are true, which the law treats as sworn and expos…
declarator of trustA common-law action against a trustee who holds property under a title that on its face appears to be for the trustee…
declaratory decreeA binding ruling that settles the parties' rights and legal relations without ordering anything to be enforced. Insur…
declaratory judgmentA binding ruling that settles the parties' rights and legal relations without ordering anything to be enforced. Insur…
declaratory part of a lawThe part of a law that plainly sets out the rights to be observed or the wrongs to be avoided.
declaratory precedentA precedent that does no more than apply a rule of law that already exists.
declaratory statuteA law passed to clarify existing law, whether by reconciling conflicting decisions or by explaining what an earlier s…
declaratory theoryThe view that judges never make law but only declare what the law already is. Coke and Blackstone held it, but it is…
declaratory-judgment actA federal or state law letting parties bring an action to settle their legal rights over a dispute that is not yet ri…
declaratory-judgment statuteA statutory provision allowing a court to declare the rights of the parties without ordering any further relief.
declinationA turning aside from the proper course; also, a refusal, or a document filed by a fiduciary declining to serve. At co…
declinatory exceptionAn objection challenging the court's jurisdiction and delaying the case rather than answering it.
declinatory pleaA plea made before trial claiming benefit of clergy.
declining-balance depreciation methodA way of writing off an asset by charging a fixed percentage of its remaining book value each year, so that the deduc…
decoctorA bankrupt; a debtor who has defaulted.
decollatioIn England and Scotland, a beheading.
decolonizationIn international law, the process by which a colonial power gives up sovereignty over a colony, protectorate, or trus…
deconstructionIn critical legal studies, a way of analyzing a legal rule by taking apart the premises behind it to show that those…
deconstructionistSomeone who analyzes legal rules by taking apart the premises behind them to show that those premises could support t…
decoyTo lure someone away by trickery rather than force.
decoy letterA letter written and posted in order to catch someone breaking the postal or revenue laws.
decreasing term insuranceInsurance whose value falls over the term, especially life insurance that dwindles to nothing by the end of the period.
decreeTraditionally, a decision of a court of equity, admiralty, divorce, or probate, matching a judgment at law; now, any…
decree absoluteA decree nisi that has ripened: an order that has become unconditional because the time set in the decree nisi has pa…
decree nisiA court's order that will become final unless the party against whom it is made shows good cause within a set time wh…
decree of distributionThe document by which the heirs of a dead person receive their shares of the estate.
decree of insolvencyA probate court's ruling that an estate cannot pay its debts.
decree of nullityA ruling that a marriage was void from the very beginning.
decree pro confessoIn equity practice, a decree entered for the claimant because the defendant did not answer the allegations in the bil…
decreetIn Scots law, a court's final judgment.
decreet arbitralAn arbitration award; also, the form in which such an award is made.
decreet cognitionis causaIn Scots law, a judgment in a suit by a creditor against a debtor's heir, allowing the creditor to attach the heir's…
decreet condemnatorIn Scots law, a judgment for the claimant.
decrepitOf a person, so weakened in body or mind as to be helpless against someone of ordinary health and strength.
decretaThe judgments of magistrates, especially the sentences the emperor pronounced as supreme judge.
decretal interdictAn interdict by which the praetor gave a decision applying the remedy in a case already before him.
decretal orderAn interim order of a chancery court, made on a party's application, which has the effect of a final decree.
decretalsPapal letters, written by the Pope alone or with his cardinals, settling disputed points of church law. They make up…
decretistIn the medieval universities, a student of law, especially of the decretals.
decretumIn Roman law, the emperor's judgment in a case, a form of imperial enactment. In church law it means a rule of church…
decriminalizationThe making lawful by statute of something that was previously a crime.
decriminalizeTo remove the criminal penalties from conduct, so that it is no longer an offense.
decrowningThe taking of a crown from someone.
decryTo speak disparagingly of someone or something.
decurioA member of a municipal council, responsible for running the town's internal affairs.
dediI have given: a word of conveyance that carried with it an implied warranty of title.
dedicationIn property law, the giving of land, or the creation of an easement over it, for public use.
dedication and reservationA dedication made subject to reasonable conditions, restrictions, or limits.
dedication by adverse userA dedication arising where the public has used land openly and exclusively with the owner's knowledge, actual or pres…
dedication dayA day on which people from several villages gathered to keep the feast of the saint to whom a church was dedicated.
dedimus potestatemA commission issued by the court where a case is pending, authorizing the person named to compel witnesses to attend,…
dediticiiIn Roman law, enemies who were given their freedom on surrender; also, under the Lex Aelia Sentia, freed slaves, espe…
deditionThe surrender or handing over of something, such as property.
deductibleCapable of being subtracted, especially from taxable income.
deductionThe taking away of one amount from another. In tax law it means an amount subtracted from gross income in working out…
deduction for newIn marine insurance, the rule for adjusting a partial loss under which the value of the old materials counts toward t…
deduction in respect of a decedentA deduction that had accrued by the time of death but could not be claimed on the final income-tax return because of…
deedSomething done; also, a written document by which land is conveyed. At common law it meant any written instrument sig…
deed absoluteA deed that passes title outright, with no condition or burden attached.
deed boxA box in which title deeds to land are traditionally kept, treated as an heirloom in the strict sense.
deed in feeA deed conveying land in fee simple, usually with covenants.
deed in lieu of foreclosureA deed by which a borrower hands the lender full title to satisfy the mortgage debt, taking the place of foreclosure.
deed of agencyA revocable voluntary trust set up to pay a debt.
deed of covenantA deed promising to do something, such as make regular payments to another party, often a charity, for tax purposes.…
deed of crimeThe wrongful act that forms the physical side of a crime, which generally must go together with a guilty state of min…
deed of distributionA deed by which a personal representative conveys a dead person's land.
deed of feoffmentA deed conveying a freehold estate, granting land in fee simple.
deed of giftA deed made and delivered without anything given in return.
deed of inspectorshipA document recording an agreement between debtor and creditor to appoint a receiver to oversee the winding-up of the…
deed of partitionA deed dividing land held by joint tenants, tenants in common, or co-heirs.
deed of releaseA deed giving up full title to property once a payment is made or a condition is met.
deed of separationA document setting out the terms on which spouses separate and one maintains the other.
deed of settlementA deed making a settlement, such as of property on a marriage. In English law it was also once used to set up a joint…
deed of trustA deed transferring title to land to a trustee as security until the borrower repays a loan; it works much like a mor…
deed pollA deed made by and binding on one party only, or on parties whose interests are the same. The name comes from the par…
deed to lead usesA common-law deed drawn up before an action for a fine or a common recovery to show what those proceedings were meant…
deed without covenantsA deed passing whatever interest or claim the seller has in the land, without warranting or even asserting that the t…
deemTo treat something as though it were something else, or as having a quality it does not really have; also, to conside…
deemed transferorIn tax law, the person holding an interest in a generation-skipping trust on a beneficiary's behalf, whose death trig…
deep issueThe fundamental question a court must answer in ruling on a point of law.
deep pocketSubstantial wealth and resources; also, a person or company with such resources, against whom a claim or judgment may…
Deep Rock doctrineIn bankruptcy law, the rule that unfair claims made by the controlling shareholders of a bankrupt company may be push…
defaceTo spoil or destroy a document, signature, or inscription by rubbing out, erasing, or writing over it; also, to reduc…
defacereTo deface or mutilate something.
defalcationThe dishonest taking of property entrusted to one's care, especially as a fiduciary. Unlike larceny or false pretense…
defalkTo deduct a debt, or to set off a claim.
defamacastDefamation by television or radio broadcast.
defamationHarming someone's reputation by making a false statement about them to a third person. Where the statement concerns a…
defamation per quodDefamation whose injurious meaning is not obvious and must be shown by outside evidence, or which is obvious but is n…
defamation per seA statement defamatory on its own terms, which cannot be read innocently.
defamatoryOf a statement, tending to harm someone's reputation, usually by exposing them to public contempt, disgrace, or ridic…
defamatory libelA defamatory statement in some lasting form, especially writing, but also a picture, sign, or broadcast. Libel is bot…
defamatory statementA statement likely to injure the reputation of the person it refers to, lowering them in the eyes of reasonable peopl…
defameTo harm someone's reputation by making a false statement about them to a third person.
defaultThe failure to perform a legal or contractual duty, especially the failure to pay a debt when it falls due.
default judgmentA judgment given against a defendant who has not pleaded or otherwise defended the claim, often by failing to appear;…
defeasanceThe undoing or annulling of something; the bringing of an estate or status to an end, especially by a limitation buil…
defeasance clauseA clause in a mortgage providing that the transfer to the lender falls away if the borrower pays the debt on time.
defeasibleOf an act, right, agreement, or position, capable of being undone or set aside.
defeasible deedA deed containing a condition that, if it occurs, sends title back to the seller or on to a third party.
defeasible estateAn estate that may end before it has run its full course, whether through a built-in limitation, a condition subseque…
defeasible remainderA vested remainder that will be wiped out if a stated later event occurs.
defeasible titleA title that can be set aside if a particular event occurs, though nothing on its face shows it to be bad.
defeasiveRarely, capable of defeating something.
defeatTo deprive someone of something they expected, usually by an act against them; also, to annul something or render it…
defectA flaw or shortcoming, especially in a part essential to a product's working or safety.
defect of formA flaw in the style, arrangement, or non-essential parts of a legal document, as opposed to a flaw in its substance.
defect of partiesA failure to join all the parties a lawsuit needs.
defect of substanceA flaw in the substance of a legal document, as where an essential term is left out.
defective conditionA state of a product so dangerous that it may cause harm beyond what an ordinary buyer or user would expect.
defective performanceA performance that does not fully match what the contract required, whether it is partial or late.
defective pleadingA pleading that falls short of the minimum requirements of form or substance.
defective productA product unreasonably dangerous in normal use, whether because it is unfit for its purpose, comes with inadequate in…
defective recordA record that does not meet the requirements of the appellate rules; also, a flawed land title arising from a defect…
defective titleA title that cannot lawfully pass the property it covers, usually because someone else has a competing claim.
defective verdictA verdict on which no judgment can be based because of irregularities or legal shortcomings.
defenceA defendant's stated reason why the claimant or prosecutor has no valid case, especially an answer, denial, or plea.
defendTo deny, contest, or resist an allegation or claim; also, to act as someone's lawyer.
defendantThe person sued in a civil case or accused in a criminal one.
defendant in errorIn a case on appeal, the party who won in the court below.
defendemusWe will defend: words used in conveyancing binding the donor and the donor's heirs to protect the donee against any b…
defenderSomeone who defends, such as a defendant, a person acting in self-defense, or defense counsel.
Defender of the FaithA title of the sovereign of England, first granted by Pope Leo X to Henry VIII for writing against Martin Luther. The…
defendereTo deny, or to defend.
defendere se per corpus suumFormerly, to agree to settle a case by judicial combat.
defendere unica manuTo defend with one hand: to clear oneself by one's own oath alone, without compurgators.
defendourA defendant; the party accused in an appeal.
defenerationThe lending of money at a usurious rate of interest.
defenestrationThe act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
defenseA defendant's stated reason why the claimant or prosecutor has no valid case, especially an answer, denial, or plea.
defense attorneyA lawyer who represents a defendant in a civil or criminal case.
defense contingent feeA fee arrangement in which a defense lawyer is paid according to how much money they save the client against the clie…
defense counselA lawyer who represents a defendant in a civil or criminal case.
Defense DepartmentThe executive department of the federal government responsible for military affairs and the agencies charged with nat…
defense lawyerA lawyer who represents a defendant in a civil or criminal case.
defense of habitationAn exception to the duty to retreat, allowing deadly force to be used by someone protecting their home and the people…
defense of othersA justification for harming or threatening someone while defending another person.
defense of propertyA justification for harming or threatening someone while defending one's own property.
defense of selfThe use of force to protect oneself, one's family, or one's property from an attack or the threat of one. A person ma…
defense-monthThe summer fawning season, during which it was unlawful to hunt deer.
defensivaFormerly, a warden of the Marches, one of the lords the Crown appointed to defend England's borders.
defensive allegationIn church law, a defendant's pleading of the facts relied on, which the claimant then had to answer on oath.
defensive collateral estoppelAn estoppel a defendant raises to stop a claimant relitigating an issue already decided against them in an earlier ca…
defensorIn Roman law, someone who defended another's interests in court, especially an advocate for a corporation. In church…
defensor civitatisDefender of the city: a Roman official who protected the townspeople against oppression, especially by tax collectors…
defensor fideiA title of the sovereign of England, first granted by Pope Leo X to Henry VIII for writing against Martin Luther. The…
defensumA part of an open field set aside for corn or hay rather than for grazing; also, a wood partly fenced to keep cattle…
deferTo postpone or delay something; also, to yield to another's opinion or authority.
defermentThe putting off of something to a later time.
deferment of sentenceIn military law, a postponement of a sentence of confinement imposed by a court-martial until the sentence has been a…
deferral of taxesThe postponing of tax from one year to a later one, as by paying money into a retirement account where the contributi…
deferral stateUnder the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a state with its own antidiscrimination law and enforcement body, so…
deferred adjudicationA judgment putting a convicted defendant on probation, where completing the probation successfully keeps the convicti…
deferred annuityAn annuity that begins paying on a set future date if the annuitant is still alive.
deferred chargeAn expense not shown on the current income statement but carried on the balance sheet as an asset, to be written off…
deferred claimA claim put off to a later accounting period.
deferred compensationPay for work already done that is to be paid later or when some future event occurs; also, earnings taxed when they a…
deferred creditA credit, such as the premium on a bond issue, that must be spread over later accounting periods.
deferred dividendA dividend that has been declared but whose payment is put off to a later date.
deferred expenseA cost a business incurs expecting the benefit to run beyond the current year, such as a prepaid multi-year subscript…
deferred incomeMoney received later than it was earned, such as a check arriving in January for commission earned in November.
deferred judgmentA judgment putting a convicted defendant on probation, where completing the probation successfully keeps the convicti…
deferred lienA lien that takes effect at a future date, as opposed to one already in force.
deferred paymentA payment of principal and interest that has been put off to a later date.
deferred prosecutionAn arrangement under which the prosecution is held in abeyance while the defendant meets stated conditions, after whi…
deferred revenueMoney received before it has been earned, which is treated as income only in the period it is earned.
deferred sentenceA sentence that will not be carried out if the defendant meets certain requirements, such as keeping the conditions o…
deferred stockStock whose holders receive dividends only after the company has met some other obligation first, such as paying the…
deferred-adjudication probationProbation on which a convicted defendant is placed so that, if it is completed successfully, the conviction is never…
deferred-interest bondA bond whose interest payments are put off for a time.
deferred-payment annuityAn annuity that starts paying on a set date, provided the annuitant is alive then.
deficiencyA shortage or shortfall. In tax law it means the amount by which the tax properly owed exceeds what the taxpayer's re…
deficiency assessmentThe IRS's assessment of extra tax owed by a taxpayer who has underpaid, made after administrative review and a ruling…
deficiency billAn appropriation bill covering expenses left out of the general appropriation bills, or for which too little was vote…
deficiency decreeA judgment against a debtor for the balance still owing where a foreclosure sale, or the sale of repossessed goods, h…
deficiency dividendA dividend a company pays to reduce or avoid a penalty tax on undistributed earnings after the IRS has found a defici…
deficiency in taxThe amount by which the tax properly owed exceeds what the taxpayer's return showed.
deficiency judgmentA judgment against a debtor for the balance still owing where a foreclosure sale, or the sale of repossessed goods, h…
deficiency letterA letter from the SEC to someone registering a securities offering, setting out the ways in which the registration st…
deficiency noticeA letter from the IRS telling a taxpayer that additional tax is owed, which gives the taxpayer 90 days to petition th…
deficiency suitAn action to recover the difference between the mortgage debt and what the foreclosure sale actually raised.
deficitA shortfall in the amount or quality of something.
deficit spendingSpending more than is taken in, usually financed by borrowing rather than out of revenue or surplus.
defileTo make something dirty, or figuratively to tarnish or dishonor it; also, to make something ceremonially unclean, or…
defilementThe act of defiling something, or the state of having been defiled.
defineTo state or explain something exactly; also, to fix boundaries or limits, or to set out the meaning of a word or phrase.
defined pension planA pension plan under which the employer promises each employee a set level of benefits.
defined termIn legal drafting, a word or phrase given a particular meaning for the purposes of the document it appears in.
defined-benefit planA retirement plan under which an employer undertakes to pay employees fixed benefits, usually for life, after they re…
defined-contribution planUnder ERISA, a retirement plan giving each employee a separate account funded by the employee's own contributions and…
definite sentenceA sentence for a fixed length of time rather than an open-ended one.
definitioA definition or explanation of something; also, the laying down of a general rule, or a boundary.
definitionA statement of the exact meaning of a word or phrase, especially one set out in a statute or contract to fix how a te…
definitive judgmentA court's final act settling the parties' rights and disposing of every issue in dispute, apart from awarding costs a…
definitive partitionA partition that permanently divides the property among the co-owners, as opposed to one that is only provisional.
definitive sentenceA sentence for a fixed length of time rather than an open-ended one.
deflationA general fall in the price of goods and services.
deflationaryTending to bring about deflation, that is, a general fall in prices.
deforceTo keep land from its true owner by force; to drive someone out of possession by force; or to withhold a creditor's m…
deforcementThe keeping of land from its true owner by force, the driving of someone out of possession, or the unjust and forcibl…
deforciareTo keep property, such as land and buildings, from its true owner.
deforciatioThe seizing of goods to satisfy a debt.
defossionThe punishment of being buried alive.
defraudTo cause someone loss or injury by deceit.
defrauderSomeone who has committed fraud.
defunct marriageA marriage in which both parties, by how they behave, show that they no longer intend to be married.
defunctusDead, as in dead without leaving issue.
degasterTo waste.
degradationA reduction in rank or dignity, especially the censuring of a clergy member by stripping them of holy orders, whether…
degreeA classification or grade; also, a measure of how serious an offense or how gross a piece of negligence is, a stage i…
degree of careThe standard of care that must be shown in a particular situation.
degree of crimeThe division of a single crime into grades of guilt according to the circumstances, such as aggravating factors or th…
degree of kinA measure of how closely two people are related, counted by the steps of descent between them.
degree of negligenceOne of the levels into which negligence is usually divided: slight, ordinary, and gross.
degree of proofThe level of certainty the evidence must reach before a fact is taken as established, such as the balance of probabil…
dehorsOutside; beyond the scope of.
Dei gratiaBy the grace of God: words used in a ruler's title to show that their authority came by divine right, and formerly in…
del credereOf belief or trust.
del credere agentAn agent who guarantees that the person they contract with on the principal's behalf is good for the money. Such an a…
del credere bailiffAn agent entrusted with goods to sell who also guarantees that buyers on credit will pay.
del credere commissionThe higher commission a factor receives for guaranteeing that all debts arising through the agency will be paid to th…
del credere factorAn agent who guarantees that the person they contract with on the principal's behalf will pay. Such an agent takes th…
delantalFormerly, the outer part of a lord's demesne, used to support the lord's tenants.
delatioAn accusation; also, information laid against someone.
delatorAn accuser; also, an informer.
delayThe postponing or slowing of something, or the period for which it is held up. In civil law it means the time within…
delay rentalIn oil-and-gas law, a periodic payment a lessee makes to put off drilling during the primary term of the lease.
delayed appealAn appeal brought after the time for appealing has run out, allowed only where the reviewing court gives permission b…
delayed funds availabilityA hold a bank places on money represented by a deposited check until the check has actually cleared.
delayed rentalIn an oil-and-gas lease, a payment the lessee makes to put off the obligation to begin drilling for another period.
delayed-compliance orderIn environmental law, an order from the Environmental Protection Agency or a state agency giving an existing source o…
delegable dutyA duty that may be handed to someone else to perform.
delegateSomeone who represents or acts for another person or a group.
delegated legislationA rule or order with the force of law made by an administrative agency or a local authority under powers a legislatur…
delegateeAn agent or representative to whom a matter is entrusted.
delegationThe entrusting of authority to another, empowering them to act as agent or representative; also, a group of represent…
delegation doctrineThe principle, resting on the separation of powers, that limits how far Congress may hand its lawmaking power to anot…
delegation of dutiesIn contract law, an arrangement by which a party to a contract has a third party carry out their obligations under it.
delegation of powersThe handing of authority by one branch of government to another branch or to an administrative agency.
deleteriousHarmful, whether poisonous, unwholesome, or damaging to body or mind.
deliberate elicitationIn criminal procedure, the deliberate but covert drawing of an incriminating statement out of a suspect whose right t…
deliberate speed, with allAs quickly as keeping law and order and the welfare of the people will allow, a phrase used above all about desegrega…
deliberate-indifference instructionIn criminal procedure, an instruction telling the jury that a defendant may be found to have had the required state o…
deliberationThe careful weighing of issues and options before deciding or acting, especially a jury's process of examining, discu…
deliberative-process privilegeA privilege letting the government withhold documents about how a policy was formed, so that those developing it can…
delictA breach of the law; a wrong or tort.
delictalTo do with a delict; tortious.
delictionThe loss of land through gradual natural change, such as erosion when a river or stream shifts its course.
delictualTo do with a delict; tortious.
delictumA breach of the law; a wrong or tort.
deliminationThe marking out of a boundary or the fixing of a limit.
delinquencyA failure to do something required, or a breach of a law or duty; also, a payment that is overdue.
delinquency chargeA charge made against a borrower for failing to pay on time.
delinquentOf a person, failing to meet an obligation, or guilty of serious antisocial or criminal conduct; of an obligation, ov…
delinquent childA child who has broken the criminal law or behaved in a disobedient or indecent way and needs treatment, rehabilitati…
delinquent minorA young person who has broken the criminal law or behaved in a way that would be punishable if they were an adult, an…
delinquent taxA tax that has not been paid by the date it fell due, and which usually attracts interest and penalties.
deliriumA disordered state of mind, often brought on by illness; also, wild excitement, or a delusion or hallucination.
delistTo remove a security from the list of those traded on an exchange.
delistingThe withdrawal of a security's right to be traded on an exchange, which follows from failing to meet the exchange's r…
deliverTo hand over possession or control of something to another.
deliveranceA jury's verdict; also, a court's opinion or judgment, or an order that someone held in custody be released, especial…
deliveryThe formal handing over of something, such as a deed, or the giving up of possession or control of it to another; als…
delivery bondA bond guaranteeing that something will be produced at a particular time or when called for; also, a bond, usually gi…
delivery in escrowThe handing of something to an escrow agent to hold until a condition is met, at which point the agent releases it. A…
delivery of deedThe placing of a deed in the buyer's hands or under the buyer's control, by which the seller shows an intention that…
delivery orderA written order to deliver goods, addressed to a warehouse keeper, carrier, or other person who ordinarily issues war…
demand clauseA clause in a note letting the holder call for payment of the whole sum if the maker misses an installment.
demand depositMoney placed in a bank account that the depositor may withdraw at any time without notice, such as a checking account.
demand draftA draft payable when the holder asks for payment, or on proper presentation to the drawer.
demand for document inspectionIn civil procedure, a written request during pretrial discovery that another party produce named documents or other t…
demand for reliefThe request addressed to the court at the end of a pleading, setting out the relief or damages the party wants.
demand instrumentAn instrument payable on demand, at sight, or on presentation, as opposed to one payable on a fixed future date.
demand letterA letter setting out one party's legal position in a dispute and calling on the other to act, such as by paying what…
demand loanA loan the lender can call in at any time, usually on 24 hours' notice, because it has no fixed repayment date.
demand noteA note payable whenever the creditor asks for payment.
demand of oyerA party's claim of the right to hear, read, or inspect a deed that the other side has produced in its pleading.
demand of viewIn a real action, a defendant's request to see the thing in dispute so as to identify it and understand the claim. A…
demand-pull inflationInflation caused by demand outstripping supply.
demandantThe claimant in a real action, the defendant in such an action being called the tenant.
demarcation lineIn international law, a provisional border separating territories under different authorities, drawn where the politi…
demeanorHow a person looks and behaves, including facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, and whether they answer readil…
demeanor evidenceHow a witness behaves while giving evidence, which the fact-finder may weigh in deciding whether to believe them.
demeaseDeath.
demesneAt common law, land held in one's own right rather than through a superior lord; also, a domain or realm.
demesne as of feeComplete ownership of land, held in fee simple and in one's own right.
demesne landLand a lord kept back for personal use rather than granting out to tenants.
demesne land of the CrownLand belonging to the sovereign personally or to the government, especially in England and Canada, as opposed to priv…
demiHalf, used chiefly as a prefix, as in demi-sangue.
demi-sangueHalf blood: kinship through one parent only, whether the father's side or the mother's.
demilitarizationIn international law, the process by which a country undertakes not to station troops or keep military installations…
demilitarized zoneIn international law, an area in which a country has undertaken not to station troops or keep military installations.
demimarkHalf a mark, or ten shillings and eight pence, which had to be tendered in a writ of right to make the claimant prove…
deminutioIn Roman law, a loss or reduction, as in the loss of civil status.
demiseThe conveyance of an estate by will or lease, and the document that does it; also, the passing of property by descent…
demise charterA charter under which the shipowner hands over possession and control of the vessel to the charterer, who then takes…
demise chartererThe charterer under a demise charter, who takes possession and control of the vessel and stands in the owner's place…
demise of the CrownThe immediate and automatic passing of a kingdom to the successor on a sovereign's death or long absence from the thr…
demised premisesProperty that has been leased.
demisiI have demised: the operative words of a lease.
demissioA lease or other transfer, used in the phrase on the demise of, naming the lessor in an action of ejectment.
demobilizationThe releasing of troops from active service.
democracyGovernment by the people, whether directly or through elected representatives.
democraticTo do with democracy; resting on rule by the people, whether they govern directly or through representatives they elect.
demonetizationThe dropping of a metal from use in coinage; the withdrawal of its status as money.
demonstratioA description, as in a false description of a person or thing in a will; also, in Roman procedure, the statement of f…
demonstrative bequestA gift by will that must be paid out of a particular source, such as a named fund of shares.
demonstrative evidencePhysical evidence that can be seen and examined, such as a model or photograph, offered to make testimony clearer rat…
demonstrative legacyA gift under a will payable from a particular source if that source holds enough. If it does not, the shortfall is ma…
demoteTo lower someone in rank, position, or pay.
demurTo object that a claim as pleaded is legally insufficient, without admitting or denying that its facts are true.
demurrableOf a claim or pleading, open to a demurrer.
demurrageIn maritime law, a fixed sum a charterer owes the shipowner for failing to load or unload cargo within the agreed time.
demurrage lienA carrier's lien over goods for unpaid demurrage charges.
demurrantA party who files a demurrer.
demurrerA pleading saying that even if the facts alleged are true, they are not enough to make out a claim or to allow the de…
demurrer bookThe record of the demurrer issue, used by the court and counsel in argument.
demurrer to evidenceAn objection that the evidence is not legally enough to make out a case. If the other side joins in it, the jury is d…
demurrer to interrogatoriesA witness's stated objection or reason for not answering a written question put in discovery.
demutualizationThe conversion of a mutual insurance company, owned by its policyholders, into a stock company owned by outside share…
demy-sangueHalf blood: kinship through one parent only.
denariusIn Roman law, the chief Roman silver coin. In older English usage it meant a penny, and informally the word stood for…
denarius DeiGod's penny: a small sum handed over to seal a bargain, especially a sale.
denationalizationIn international law, a country's unilateral stripping of someone's nationality, whether by administrative decision o…
denialA refusal or rejection, especially a court's refusal of a request made in a motion or petition; also, a defendant's a…
denial of justiceIn international law, a defect in a country's courts or administration of justice that leaves it in breach of its dut…
denierA small French coin, the twelfth part of a sou; in older English usage the word also meant a refusal, as of a demand…
denizationThe making of someone a denizen.
denizeTo make someone a denizen.
denizenSomeone given certain rights in a foreign country, or who habitually lives there. In English law a denizen stood midw…
Denman's ActAn English statute of 1865 allowing a party's counsel who calls witnesses to sum up the evidence, and easing the rule…
denominationThe giving of a name; also, a collective name for a group, especially a religious body.
denotative factA fact bearing on how a non-legal word in a legal rule applies to a particular case.
denounceTo condemn openly; also, to declare an act to be a crime and set a punishment for it, to accuse or inform against som…
denouncementAn accusation or condemnation; also, a warning of intended action. In Mexican law it meant an application for a grant…
density zoningZoning that limits how many dwellings or how much building may be put on a given area of land, rather than regulating…
denunciationA formal public announcement, especially one accusing someone of wrongdoing.
denuntiatioIn Roman and civil law, a declaration made to protect a right or set its enforcement in motion, especially a report o…
deodandAn old English practice under which a thing that had caused a death, such as an animal or a cart, was forfeited to th…
departmentA division of a larger whole; also, an area a country is divided into for administration, or a principal branch of go…
Department of DefenseThe executive department of the federal government responsible for military affairs and the agencies charged with nat…
Department of EnergyThe federal department overseeing national energy policy, including research and development of energy technology, en…
Department of JusticeThe federal executive division responsible for enforcing federal law and the programs and services that go with it. T…
Department of StateThe executive department, headed by the Secretary of State, responsible for the country's foreign policy and its rela…
Department of the InteriorThe federal department responsible for managing federally owned land and natural resources and for overseeing America…
Department of TransportationThe federal executive division responsible for transportation policy and programs. Through a series of specialized ag…
departureA departure from a standard rule, regulation, measurement, or course of conduct.
departure in despite of courtA tenant's failure to appear when called in a real action. Having once appeared, the tenant was treated as still pres…
depeculationEmbezzlement from the public treasury.
dependencyA land or territory apart from the country that governs it, belonging to that country and ruled by its laws. The Phil…
dependency exemptionAn exemption a taxpayer may claim for each dependent whose gross income falls below the exemption amount, and for eac…
dependentSomeone who relies on another for support and cannot manage without their help.
dependent claimA patent claim that refers back to another claim in the same application and narrows it further.
dependent conditionA promise on one side of a contract that goes to the consideration for the promise on the other.
dependent contractA contract whose effect depends on another contract.
dependent covenantA promise that takes effect only after the other party has done something first. Until then, the promisor need not pe…
dependent coverageA provision in an insurance policy protecting the people who depend on the insured.
dependent intervening causeA cause that comes between the defendant's conduct and the injury but that flows from that conduct, and so does not r…
dependent promiseA promise a party need perform only once the other party has performed their own obligation.
dependent relative revocationThe rule that where a testator destroys a will and makes a new one as parts of a single plan, the two acts stand or f…
dependent stateA country or territory that is under the control of another and not fully sovereign.
depletable economic interestAn interest in mineral land that is used up as the mineral it covers is drilled or mined out.
depletionThe using up or exhausting of an asset, especially a finite natural resource such as oil.
depletion allowanceA tax deduction for owners of oil, gas, mineral, or timber resources, reflecting the fall in the property's value as…
depletion reserveIn accounting, a charge against income recording the fall in value of a wasting asset such as an oil reserve.
deponeIn Scots law, to testify.
deponentSomeone who gives evidence by deposition; more broadly, a witness whose written testimony is taken for later use in c…
depopulationA fall in population; formerly, a kind of waste that reduced the population of the kingdom.
deportatioPermanent banishment of a convicted criminal. The person lost almost all legal rights, forfeited their property, and…
deportationThe removal of a person to another country, especially the expulsion of a foreign national.
deposeTo question a witness at a deposition; also, to give evidence, or to remove someone from office or power.
depositThe giving of money or other property to someone who undertakes to keep it, or to use it and return its like, especia…
deposit accountA checking, time, savings, passbook, or similar account held with a bank, savings-and-loan, credit union, or similar…
deposit boxA locked box kept in a bank's vault to hold a customer's valuables. It usually takes two keys to open, one held by th…
deposit companyAn institution whose business is keeping securities and other valuables safe in boxes or safes rented to depositors.
deposit contractThe agreement between a bank and its customer setting out how deposited money is handled and how checks and other dem…
deposit in courtThe placing of money or property representing a person's possible liability in the court's keeping until the case is…
deposit insuranceA federally backed scheme protecting depositors against losing their money, up to a set limit, if a bank or savings-a…
deposit into the registry of the courtThe placing of money or property representing a person's possible liability in the court's keeping until the case is…
deposit of title deedsA pledge of land as security for a loan, made by leaving the title deeds with the lender.
deposit premiumThe first premium an insured pays, pending the final adjustment of the amount due.
deposit ratioThe ratio of a bank's total deposits to its total capital.
deposit slipA bank's acknowledgment of a sum received from a depositor on a given day.
deposit warrantA warehouse receipt used as security for a loan.
depositaryA person or institution with whom money or valuables are left for safekeeping. Where it is a company, it is often cal…
depositary bankThe first bank to which an item is handed for collection.
depositionA witness's out-of-court testimony, taken down in writing, usually by a court reporter, for later use at trial or for…
deposition de bene esseA deposition taken from a witness who is unlikely to be able to attend the trial. If the witness cannot come, the tes…
deposition on written questionsA deposition given in answer to a set of questions prepared in advance, rather than to questions asked aloud.
depositorSomeone who makes a deposit.
depositoryA bank or other institution that holds money or securities for others.
depository bondA bond a bank gives to protect a public body's deposits should the bank become insolvent.
depository institutionA body formed under state or federal law, allowed to take deposits, and supervised and examined by a government agenc…
Depository Trust CorporationThe main central clearing agency for securities traded on the public markets.
depository-transfer checkAn unsigned, non-negotiable check a bank uses to move funds from a branch to the collecting bank.
depositumA bailment for which the bailee is paid nothing, as where someone borrows a friend's car. Such a bailee is liable for…
depravedOf a person or crime, corrupt, perverted, or heinous.
depraved-heart murderA murder resulting from conduct so reckless and indifferent to the safety of others that it shows an utter disregard…
depreciableOf property, capable of being written down over its useful life for accounting or tax purposes.
depreciable lifeThe period over which depreciable property is expected to produce income, used to work out depreciation and amortizat…
depreciationA fall in an asset's value through use, wear, or obsolescence.
depreciation methodA formula for spreading an asset's use, wear, or obsolescence over its useful life, used to work out the depreciation…
depreciation reserveAn account, especially of a public utility, built up to offset the wearing out of property over time, so that money i…
depressionA long stretch of economic hardship, marked by poor business conditions and high unemployment.
deprivationThe taking away or withholding of something; the state of being without something; also, removal from office.
Deprizio doctrineIn bankruptcy law, the rule that a payment the debtor made to an outside creditor more than 90 days before filing can…
deputySomeone appointed to act in another's place, especially in place of an official.
deputy sheriffAn officer who acts under a sheriff's direction and may perform most of the duties of that office. Undersheriff means…
deregisterTo remove a security from the register kept under the securities laws, so that the issuer no longer has to make the r…
deregistrationThe point at which an issuer no longer has to stay registered under section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934…
deregulationThe cutting back or removal of government control over business, usually to allow free markets and competition.
derelictForsaken or abandoned; also, of a person, failing in a legal or moral duty.
derelictionAbandonment, especially through neglect or moral failing.
derivativeA financial instrument whose value depends on the performance of something else, such as an underlying bond, currency…
derivative acquisitionAn acquisition obtained from someone else, as by sale or gift, rather than created afresh.
derivative actionA suit by the beneficiary of a fiduciary to enforce a right that belongs to the fiduciary, especially a shareholder s…
derivative contrabandProperty that becomes unlawful to hold because it is used in committing an offense.
derivative conveyanceA conveyance following an earlier one, which does no more than enlarge, confirm, alter, restrain, restore, or transfe…
derivative defenseA defense that attacks the elements of the crime the prosecutor must prove before the case can go to a jury.
derivative entrapmentEntrapment in which the government works through a private person, acting either as its agent or without knowing they…
derivative estateA lesser interest carved out of a larger estate.
derivative evidenceEvidence found only as a result of evidence that was obtained unlawfully, and therefore inadmissible because it is ta…
derivative instrumentA financial instrument whose value depends on the performance of something else, such as an underlying bond, currency…
derivative liabilityLiability for a wrong that someone other than the person wronged has the right to sue over, as with a widow's wrongfu…
derivative possessionLawful possession held by someone, such as a tenant, who does not hold the title.
derivative suitA suit a shareholder brings on the company's behalf against a third party, usually an officer, because the company it…
derivative titleA title arising where an existing right is transferred to a new owner; also, the principle that a transferee takes on…
derivative workIn copyright law, a work based on an existing one, such as a translation, musical arrangement, novelization, film ver…
derivative-jurisdiction doctrineThe principle that a case cannot properly be removed to federal court unless the state court it came from had jurisdi…
derivative-use immunityImmunity protecting a witness not only from the use of their compelled testimony in a later prosecution but from the…
derived demandDemand for a product that arises out of demand for another product.
derived from this processThe business of supplying legal seminars, books, and recordings designed to continue lawyers' education after law sch…
derogationThe partial repeal of a law by a later act that narrows its scope or weakens it; also, disparagement, or the taking a…
derogation from grantA provision in a deed or other transfer that cuts down or works against the grant itself.
derogatory clauseIn the law of wills, a clause a testator inserts secretly providing that any later will lacking that same clause is v…
descendantSomeone in a direct line of descent, such as a child or grandchild, but not a relative on a side branch of the family.
descendibility of future interestsThe possibility that a future interest, such as a remainder or an executory interest, can pass by inheritance.
descendibleOf property, capable of passing by descent or being inherited.
descentThe acquiring of land by operation of law, as by inheritance; the passing of land to heirs where there is no will.
descent castThe passing to an heir of land the ancestor had obtained by disseisin, abatement, or intrusion. It suspended the true…
descriptionAn account setting out the characteristics or qualities of something; also, a representation in words or drawing of s…
descriptive markA trademark that merely describes the goods it is put on. It is protected only if the user can show that the public h…
descriptive trademarkA trademark that merely describes the goods it is used on. It is protected only if the user can show that buyers have…
desecrateTo strip something of its sacred character; to defile or profane it.
desegregateTo end the separation of people by race in schools or other institutions and bring them together.
desegregationThe ending of policies that separate people of different races into different institutions and facilities, such as pu…
deserterIn international law, a soldier who leaves national military service meaning to abandon their obligations, whether pe…
desertionThe deliberate and unjustified abandoning of one's duties, especially to military service or to a spouse and family.…
desertsWhat a person genuinely deserves, especially the punishment merited by a crime.
designA plan or scheme; also, an intention combined with a plan for carrying it out.
design defectA flaw in a product arising where the seller could have cut down or avoided a foreseeable risk of harm by using a rea…
design patentA patent granted for a new, original, and ornamental design for a manufactured article, protecting how the product lo…
design reviewA process under which a building permit is withheld until the proposed building meets the architectural standards set…
design-defect exclusionA clause in some umbrella and older commercial general liability policies excluding cover for injury caused by the in…
designateSomeone chosen to perform a duty or fill a particular role.
designated public forumPublic property that was not traditionally open for public assembly and debate but that the government has opened up…
designating petitionA document naming a candidate for a party's nomination at a primary election or for a party office.
designeeSomeone chosen to perform a duty or fill a particular role.
designer drugA substance made by slightly altering the molecular structure of a controlled drug, so as to reproduce its effects wh…
desistTo stop or leave off doing something.
desk auditA review of a civil-service post to see whether its duties match the job classification and pay scale assigned to it.
despitusContempt; also, a contemptible person.
despoilTo take a person's possessions unlawfully by violence or stealth; to rob them.
desponsationThe making of a betrothal; contracting to marry.
despotA ruler with absolute power; a tyrant.
despotismGovernment by a ruler whose power is absolute and unchecked; also, total power or controlling influence.
destination bill of ladingA bill of lading issued at the place the goods are going to rather than where they were shipped from.
destination contractA contract under which the seller bears the risk of loss until the goods reach the destination.
destituteLacking the necessities of life; without possessions or resources.
destitutive factA fact that causes rights to be lost; an act or event that alters or extinguishes a legal relationship.
destructibilityThe capacity to be destroyed by some act, turn of events, or operation of law.
destructibility of contingent remaindersThe common-law rule requiring a future interest to vest by the time it is due to take effect in possession, or else f…
destructible trustA trust that can be brought to an end by a particular event or by operation of law.
desuetudeDisuse; the falling of something into obsolescence. It also names the doctrine that a statute or treaty left unenforc…
detachiareTo seize a person or property by a writ of attachment or other legal process.
detainerThe holding or withholding of something, or of someone, in one's custody.
detectionThe discovering of something hidden, especially in solving a crime.
detenteAn easing of strained relations between countries; also, the policy of bringing that about, or the period during whic…
detentioIn Roman law, the physical holding of a thing without the intention of owning it, as opposed to true possession.
detentionThe holding of a person in custody; confinement or enforced delay.
detention hearingA hearing held soon after a person, especially a juvenile, is taken into custody, to decide whether they should be he…
detention in a reformatoryA juvenile offender's sentence of being sent to a reformatory school for a period.
determinableLiable to come to an end if some event occurs; also, capable of being worked out or ascertained.
determinable easementAn easement that ends when a specified event occurs.
determinable estateAn estate that ends automatically when a limitation built into the grant takes effect.
determinable feeAn estate in land that lasts indefinitely but ends automatically if a stated event occurs, whereupon the land returns…
determinate hospitalizationAn obligation to give or do a specific thing, as opposed to one that may be satisfied by any of several things.
determinate obligationA fixed period of hospitalization, usually under a civil commitment order.
determinate sentenceA sentence for a fixed length of time rather than an open-ended one.
determinationA final decision by a court or an administrative agency.
determination letterA letter the Internal Revenue Service issues at a taxpayer's request giving its view of the tax consequences of a tra…
determinative judgmentA judgment that finally settles the matter in dispute and leaves nothing further for the court to decide.
deterrenceThe discouraging of conduct through fear, and in criminal law the prevention of crime through fear of punishment.
deterrentSomething that discourages conduct by making its consequences unattractive, especially a punishment that discourages…
deterrent dangerAn obvious hazard an occupier of land sets up to keep trespassers away, such as a barbed-wire fence or spikes on a wall.
deterrent punishmentPunishment aimed at discouraging others from offending, by making an example of the offender so that like-minded peop…
detinetHe detains: words marking an action of debt in which the claimant alleges that the defendant wrongfully kept goods ra…
detinueA common-law action to recover goods wrongfully kept by another.
detinue of goods in frankmarriageA writ allowing a divorced wife to recover the goods given to her during the marriage.
detinue sur bailmentFormerly, an action to recover property the defendant received as bailee but refuses to give back.
detinuitHe has detained: words marking a replevin action in which the claimant has in the end recovered possession of the pro…
detourIn tort law, an employee's small departure from the employer's business for personal reasons. Because it still falls…
detournementAn employee's misappropriation of the employer's money.
detractionThe taking of property out of one state into another after title has passed by will or inheritance.
detrimentAny loss or harm to a person or their property. In contract law it means giving up a legal right one would otherwise…
detriment to a promiseeIn contract law, the consideration a promisee gives the promisor, especially in a unilateral contract calling for an…
detrimental relianceOne party's reliance on what another has said or done, which leaves the first party worse off. Such reliance can take…
deuterogamyA second marriage entered into after the first spouse has died or the first marriage has been annulled or dissolved.
devadiatusA defendant who has provided no surety.
devaluationA fall in the value of one currency against another.
devalueTo reduce the value of a currency against another currency.
devastationAn executor's squandering or mismanagement of the estate; also, destruction generally.
devastaveruntThey have wasted: the phrase covering both an executor's waste of a dead person's property and the action brought aga…
devastavitA personal representative's failure to administer an estate promptly and properly, especially by spending extravagant…
developed waterWater brought to the surface and made available for use by the person claiming the water rights.
developing countriesCountries whose economies are still industrializing and whose average incomes remain low. The phrase replaced underde…
developing countryIn international law, a country not as far advanced economically or politically as the main industrial powers. Most a…
developmentA human-made change to land, whether already improved or not, including putting up buildings, mining, dredging, filli…
development disabilityAn impairment of general intellectual functioning or of the ability to cope with everyday life, arising before adulth…
development-stage companyIn securities law, a company putting nearly all its effort into starting a new business whose main operations have no…
developmental disabilityAn impairment of general intellectual functioning or of the ability to cope with everyday life, arising before adulth…
devestFormerly, to deprive someone of possession, title, or property; also, to take or draw something away.
devianceDeparture from accepted standards, especially in social behavior.
deviationAn unnecessary departure from the route fixed by agreement, by maritime custom, or by the judgment of a careful and s…
deviation doctrineA rule allowing a departure from the terms of a will or trust where sticking to them would defeat the document's purp…
deviation-well surveyAn examination to find out whether a well bottoms out beneath someone else's land.
deviceAn invention or contrivance; also, a scheme to trick or deceive, as the word is used in the law of fraud.
devil on the neckA torture device of irons fastened to the neck and legs and then wrenched together to break the victim's back, whethe…
devilingA barrister's handing of a brief to another to conduct the case; also, the practice by which a junior barrister draft…
devisableCapable of being left by will.
devisable propertyProperty that a person may pass on by will or that descends on intestacy, whether land or goods.
devisavit vel nonFormerly, an issue sent from a chancery court to a common-law court to decide whether a contested will was valid, as…
deviseThe giving of property, usually land, by will; also, the clause in the will making that gift, or the property itself.
deviseeSomeone who receives property, usually land, under a will.
deviserSomeone who invents or contrives something.
devisorSomeone who disposes of property, usually land, by will.
devoirA duty; also, a tax.
devolutionThe passing of rights, duties, or powers to another, whether by transfer or by succession.
devolutive appealAn appeal that does not hold up enforcement of the judgment appealed against.
devolveTo pass rights, duties, or powers to another, whether by transfer or by succession.
devyTo die.
DFAA hold a bank places on money represented by a deposited check until the check has actually cleared.
diaconusA deacon.
diagnosisThe identifying of a medical condition by examination or by studying its symptoms; also, the conclusion reached.
dialecticA method of reasoning that tests the truth of an opinion by discussion and debate. Plato and Socrates used it in ques…
diallageA figure of speech in which arguments are set out from several points of view and then brought to bear on a single po…
dianoeticA form of logical reasoning that moves from one subject to another.
diarchyA government ruled jointly by two people, as England was by William and Mary.
diariumAn allowance, usually of food, for one day; a daily ration or wage.
diate effects of such eventsThe reasoning that underlies this practice.
dicaAn account tally.
dicastAn ancient Greek officer who sat as both judge and juror. Each was a free citizen over 30, and they sat in panels of…
dictateTo speak words aloud for someone to write down; also, to give an order with authority.
dictationThe speaking of words to be written down; also, the words so written.
dictatorIn Roman law, an absolute ruler appointed in an emergency for a term of six months, who could be reappointed.
dictumA remark made by a judge in the course of an opinion that was not necessary to the decision, and so is not binding as…
dictum de KenilworthA declaration of the agreement between Edward I and the barons who had opposed him under Simon de Montfort, settling…
dictum pageThe page of a report on which a dictum appears, as opposed to the page on which the case begins.
dictum propriaA remark by the judge delivering an opinion that the rest of the court has not necessarily agreed to and that is not…
dictum propriumA remark by the judge delivering an opinion that the rest of the court has not necessarily agreed to and that is not…
diem clausit extremumHe has closed his last day: a writ issued on the death of a Crown tenant, directing an inquiry into what lands were h…
dies ceditIn Roman and Scots law, the day on which an interest, especially a legacy, vests, so that the right to it becomes fix…
dies communes in bancoThe regular days on which parties were required to appear in court; also, an enactment of Henry III's reign regulatin…
dies datusA continuance, especially one given to a defendant before the declaration is filed; a breathing space in a case. A co…
dies datus in bancoA day given in bank, as opposed to a day at nisi prius.
dies datus partibusA continuance or adjournment given to the parties.
dies datus prece partiumA day given at the parties' own request.
dies excrescensThe extra day added in a leap year.
dies in bancoDays the Court of Common Pleas set aside for particular business, including the appearance of parties and the service…
dies intercisiIn Roman law, a day on which the courts sat for only part of the day.
dies marchiaeA day of the march: a day fixed for meetings between English and Scottish officials to settle disputes along the border.
dies nefastiDays on which it was unlawful to open the courts, administer justice, or hold public assemblies. The priests who supe…
dies nonAnother name for a day on which no court business may be done.
dies pacisA day of peace. Such days were divided into days of the peace of the church and days of the Crown's peace.
dies religiosiIn Roman law, religious days on which it was unlawful to do legal or political business.
dies venitIn Roman and Scots law, the day on which an interest is not only vested but can be enforced, usually the day a legate…
dietA prescribed course of food; also, the sitting of a governing body for legislative, political, or religious business,…
dietaA day's journey, a day's work, or a day's expenses.
dietary lawAny of the rules observed by orthodox Jews governing which foods may be eaten, how they must be prepared and served,…
DIF systemAn IRS method of choosing which tax returns to audit. A computer program flags returns likely to contain errors, such…
diffacereTo deface or mutilate.
differential pricingThe setting of different prices for the same product or service for different customers.
difforciareTo keep something from someone, or to deny it to them.
diffused surface waterWater, such as rainfall runoff, that gathers and flows over the ground without forming a watercourse. It is usually g…
digamaAnother name for a second marriage entered into after the first has ended.
digamyAnother name for a second marriage entered into after the first has ended.
digestAn index of legal propositions showing which cases support each one; a collection of case summaries arranged by subje…
digital signatureA secure digital code attached to an electronic message that identifies and authenticates the sender. Such signatures…
dignatory tortA tort involving injury to someone's reputation or honor. In the few states that use the phrase, defamation is the us…
dignitarySomeone holding high rank or honor. In church law it means someone who, by holding a particular benefice, ranks above…
dignityThe state of being worthy of honor; also, an elevated title or position, the person holding it, or the right to hold…
dilatoryTending to cause delay.
dilatory defenseA defense that holds up a lawsuit for a time without touching its merits.
dilatory exceptionAn objection meant to delay an action rather than to have it dismissed.
dilatory fiduciaryA trustee or other fiduciary who causes needless delay in administering an estate.
dilatory motionA motion made purely to cause delay, or one that has that effect.
dilatory pleaA plea that does not meet the merits of a case but seeks to delay or defeat it on procedural grounds.
diligenceThe care and attention the law expects of a person in a given situation.
diligentCareful, attentive, or persistent in doing something.
diligent inquiryA careful and honest search to find out the truth of something.
diligentiaIn Roman law, carefulness or diligence. Failing to show it could make someone liable where they were bound by contrac…
diligentia exactissimaThe exceptional care that a careful head of a family habitually takes in business matters.
diligentia quam suis rebusThe care an ordinary person takes in managing their own affairs.
diligiatusAn outlaw; someone put outside the protection of the law.
dilutionIn constitutional law, the weakening of a group's voting power by redrawing districts or by gerrymandering, which vio…
dilution doctrineIn trademark law, the rule protecting a mark against having its strength worn away, as where someone uses it on an un…
dimidiumHalf of something; also, an undivided half share.
dimidiusHalf; loosely, incomplete.
diminished capacityAn impaired mental state, short of insanity, caused by intoxication, injury, or illness, which prevents someone from…
diminished responsibilityAn impaired mental state, short of insanity, caused by intoxication, injury, or illness, which prevents someone from…
diminutioIn Roman law, a loss or reduction, as in the loss of civil status.
diminutionA decrease or lessening; also, an incompleteness or lack of certification in a record sent up from a lower court for…
diminution-in-value methodA way of calculating damages for breach of contract by measuring the fall in market value the breach has caused.
dimissory lettersIn church law, documents allowing a member of the clergy to move from one diocese to another, or documents by which o…
diocesanBelonging to a diocese, or concerning the relationship between a bishop and the clergy within it.
diocesan courtA court dealing with matters arising within a bishop's diocese, its reach set by patent, local custom, or statute. It…
diocesan missionA mission that does its work within a single diocese.
diocesan synodA synod made up of the clergy of one diocese.
dioceseIn Roman law, one of the divisions into which the empire's provinces were grouped. In church law it means the area un…
dioichiaThe district within which a bishop exercises spiritual authority.
DIPIn bankruptcy law, a Chapter 11 or Chapter 12 debtor who keeps running the business, holding it on trust for the bank…
diplomaIn Roman law, a letter granting permission to use the imperial post. In older usage it meant a royal charter or lette…
diplomacyThe art and practice of conducting negotiations between national governments.
diplomatic agentA national representative in one of four classes: ambassadors; envoys and ministers plenipotentiary; ministers reside…
diplomatic bagA bag carrying official correspondence, documents, or articles meant solely for communication between a country and i…
diplomatic corpsThe ambassador and other diplomatic staff a government posts to a foreign capital.
diplomatic immunityThe general exemption of diplomatic ministers from local law. A minister plotting against the security of the host co…
diplomatic pouchA bag carrying official correspondence, documents, or articles meant solely for communication between a country and i…
diplomatic protectionProtection a country's representatives give a person, usually an individual, against another country's breach of inte…
diplomatic relationsIn international law, the ordinary form of permanent contact and communication between sovereign countries.
Diplomatic Security ServiceA bureau of the U.S. Department of State responsible for protecting the Secretary of State and dignitaries at home an…
diplomaticsThe science of deciphering and authenticating old documents. Its principles were largely worked out by the Benedictin…
diptychIn Roman law, a pair of tablets, usually of wood or metal, tied through holes at the edge so that they folded like a…
dirationareTo prove or establish one's right; also, to disprove or refute an allegation.
directStraight and undeviating; free from anything coming between; passing in a direct line of descent rather than through…
direct actionA claim by an insured against their own insurer rather than against the wrongdoer and the wrongdoer's insurer. It als…
direct affinityThe relationship between a spouse and the other spouse's blood relatives, such as that between a wife and her husband…
direct and proximate causeA cause direct enough to give rise to liability; one that produces an event and without which the event would not hav…
direct appealAn appeal taken straight from a trial court to the highest court in the jurisdiction, skipping the intermediate appea…
direct attackAn attack on a judgment made in the same proceeding in which the judgment was given, such as an appeal or a motion fo…
direct beneficiaryA third party intended to benefit from a contract, who acquires rights under it and can enforce it once those rights…
direct causeA cause direct enough to give rise to liability; one that produces an event and without which the event would not hav…
direct charge-off accounting methodA system of accounting that allows a deduction for a bad debt once the account has become partly or wholly worthless.
direct confessionA statement in which an accused person admits committing the crime.
direct contemptContempt committed in open court, as where a lawyer insults the judge on the bench.
direct conversionTaking someone else's property for one's own benefit or another's. It is unlawful in itself, so the usual requirement…
direct costWhat it costs in materials, labor, and overhead to produce a product.
direct damagesDamages the law presumes to follow from the kind of wrong complained of. They need not be specifically pleaded or pro…
direct depositThe paying of wages straight into an employee's bank account, usually by electronic transfer.
direct economic lossFinancial loss flowing straight from a product not being good enough. The commonest form is loss of bargain: the diff…
direct estoppelA defense barring a party from relitigating an issue decided against them in an earlier case, even where the second c…
direct evidenceEvidence resting on a witness's own knowledge or observation which, if believed, proves a fact without the need to in…
direct examinationThe first questioning of a witness at a trial or other proceeding, carried out by the party who called them.
direct financingRaising money by borrowing straight from a lender or investors rather than through an intermediary such as a bank.
direct infringementIn patent law, making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing into the United States a product covered by a…
direct injuryAn injury flowing straight from the violation of a legal right, or one flowing straight from a particular cause with…
direct interestAn interest that is certain and absolute rather than contingent.
direct lineA line of descent running only through people related to each other as ancestor and descendant.
direct lossA loss following immediately and directly from an event.
direct noticeNotice of a fact brought straight to a party's attention, as opposed to notice the law presumes.
direct order of alienationIn real-estate law, the rule that a buyer who takes over the debt on mortgaged property must pay the mortgage if the…
direct paymentA payment made straight to the person entitled, without an intermediary; also, a payment that is absolute and uncondi…
direct placementThe sale of a whole issue of securities by a company straight to a lender, such as an insurance company or group of i…
direct possessionPossession acquired or held directly and in person.
direct questionA question put to a witness during direct examination.
direct sellingSelling straight to the customer without going through a dealer; also, selling to a retailer without going through a…
direct skipIn tax law, a transfer of assets that skips a generation, whether made directly or through a trust. It may attract a…
direct taxA tax charged on property itself, as opposed to a tax on a right or privilege. Property taxes and taxes based on valu…
direct trustA trust created by the settlor's express intention, usually stated in writing, as opposed to one the law implies, suc…
direct-action statuteA statute letting an injured person sue an insurer directly instead of suing the insured wrongdoer. Rhode Island's ve…
direct-line descentDescent in a straight line, as from father or grandfather to son or grandson.
direct-participation programAn investment vehicle funded by selling securities that are neither traded on an exchange nor quoted on Nasdaq, and t…
direct-reduction mortgageAn amortized mortgage in which principal and interest are paid together, usually monthly in equal amounts, with inter…
directed verdictA judgment entered on the judge's order where the judge takes the fact-finding out of the jury's hands, either becaus…
directionThe course something takes toward a point; also, guidance, or an order telling someone how to proceed. In equity prac…
directive to physiciansA document, signed with the formalities of a will, by which a person states that they refuse medical treatment and re…
directlyIn a straightforward manner; in a straight line; or immediately.
directorSomeone who manages or guides something; also, a person elected or appointed to a board that runs a company's affairs.
Director of Public ProsecutionsThe officer, usually a barrister or solicitor of ten years' standing, who advises the police and conducts criminal pr…
Director of the MintThe officer appointed by the President, with the Senate's consent, to control and manage the U.S. Mint and its branches.
directors' and officers' liability insuranceAn agreement to indemnify a company's directors and officers against judgments, settlements, and fines arising from n…
directoryA book listing names, addresses, and telephone numbers, especially of the people and businesses of a city or area; al…
directory callIn a land description, a general statement of the area in which the landmarks or other reference points are to be found.
directory provisionA sentence or paragraph of a statute or contract containing a directory requirement.
directory requirementAn instruction in a statute or contract to act in a way that is advisable but not strictly required, as opposed to a…
directory statuteA law that says what ought to be done but provides no means of enforcing it.
directory trustA trust that the document creating it settles only in general purpose, leaving the details to be filled in by later s…
diribitoresOfficers who handed out voting ballots to the public.
diriment impedimentIn canon law, an obstacle that makes a marriage void from the start, as opposed to one that merely makes it unlawful.
dirt-for-debt transferA transaction in which a bankrupt debtor satisfies all or part of a secured debt by handing the collateral over to th…
disabilityThe inability to perform some function; a measurable impairment, whether physical or mental.
disability benefitsPayments from public or private funds to someone who cannot work because of disability, such as social-security or wo…
disability clauseA clause in a life policy waiving premiums while the policyholder is disabled, and sometimes providing monthly paymen…
disability compensationPayments from public or private funds to someone who cannot work because of disability, such as social-security or wo…
disability insuranceCover bought to protect against loss of income while unable to work.
disability retirement planA plan that comes into operation when someone covered becomes unable to work up to normal retirement age; also, a pla…
disableTo deprive someone or something of the ability to function; also, to disqualify someone legally, or make them legally…
disabled personSomeone who has a disability.
disablementThe act of incapacitating someone; also, the imposition of a legal disability.
disabling restraintsLimits on the power to dispose of property. Such restraints are sometimes void as contrary to public policy.
disabling statuteA law that cuts back or restricts certain rights.
disaffirmTo repudiate a voidable contract and treat it as of no effect.
disaffirmanceA denial or repudiation, as of an earlier transaction; in particular, a declaration that a voidable contract, such as…
disafforestTo release land from the restrictions of the forest laws and return it to the status of ordinary land.
disagreementA difference of opinion, or a lack of agreement; also, a refusal to accept something, such as an interest in an estate.
disallowTo refuse to allow something, or to reject it.
disappeared personSomeone who has been away from home for at least seven years without a break, and who during that time has not been i…
disappropriationIn church law, the diverting of church property from its original use, or its severance from church ownership. The wo…
disapproveTo pass unfavorable judgment on something, or to decline to approve it.
disarmamentIn international law, the negotiated or voluntary reduction of military arms, especially nuclear weapons, to a much l…
disaster areaAn area officially declared to have suffered a catastrophe, such as a flood or hurricane, and so eligible for governm…
disaster lossA casualty loss suffered in an area the President has declared a disaster area. It may be treated as having happened…
disavowTo disown something, to deny knowledge of it, or to repudiate it.
disbarmentThe expelling of a lawyer from the bar or from practice, usually for a disciplinary breach.
disbursementThe paying out of money, commonly from a fund or in settlement of a debt or account.
DISCA U.S. corporation, usually a subsidiary, whose income comes mainly from exports. Tax on part of its income is genera…
discarcareFormerly, to unload cargo, usually from a ship.
dischargeThe paying of a debt or satisfying of some other obligation; in bankruptcy, the release of a debtor from personal lia…
discharge hearingIn bankruptcy law, a hearing at which the court tells the debtor either that a discharge has been granted or why it h…
discharge in bankruptcyThe release of a debtor from personal liability for debts incurred before bankruptcy; also, the court order granting…
dischargeability proceedingIn bankruptcy law, a hearing to decide whether a particular debt can be discharged or falls within an exception.
dischargeable claimIn bankruptcy law, a claim that can be wiped out by a discharge.
discharged contractA contract that has no legal effect, so that in truth no contract exists at all.
discharging bondA bond that both lets a defendant recover possession of seized property and frees the property from the lien of the s…
disciplinary proceedingA proceeding brought to reprimand, suspend, or expel a licensed professional from their profession for unprofessional…
disciplinePunishment meant to correct or instruct, especially a penalty imposed after an official finding of misconduct; also,…
disclaimerThe giving up of one's own legal right or claim, or the rejection of someone else's; also, the document containing th…
disclaimer of warrantyA statement, spoken or written, meant to limit a seller's liability for defects in the goods sold. In some cases prin…
disclosed principalA principal whose identity the agent has revealed to the other party. Such a principal is always liable on a contract…
disclosuralCapable of being disclosed in the discovery process; to do with disclosure.
disclosureThe making known of something previously unknown; a revelation of facts.
discommonTo take away a right of common, such as a right to pasture; also, to strip land of its commonable character, as by en…
discontinuanceThe ending of a lawsuit by the claimant, whether by voluntary dismissal or nonsuit; also, the ending of an entailed e…
discontinueeSomeone who receives an entailed estate from the tenant in tail, whose acquisition of it cuts off the rights of the h…
discontinuing easementAn easement that can be enjoyed only when the claimant actively does something on the servient land, such as a right…
discontinuorA tenant in tail whose conveyance of the entailed estate brings about a discontinuance.
discontinuous easementAn easement that can be enjoyed only when the claimant actively does something on the servient land, such as a right…
discountA reduction from the full amount or value of something, especially a price; also, interest deducted in advance when m…
discount bondA bond sold at its current market value, which is below its face value.
discount brokerA broker who discounts bills of exchange and promissory notes and advances money against securities; also, a broker w…
discount interestThe interest that builds up on a discounted instrument, such as a government bond, as it approaches maturity. The inv…
discount loanA loan on which the interest is taken off at the outset, when the loan is made.
discount marketThe part of the money market in which banks and other financial institutions trade commercial paper.
discount rateThe rate at which a member bank may borrow from the Federal Reserve, which controls how much money banks have availab…
discount shareA share issued for less than its par value. Such stock counts as watered stock, and the recipient may be liable for t…
discount stockA share issued for less than its par value. Such stock counts as watered stock, and the recipient may be liable for t…
discount yieldThe return on a discounted instrument, expressed as a percentage of its face value.
discounted cash flowA way of assessing a capital investment by comparing the income and costs it is expected to produce with what it is w…
discoverableOpen to being obtained through pretrial discovery.
discovered-peril doctrineAnother name for the last-clear-chance doctrine.
discovertIn older usage, uncovered or exposed; also, unmarried, especially a widow or a woman who has never married.
discoveryThe finding out of something previously unknown; in litigation, the compelled disclosure by one party, at another's r…
discovery abuseThe misuse of the discovery process, especially by making sweeping requests for information that is unnecessary or be…
discovery immunityA rule, usually statutory, that keeps certain documents or information out of discovery.
discovery policyAn agreement to cover all claims made during a stated period, whatever the date of the events that gave rise to them.
discovery ruleIn civil procedure, the rule that the limitation period does not start until the claimant discovers, or reasonably sh…
discovery veinThe main vein of mineral, on which a mining claim is founded.
discreditTo damage the credibility of a witness, a piece of evidence, or a theory, so that less trust is placed in it.
discreetPrudent and judicious; showing good judgment.
discretionA public official's power to act in certain situations according to their own judgment and conscience.
discretion, abuse ofA decision-maker's failure to decide soundly, reasonably, and according to law; also, the standard an appeal court ap…
discretionaryOf an act or duty, involving judgment and choice rather than the mechanical application of a fixed rule. A court's di…
discretionary accountAn account letting a broker use a customer's funds to buy and sell securities or commodities on the broker's own judg…
discretionary actAn act involving the exercise of personal judgment and conscience rather than the following of a fixed rule.
discretionary damagesDamages, such as those for mental anguish or pain and suffering, that cannot be measured exactly but are left to the…
discretionary functionA duty of a public official that calls for the exercise of judgment and choice rather than the carrying out of a fixe…
discretionary immunityA qualified immunity for a public official's acts, given where the act called for the exercise of judgment in carryin…
discretionary orderAn order that leaves the broker to decide the price, the timing, or the security to be bought or sold.
discretionary powerA public official's power to act in certain situations according to their own judgment and conscience.
discretionary reviewAppellate review that is not available as of right but only if the appeal court agrees to hear the case.
discretionary trustA trust in which the trustee alone decides whether, and how much, to pay out to a beneficiary. The beneficiary has no…
discriminant functionAn IRS method of choosing which tax returns to audit. A computer program flags returns likely to contain errors, such…
discriminateeSomeone who has been unlawfully discriminated against.
discriminationThe effect of a law or settled practice that gives privileges to one group, or withholds them, because of race, age,…
discriminatory tariffA tariff whose duties fall unequally on different countries or manufacturers.
discussionThe exchanging of views on something; a debate. In civil law it means a creditor's exhausting of every remedy against…
diseaseA departure from the healthy and normal working of the body; also, a class of such conditions sharing similar causes…
disembarrassTo free someone from difficulty; to disentangle one thing from another.
disenfranchiseTo deprive someone of the right to exercise a privilege, especially the right to vote.
disenfranchisementThe depriving of a member of a corporation or other organization of a right, as by expulsion; also, the taking away o…
disentailing deedA document by which a tenant in tail bars the entail and turns the estate into a fee. The Fines and Recoveries Act in…
disentailing statuteA statute regulating or forbidding disentailing deeds.
disentailmentThe process by which a tenant in tail bars the entail on an estate and turns it into a fee simple, cutting off the ri…
disentitleTo deprive someone of a title or claim.
disfacereTo deface or mutilate.
disfigurementDamage to the appearance of a person or thing.
disfranchiseTo deprive someone of the right to exercise a privilege, especially the right to vote.
disfranchisementThe depriving of a member of a corporation or other organization of a right, as by expulsion; also, the taking away o…
disgavelTo turn gavelkind land into ordinary freehold land.
disgorgementThe giving up of something, such as profits made unlawfully, on demand or under legal compulsion.
disgradingThe act of degrading someone, especially by stripping them of an order or a dignity.
disguised dividendA payment of salary, rent, interest, or the like made to or for a shareholder in place of a dividend.
disguised installment saleIn bankruptcy law, a leasing arrangement a debtor uses to try to keep property out of the bankruptcy estate, where th…
disherisonThe act by which an owner of an estate cuts off a would-be heir's expectation of inheriting; also, the state of havin…
disheritorSomeone who deprives another of an inheritance.
dishonest actConduct involving bad faith, dishonesty, a lack of integrity, or moral turpitude.
dishonorTo refuse to accept or pay a negotiable instrument when it is presented; also, to deface or defile something, such as…
dishonorable dischargeThe most severe punitive discharge a court-martial can impose on a service member. It may follow conviction of an off…
disincarcerateTo release someone from jail; to set them free.
disincentiveSomething that discourages a particular kind of conduct, often created by legislation, whether deliberately or not.
disinflationA period or process in which the rate of inflation slows.
disinherisonThe act by which an owner of an estate cuts off a would-be heir's expectation of inheriting; also, the state of havin…
disinheritanceThe act by which an owner of an estate cuts off a would-be heir's expectation of inheriting; also, the state of havin…
disinterTo dig up a body that has been buried; also, to bring something out of obscurity.
disinterestedFree from bias or partiality, and having no financial stake in the outcome.
disinterested witnessA witness who is legally competent to testify and has no private stake in the matter in dispute.
disintermediationThe withdrawal by bank depositors of money from low-interest accounts to put it into investments that pay more.
disinvestmentThe using up of capital; also, the pulling out of investments, especially for political reasons.
disjoinderThe undoing of a joinder of parties or claims.
disjunctaIn Roman and civil law, things, usually words or phrases, that are separated or set against each other.
disjunctimSeparately, or severally. A condition imposed in this way binds the persons individually rather than together.
disjunctive allegationA statement in a pleading or indictment putting something in the alternative, usually joined by the word or.
disjunctive conditionA condition requiring one of several acts to be performed.
disjunctive denialA response denying the truth of two or more allegations of a complaint in the alternative.
dismembermentThe disappearance of a country through treaty or annexation, so that it becomes part of one or more others; also, the…
dismesA tenth of the yearly profits of a church living, payable at first to the Pope and later, under Henry VIII, to the Cr…
dismissTo send something away; in particular, to end an action or claim without further hearing, especially before the issue…
dismissalThe ending of an action or claim without further hearing, especially before the issues are tried.
dismissal compensationMoney, apart from wages owed, that an employer pays a dismissed employee, often in return for the employee giving up…
dismissal for causeThe dismissal of an employee under contract for a reason the law or public policy recognizes as good enough to justif…
dismissal for failure to prosecuteA court's dismissal of a case because the claimant has not pressed on with it.
dismissal for want of equityA court's dismissal of a case on its substance rather than on procedure, usually because the claimant's allegations a…
dismissal for want of prosecutionA court's dismissal of a case because the claimant has not pressed on with it.
dismissal with prejudiceA dismissal, usually after the merits have been decided, that bars the claimant from bringing the same claim again. I…
dismissal without prejudiceA dismissal that leaves the claimant free to file the case again within the limitation period.
dismissionThe act of dismissing; a removal, especially from office; also, a decision that a suit cannot go forward.
dismortgageThe paying off of a defaulted mortgage debt by a borrower who does not want to lose the property.
disobedient childA child who refuses to obey their parents or guardians, or who has been found delinquent under the laws dealing with…
disorderA lack of proper arrangement; also, a public disturbance or riot, or a disturbance of mental or physical health.
disorderly conductBehavior that tends to disturb the peace, offend public morals, or endanger public safety.
disorderly houseA house where what goes on is a nuisance to the neighborhood, or where criminal or immoral activities are carried on.…
disorderly personSomeone guilty of disorderly conduct; more broadly, anyone who breaches the peace, order, decency, or safety of the p…
disparagareTo disparage; also, to join unequal people together, as in a marriage between people of unequal birth.
disparagationDisparagement; also, a marriage beneath one's station.
disparageFormerly, to match unequally, as by marrying below one's status; also, to dishonor someone by comparison, or to discr…
disparagementA false and damaging statement that discredits someone's property, product, or business. To recover for it in tort, t…
disparaging instructionA direction to the jury that discredits or defames a party to the case.
disparate impactThe harmful effect of a practice, especially in employment, that appears neutral but in fact works against people bec…
disparate treatmentThe practice, especially in employment, of deliberately treating people differently because of their race, sex, natio…
disparityInequality; a difference in quantity or quality between two or more things.
dispatchThe prompt sending off or completing of something; in maritime law, the diligence required in unloading cargo.
dispatch moneyA sum a shipowner pays a charterer where the cargo is unloaded sooner than their agreement required.
dispauperTo take away someone's status as a pauper, and with it their right to sue without paying court fees.
dispensaryA place where drugs are prepared or handed out; also, an institution, usually for the poor, where medical advice and…
dispensationAn exemption from a law, duty, or penalty; permission to do something ordinarily forbidden.
displacementRemoval from a proper place or position; also, a replacement, the forced removal of a person from their home or count…
display rightIn copyright law, the copyright owner's exclusive right to show a copy of the work publicly, whether directly or by t…
disponeeSomeone to whom property is transferred or conveyed.
disponoIn Scots law, to grant or convey land or other property.
disponorSomeone who transfers or conveys property to another.
disposable earningsIncome left to spend or invest after tax and other primary obligations are met.
disposable incomeIncome left to spend or invest after tax and other primary obligations are met.
disposable portionThe part of an estate that a testator is free to leave to anyone they choose, as opposed to the share reserved by law…
disposing capacityThe mental ability a person must have to make a valid will: knowing who their natural beneficiaries are, what their p…
Disposing ClauseThe clause of the U.S. Constitution, in article IV, section 3, giving Congress power to dispose of property belonging…
dispositionThe transferring of something into another's care or possession, especially by deed or will; also, a final settlement…
disposition hearingIn juvenile and criminal cases, the hearing held after guilt or responsibility has been established, at which the cou…
disposition without a trialThe final determination of a criminal case without a trial on the merits, as where the defendant pleads guilty or adm…
dispositiveDecisive; bringing about the final determination of a matter.
dispositive clauseIn Scots law, the clause in a deed by which the grantor actually conveys the property and directs how it is to pass.
dispositive factA fact that confers rights or takes them away; also, a fact that decides a legal question, or evidence that settles a…
dispositive treatyA treaty by which a country takes territory subject to a lasting special character, creating something like a servitu…
dispossessTo oust or evict someone from property.
dispossess proceedingA summary procedure a landlord brings to remove a tenant in default and recover the premises.
dispossessionThe loss of, or eviction from, possession of property.
disproveTo refute an assertion, or to show an allegation to be false.
dispunishableOf an offense, not punishable and not answerable for.
disputable presumptionAn inference drawn from facts that make out a case at first sight, which contrary evidence may displace.
disputatio foriIn Roman law, argument before a court; the practice of advocacy.
disputeA conflict or controversy, especially one that has led to a lawsuit.
disqualificationSomething that makes a person ineligible, especially a bias or conflict of interest preventing a judge or juror from…
disrateTo reduce someone to a lower rank, especially a ship's or petty officer's rank.
disrationareTo prove or establish one's right, or to disprove an allegation.
disregarding the corporate entityA court's imposing of personal liability on company officers, directors, or shareholders, who would otherwise be prot…
disrepairA state of needing repair after deterioration or damage.
disruptive conductDisorderly behavior during a government proceeding.
disseiseTo deprive someone wrongfully of freehold possession of property.
disseiseeSomeone wrongfully deprived of freehold possession of property.
disseisinThe wrongful depriving of someone of freehold possession of property.
disseisitrixA female disseisor.
disseisitusSomeone wrongfully deprived of freehold possession of property.
disseisorSomeone who wrongfully deprives another of freehold possession of property.
disseisoressA female disseisor.
dissembleIn older usage, to disguise something physically; also, to give a false impression, or to cover something up by decep…
dissensusThe undoing of a contractual obligation by mutual agreement, unmaking the consensus that created it.
dissentDisagreement with a majority opinion, especially among judges; also, the withholding of assent or approval.
dissent and appraisal, right ofA dissenting shareholder's right to have their shares bought at a fair value, judicially appraised if necessary, wher…
dissentienteDissenting: used with a judge's name to mark a dissenting opinion.
dissenting opinionAn opinion by one or more judges disagreeing with the decision the majority has reached.
dissipationThe use of an asset for an unlawful or unfair purpose, such as a spouse's spending of community property on themselve…
dissoluteOf a person, unrestrained and given over to pleasure.
dissolutionThe bringing of something to an end; the cancelling of a contract so that it no longer binds and the parties are put…
dissolution bondA bond given to have an attachment or injunction dissolved, freeing the property from the court's hold.
dissolution of marriageThe ending of a marriage by court order; divorce.
dissolving conditionA condition that, once fulfilled, ends an obligation already in force and puts the parties back where they started.
dissuadeTo persuade someone not to do something.
distincte et aperteDistinctly and openly: words formerly used in writs of error about the return that had to be made.
distinctive nameA name, especially a trade name, that clearly marks one thing off from another. To sue for infringement of a trade na…
distinctivenessThe quality in a trademarked word, symbol, or design that identifies one merchant's goods and sets them apart from an…
distinguishTo point out a significant difference in the facts, procedure, or law of an earlier case, usually to limit its force…
distinguishableOf a case or law, different enough from the matter in hand that it does not control or apply.
distinguishing markA physical feature that marks one person or thing off from another.
distractedOf a person, not concentrating; also, mentally disordered.
distractioA separation into parts; also, a sale or alienation, such as a creditor's sale of a pledge.
distraction doctrineThe rule that a claimant may not be contributorily negligent where something sufficient drew their attention away fro…
distrahereTo draw apart; to sell off or separate something from the rest.
distrainTo seize and hold someone's goods, usually a tenant's, in order to force them to meet an obligation such as paying ov…
distraineeThe person distrained, or whose property is distrained.
distrainerSomeone who seizes property under a distress.
distraintThe seizing of another's goods to secure the performance of a duty, such as payment of rent.
distressThe seizing of another's property to secure the performance of a duty, such as payment of overdue rent; also, the leg…
distress damage feasantThe right to seize animals or goods that are damaging or encumbering land and to hold them as security until the owne…
distress infiniteA distress the sheriff may repeat as often as necessary to force someone to do something, such as attend as a juror o…
distress saleA sale in which the seller gets less than the goods would fetch in normal conditions, such as a closing-down sale; al…
distress warrantA warrant authorizing a court officer to distrain property; also, a writ letting an officer seize a tenant's goods fo…
distressed goodsGoods that must be sold quickly and below their normal value, as where a business is closing down or a creditor is re…
distressed propertyProperty that has to be sold because the mortgage has been foreclosed or because it belongs to an insolvent estate.
distributable net incomeThe amount distributed from an estate or trust that the beneficiaries must include in their own income.
distributeTo apportion or divide something among several people; also, to arrange by class, to deliver, or to spread out.
distributeeSomeone entitled to receive a share of a dead person's estate.
distribution costAny cost of marketing a product or service, such as advertising, storage, and shipping.
distribution in kindA transfer of property as it stands, such as handing over land itself rather than the proceeds of selling it.
distribution in liquidationA payment made to shareholders as a company is wound up, representing a return of their capital rather than a share o…
distribution rightIn copyright law, the copyright owner's exclusive right to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer copies of the work to t…
distributiveTo do with apportioning or dividing something into separate shares.
distributive clauseA clause in a will or trust governing how income and gifts are to be distributed.
distributive deviationA trustee's transfer of capital to the income beneficiaries where the income alone is not enough to meet the purpose…
distributive findingA jury's decision going partly in favor of one party and partly in favor of the other.
distributive justiceThe justice a community owes its members, including a fair sharing out of common advantages and common burdens.
distributive shareThe share an heir or beneficiary receives when an estate is distributed; also, the portion of a partnership's income,…
distributorA wholesaler or supplier that sells mainly to retailers and commercial users rather than to the public.
distributorshipA franchise held by someone who sells goods, usually within a set area, to individual customers.
districtAn area into which a country, state, county, or municipality is divided for judicial, political, electoral, or admini…
district attorneyA public official, elected or appointed, who prosecutes criminal cases for the state in a particular judicial district.
district clerkThe clerk of a district court in a state or federal system.
district courtA trial court with general jurisdiction over its judicial district.
district judgeA judge sitting in a federal or state judicial district.
District of ColumbiaThe seat of the U.S. government, on the Potomac between Maryland and Virginia. It is neither a state nor a territory,…
district parishA division of an English parish created by the Crown's commissioners so that a new church could be built for worship,…
district schoolA public school run and paid for by a school district.
district-court magistrateIn some states, a quasi-judicial officer with power to set bail, take bonds and guilty pleas, sentence for traffic an…
districtingThe drawing of boundaries between geographic areas to create voting districts.
districtioA distress or distraint; also, the right to distrain, the goods or animals that may be distrained, the area within wh…
distringasA writ ordering a sheriff to distrain a defendant's property to force them to do something, such as appear in court o…
distringas juratoresA writ ordering a sheriff to distrain jurors or their goods to force them to attend for jury service before the judge…
distringas nuper vicecomitemA writ ordering a sheriff's successor to distrain the former sheriff's property until the former sheriff produces a d…
distringas vice comitemFormerly, a writ ordering the coroner to distrain the sheriff for failing to execute a writ of venditioni exponas.
distringereTo distrain; to coerce or compel.
disturbanceAn act causing annoyance or unrest, or interfering with someone's lawful occupation or with the peace of a neighborho…
disturbance of commonAt common law, a wrongful interference with someone's right over common land, as by fencing it off or overloading it…
disturbance of franchiseAt common law, a wrongful interference with a liberty or privilege.
disturbance of patronageA wrongful obstruction of a patron's right to present a clergyman to a church living.
disturbance of public meetingsUnlawful interference with the proceedings of a public assembly.
disturbance of public worshipConduct that interferes with the peaceful and lawful gathering of people for religious worship.
disturbance of tenureA stranger's ousting of a tenant from a tenancy, for which the tenant's lord could recover damages.
disturbance of the peaceThe offense of causing a public disturbance or behaving in a disorderly way, particularly by making unnecessary or di…
disturbance of waysAn obstruction of someone's lawful right of way.
disturberSomeone who interferes with a patron's right to appoint a clergyman to a church living.
disturbing the peaceThe offense of causing a public disturbance or behaving in a disorderly way, particularly by making unnecessary or di…
divadiatusA defendant who has provided no surety.
diverseOf different kinds; also, of a person or company, having a different citizenship from the party on the other side of…
diversificationA company's move into a wider range of products, usually by buying firms already in that market or expanding what it…
diversified holding companyA holding company that controls several unrelated businesses.
diversified investment companyAn investment company that must spread at least 75% of its assets so that no more than 5% goes into any one company a…
diversionA departure from the natural course of things, especially the unauthorized turning of a watercourse to the harm of a…
diversion programA scheme that sends certain defendants, before trial, into community programs such as job training or education, with…
diversityA ground of federal jurisdiction that exists where the case is between citizens of different states, or between a cit…
diversity jurisdictionA federal court's power to hear a case between parties from different states where the amount in dispute exceeds the…
diversity of citizenshipA ground of federal jurisdiction that exists where the case is between citizens of different states, or between a cit…
dives costsThe ordinary costs awarded to a successful party, as opposed to the limited costs allowed to a successful pauper who…
divestitive factA fact that causes rights to be lost; an act or event that alters or extinguishes a legal relationship.
divestitureThe loss or giving up of an asset or interest; also, a court order requiring a party to dispose of assets or property…
divestmentIn property law, the cutting short of an interest before it would otherwise end; also, the complete or partial loss o…
divide-and-pay-over ruleIn the law of wills, the rule that where the only words of gift are a direction to pay at some time after the testato…
divided courtAn appeal court whose decision in a case is not unanimous, especially where the majority is narrow, as in a 5-to-4 de…
divided custodyAn arrangement under which each parent has custody and full responsibility for the child part of the time, with visit…
divided-damages ruleThe obsolete rule that where two parties are jointly liable to a third for a tort, each pays half the damages. Courts…
dividendA share of a company's earnings or profits paid out to shareholders in proportion to their holdings, usually in cash…
dividend additionAn amount added to the face value of a life policy, bought by using a dividend as a single premium payment.
dividend dateThe day a company's directors declare a dividend, fixing the amount and the date it will be paid.
dividend incomeThe income a shareholder receives as a dividend, which is subject to tax.
dividend preferenceA preferred shareholder's right to be paid a dividend before the company pays anything to holders of common shares.
dividend yieldThe current yearly dividend divided by the market price of a share.
dividend-credit ruleThe rule that a reserve fund built up from unpaid dividends on preferred stock must be used to pay later preferred di…
dividend-payout ratioA measure of profitability worked out by dividing the yearly dividend per share by the earnings per share.
dividend-received deductionA deduction a corporate shareholder may claim for dividends received from a domestic corporation.
dividend-reinvestment planA company-run scheme letting common shareholders put their dividends, plus further voluntary payments, back into the…
divine lawGod's law, as opposed to law made by people.
divine right of kingsThe theory that a sovereign is God's direct representative and holds the right to rule absolutely by birth.
divine serviceFormerly, a feudal tenure under which the tenant had to perform religious duties, such as singing at a set number of…
divisaA division, as of goods by will; also, a boundary between neighboring lands, or a court held on that boundary to sett…
divisible contractA contract containing two or more promises, each enforceable on its own, so that failing to perform one does not nece…
divisible divorceA divorce that ends the marriage itself while leaving questions of support and property to be decided separately, oft…
divisible offenseA crime that takes in one or more lesser crimes. Murder, for instance, includes assault, battery, and assault with in…
divisible promisesPromises that can be split into independent parts, each matched against a corresponding part of the other side's perf…
divisimFormerly, severally or separately.
division of feesThe sharing of a fee between the lawyer who handles a matter and the one who referred it, which some states treat as…
division of powersThe sharing out of power between the national government and the states. Under the Tenth Amendment, powers not given…
division orderIn oil-and-gas law, a contract for the sale of oil or gas directing the buyer to pay for the products in the proporti…
divisional bondA railroad bond secured by a mortgage over one particular stretch of a consolidated railroad system.
divisional courtAn English court of two or more High Court judges sitting on special cases that one judge cannot deal with alone. Eac…
divisional securityA security issued to finance one particular project.
divisum imperiumDivided or alternating jurisdiction, as between courts.
divorceThe ending of a marriage by court order.
divorce a vinculo matrimoniiA complete divorce that dissolves the marriage tie and frees both parties entirely from their obligations to each oth…
divorce proctorSomeone appointed, such as a guardian, to protect the interests of the state or of the children in a divorce case.
DJIAA measure of stock-market performance based on the price movements of the shares of 30 leading U.S. industrial compan…
DNA identificationA way of comparing a person's DNA, the patterned chemical structure carrying genetic information, with the DNA in a s…
do ut desIn Roman law, a contract in which each party gives something in exchange for what the other is to give.
dockA structure enclosing water, often between two piers, where ships are received for loading, unloading, safekeeping, o…
dock receiptAn interim certificate a shipping company issues for goods delivered at the dock, entitling the person named to recei…
dock saleA sale in which the buyer takes the goods at the seller's shipping dock, especially for carrying out of state.
dock warrantAn interim certificate a shipping company issues for goods delivered at the dock, entitling the person named to recei…
dockageA charge for the use of a dock, especially while a vessel is being repaired.
docketThe formal record in which a judge or court clerk notes each step taken and each document filed in a case.
docket callA court session at which lawyers, and sometimes parties, appear to report on the state of their cases, whether announ…
docket feeA fee a court charges for filing a claim.
docket numberThe number a court clerk assigns to a case on the court's docket.
dockmasterAn officer who directs where ships moor and when they leave, so that commerce is not obstructed.
doctorA title for someone holding an advanced academic degree or an honorary distinction; also, a physician. In Roman Catho…
Doctor of Juridical ScienceA graduate law degree beyond the J.D. and the LL.M.
Doctor of JurisprudenceDoctor of law: the law degree most commonly awarded by American law schools.
Doctor of LawDoctor of law: the law degree most commonly awarded by American law schools.
Doctor of LawsAn honorary degree conferred on someone who has achieved great distinction.
Doctor of the Science of JurisprudenceA graduate law degree beyond the J.D. and the LL.M.
Doctor of the Science of LawA graduate law degree beyond the J.D. and the LL.M.
doctor-patient privilegeThe right to keep out of evidence any confidential communication a patient makes to a doctor for diagnosis or treatme…
doctrineA principle, especially a legal principle, that is widely accepted and followed.
doctrine of adverse dominationA rule stopping the limitation period from running in a claim against a company's officers and directors, especially…
doctrine of approximationA rule letting a court vary the details of how a trust is run so as to preserve it and carry out what the donor inten…
doctrine of bastardyThe old rule about an eldest son born before his parents married, whose younger brother was born after the wedding. I…
doctrine of captureIn the law of powers, the rule that where the holder of a general power of appointment shows an intention to take the…
doctrine of completenessThe evidence rule that where a party puts in part of a document or statement, the other side may require the rest to…
doctrine of contra non valentemThe rule that a limitation period does not start running against a claimant who is unable to act, usually because of…
doctrine of contra proferentemThe rule that where a document is unclear, the doubt is resolved against the party who drafted it.
doctrine of curative admissibilityA rule letting a party put in otherwise inadmissible evidence to undo the harm caused by evidence the other side shou…
doctrine of entiretiesIn customs law, the rule that where an import consists of parts which together make something different from any of t…
doctrine of equivalentsIn patent law, a judge-made rule finding infringement even where the accused process or product falls outside the lit…
doctrine of finalityThe rule that a court will not review an agency's action until that action is final.
doctrine of general averageA rule allowing a carrier to require the cargo owners and the shipowner to share, in proportion to their interests, t…
doctrine of illusory coverageA rule requiring an insurance policy to be read so that the cover it appears to give is real rather than an empty pro…
doctrine of necessariesThe common-law rule making a husband or father liable to someone who supplies his wife or child with goods needed for…
doctrine of noticeThe rule of equity that where a new owner takes an estate knowing that someone else had a claim on it at the time of…
doctrine of optional completenessThe evidence rule that where a party puts in part of a document or statement, the other side may require the rest to…
doctrine of parens patriaeThe principle that the state may act as guardian for people who cannot look after themselves, such as children and th…
doctrine of practical locationThe principle by which neighboring landowners settle doubts about where their boundary runs by agreeing on it and fix…
doctrine of precedentThe rule that precedents are not merely persuasive but must be followed when a similar case arises. It took shape in…
doctrine of revestmentA rule by which a court regains jurisdiction after final judgment where the former opponents have taken an active par…
doctrine of specialtyIn international law, the principle, written into most extradition treaties, that a person extradited to stand trial…
doctrine of substantial equivalentsIn patent law, a judge-made rule finding infringement even where the accused process or product falls outside the lit…
doctrine of superior equitiesIn insurance law, the rule that an insurer cannot recover from anyone whose equities are as good as or better than th…
doctrine of the last antecedentThe rule of interpretation that a qualifying word or phrase attaches to the words immediately before it, not to more…
doctrine of worthier titleAt common law, the rule that where someone would take under a will exactly the interest they would have taken as heir…
documentSomething tangible on which words, symbols, or marks are recorded; also, the deeds, agreements, title papers, letters…
document of titleA written description or acknowledgment of goods that entitles the holder, usually a bailee, to receive, hold, and de…
documentary creditCredit given against a document of title or other legal document; also, an arrangement under which a bank pays a thir…
documentary draftA draft that will be honored only when the required shipping or title documents are presented with it.
documentary evidenceEvidence supplied by a writing or other document, which must be shown to be genuine before it can be received.
documentary instructionA written agreement between an importer and exporter covering the handing over of the various documents relating to t…
documentary letter of creditA letter of credit payable only when presented together with another document, such as a certificate of title or an i…
documentary saleA sale in which the buyer pays when the seller tenders the documents of title covering the goods, together with a dra…
documentary stampA stamp that must be fixed to a deed or other document before it can be recorded.
documentary stamp taxA tax collected by requiring a revenue stamp to be bought and fixed to a legal document, such as a deed or note, befo…
documentary-originals ruleThe evidence rule that, to prove what a writing, recording, or photograph contains, a party must produce the original…
documentumProof; also, a document. The word appears in the later imperial constitutions.
DODThe Department of Defense.
DOEThe federal department overseeing national energy policy, including research and development of energy technology, en…
Doe v. RoeThe fictitious names used in old actions of ejectment, in which Doe was the nominal plaintiff, said by a fiction to h…
Doe, JaneA made-up name for a female party to a case, used where her identity is unknown or is being withheld.
Doe, JohnA made-up name used in a case for a person whose identity is unknown, to protect a known identity, or to show that no…
dogSomething undesirable, especially a weak lawsuit; in securities, a stock that the market shuns and that keeps falling…
dog-drawThe catching of someone chasing a deer through a forest with a dog.
dogmaA belief or tenet held firmly and treated as authoritative, followed steadfastly and usually to the exclusion of othe…
DOHSAA federal law of 1920 allowing a wrongful-death claim to be brought in a U.S. district court where the death occurred…
doing businessCarrying on business activities, especially enough activity by a non-resident within a state to let that state's cour…
doing-business statuteA state law setting out what counts as doing business there, usually so as to fix when the state's courts may exercis…
DOJThe federal executive division responsible for enforcing federal law and the programs and services that go with it. T…
dolIn civil law, fraud used to induce someone to enter into a contract.
dollar-cost averagingThe practice of investing a fixed sum in a type of security at regular intervals, whatever the price at the time.
doloIn Spanish law, bad or fraudulent design, as in the maxim that an agreement procured by bad faith will not be enforced.
dolusFraud or deceit; conduct meant to mislead someone. There can be dolus without fraud, but fraud always involves dolus.…
dolus bonusShrewdness or justifiable deceit, as where someone lies to an attacker to head off an assault. It carries no legal co…
dolus dans locum contractuiFraud that gives rise to the contract: a fraudulent misrepresentation by one party, relied on by the other, that actu…
domainThe territory over which sovereignty is exercised; also, an estate in land, or complete and absolute ownership of land.
domain-name infringementInfringement of another's trademark or service mark by using a confusingly similar Internet domain name.
dombocFormerly, a code compiled under Alfred, containing maxims of the common law, forms used in the courts, and criminal p…
Dombrowski doctrineThe rule entitling a person to an injunction from a federal court to head off prosecution under a state statute so br…
dome bookFormerly, a code compiled under Alfred, containing maxims of the common law, forms used in the courts, and criminal p…
Domesday BookThe survey of England's landholdings, buildings, people, and livestock ordered by William the Conqueror and substanti…
domesticTo do with one's own country or jurisdiction; also, to do with the family or household.
domestic authorityA defense allowing someone responsible for another, such as a parent for a child, to use non-deadly force where reaso…
domestic billA bill of exchange payable in the state or country where it was drawn; also, one where the drawer and the drawee both…
domestic corporationA company chartered under the laws of a state, which that state treats as its own. In tax law it means a company crea…
domestic courtA court with jurisdiction where a party lives or is domiciled.
domestic creditorA creditor living in the same state or country as the debtor or the debtor's property.
domestic disputeA disturbance, usually at home and usually within a family, involving violence and often leading to a call to the pol…
domestic exportA product grown or made in the United States, as opposed to one first imported and then sent out again.
domestic guardianA guardian appointed in the state where the person under guardianship is domiciled, as opposed to one appointed elsew…
Domestic International Sales CorporationA U.S. corporation, usually a subsidiary, whose income comes mainly from exports. Tax on part of its income is genera…
domestic judgmentA judgment given by the courts of the state or country where the judgment, or its effect, is in question.
domestic relationsThe body of law dealing with marriage, divorce, adoption, custody and support of children, and related family matters.
domestic servantA servant employed in a household.
domestic useThe use of goods within the country that produced them, as opposed to their export.
domestic violenceViolence between members of a household, usually spouses; an assault or other violent act by one member of a househol…
domestic-relations courtA court dealing with divorce, custody and support of children, paternity, domestic violence, and other family matters.
domestic-relations lawThe body of law dealing with marriage, divorce, adoption, custody and support of children, and related family matters.
domesticusA steward, a judge's assistant, or an assessor.
domicellusIn France, a king's natural son; also, a young lord.
domicileThe place where a person actually lives and regards as home; their true, fixed, and permanent home, to which they int…
domicile of choiceA domicile established by being present in a state or territory and intending to make it home; also, the domicile a p…
domicile of originA person's domicile at birth, taken from the parent with custody or fixed by law.
domicile of successionThe domicile that determines how a person's estate passes.
domicile of trusteeThe domicile of the place where a trustee is appointed.
domiciliaryTo do with domicile.
domiciliary administrationThe administration of an estate in the state where the deceased was domiciled at death.
domiciliateTo establish a domicile; to fix one's place of residence.
dominaA lady; also, a peeress.
dominant estateAn estate that has the benefit of an easement over another's land.
dominant propertyAn estate that has the benefit of an easement over another's land.
dominant tenantThe person holding the dominant estate, who has the benefit of the easement.
dominant tenementAn estate that has the benefit of an easement over another's land.
dominant-jurisdiction principleThe rule that the court where a case is first filed keeps it, to the exclusion of other courts that would also have h…
dominateTo master or control someone or something; also, to be the prevailing influence.
dominicalTo do with Sunday, the Lord's day.
dominicideThe crime of killing one's master; also, the person who does so.
dominionControl or possession; also, sovereignty. The word was used for a country that had been a foreign state but came unde…
dominiumIn Roman law, absolute ownership, taking in the right to possess and use. In time it came to mean ownership alone, as…
dominium plenumIn civil law, full ownership, combining the bare title with the right to use and take the profits.
dominusIn Roman law, the owner of a thing or of an inheritance, and later the title of the emperor. In feudal usage it meant…
dominus litisIn civil law, the party who makes the decisions in a lawsuit, as distinguished from the lawyer; in maritime law, a th…
dommage survenuDamage sustained: words from article 17 of the Warsaw Convention, which allows compensation for bodily injury a passe…
Domus ProcerumThe House of Lords.
donateTo give property or money without receiving anything in return.
donated stockStock given to a charity, or given back to a company by its own shareholders, especially so that it can be resold.
donated surplusAssets, such as shares, contributed to a company; also, the rise in shareholders' equity that results from such a con…
donatio causa mortisA gift made in expectation of the donor's approaching death. Three things are needed: the gift must be made in view o…
donatio mortis causaA gift made in expectation of the donor's approaching death. Three things are needed: the gift must be made in view o…
donatio propter nuptiasIn Roman law, a gift from a husband to his wife matching her dowry and subject to similar conditions. It was earlier…
donation landLand granted out of the public domain as a gift, usually to reward service or to encourage settlement in a remote are…
donative advowsonAn advowson held so that the patron may appoint a clergyman to the living directly, without presenting them to the bi…
donative trustA trust for which the beneficiary gives nothing in return.
donatorA donor; someone who makes a gift.
donecAs long as, while, or until: a word used in old conveyances.
donec probetur in contrariumUntil proof to the contrary is given.
donee beneficiaryA third party whom the promisee intends to receive the benefit of the contract as a gift.
donee of powerThe person who receives a power of appointment.
donorSomeone who gives something without receiving anything in return; also, someone who settles property, especially by s…
donum gratuitumA gift given for nothing in return, as most gifts are. The phrase looks redundant, but it answers to the Roman-law term.
doombookFormerly, a code compiled under Alfred, containing maxims of the common law, forms used in the courts, and criminal p…
Doomsday bookThe survey of England's landholdings, buildings, people, and livestock ordered by William the Conqueror and substanti…
door-closing statuteA state law shutting a claimant out of the local courts unless certain conditions are met, especially one requiring a…
doowop docketInformally, a court's list of cases scheduled so tightly, or handled so briskly, that each gets only a few minutes.
dopeA thick liquid used especially for medicinal purposes; informally, a drug, especially a narcotic.
dormantInactive, suspended, or lying unused.
Dormant Commerce ClauseThe principle that the Commerce Clause itself bars states from regulating interstate commerce, even where Congress ha…
dormant corporationA company that is not currently operating; also, one whose authority to do business has been revoked or suspended, wh…
dormant executionAn execution authorizing an officer to seize property and hold it, rather than sell it, until further notice.
dormant judgmentA judgment that has not been enforced within the time the statute allows. Any judgment lien may have lapsed, and no e…
dormant legislative intentThe intention a legislature would have had if some ambiguity, inconsistency, or gap in the statute had been pointed o…
dormant partnerA partner who shares in the profits but has no say in running the firm and whose connection with it is not made known…
dormant titleA title to land that is held in abeyance, with no one presently in a position to assert it.
dorsumThe back. The word usually appeared in the phrase on the back, to show that a document had been signed or endorsed on…
dossierA file or bundle of papers relating to a particular matter.
DOTThe federal executive division responsible for transportation policy and programs. Through a series of specialized ag…
dotageFeebleness of mind in old age; senility. The word also means foolish or excessive fondness.
dotalTo do with a dowry.
dotationThe giving of a dowry; also, an endowment, especially of funds for a charitable institution such as a hospital.
doteTo be feeble-minded through old age; also, to be excessively fond of someone.
dote assignandaA writ ordering a royal escheator to set out dower for the widow of a tenant holding land directly from the Crown.
dote unde nil habetA writ ordering a tenant who was standing in the way of a widow's dower to give her a reasonable share.
dotis administratioA proceeding to cut down a widow's dower where she has been allotted more than her proper share.
double adulteryAdultery between two people who are each married to someone else.
double assessmentThe taxing of the same property twice over for the same purpose.
double commissionA commission paid by both seller and buyer to the same person acting in two capacities, as where someone serves as bo…
double complaintFormerly in church law, an appeal by a clerk to the archbishop where the bishop had delayed or wrongly refused to do…
double creditorA creditor who holds a lien on two different funds.
double damagesDamages that a statute fixes at twice what the fact-finder decides is owed, or twice the actual damages awarded. Wher…
double forgeryA draft on which both the payor's signature and an endorsement have been forged.
double gibbetA gibbet with an arm at each end, from which two people could be hanged at once.
double hearsayHearsay within hearsay: a statement repeating what someone else was told, so that its reliability depends on two out-…
double indemnityThe Fifth Amendment provision forbidding anyone to be put in jeopardy of life or limb twice for the same offense. It…
double insuranceCover for the same interest and the same insured taken out with more than one insurer. The insured can recover only o…
double jeopardyBeing prosecuted twice for substantially the same offense, which the Fifth Amendment forbids.
Double Jeopardy ClauseThe Fifth Amendment provision forbidding anyone to be put in jeopardy of life or limb twice for the same offense. It…
double patentingThe granting of two patents covering the same invention, which is not allowed; also, the granting of a second patent…
double pleaA plea setting out two or more distinct grounds of complaint or defense on the same issue.
double pleadingThe pleading of two or more distinct grounds of complaint or defense on the same issue. In criminal law it takes the…
double proofIn bankruptcy law, the proving of claims by two or more creditors on the same debt, contrary to the general rule that…
double quarrelFormerly in church law, an appeal by a clerk to the archbishop where the bishop had delayed or wrongly refused to do…
double recoveryA judgment that wrongly awards damages twice for the same loss on two different legal theories; also, a party's recov…
double rentTwice the rent agreed; in particular, a penalty of double rent against a tenant who stays on after the date given in…
double standardA set of principles allowing greater opportunity or greater leniency to one group of people than to another, usually…
double taxationThe charging of two taxes on the same property for the same period and the same purpose; also, the taxing of one corp…
double useIn patent law, the applying of a known principle or process to a new use without producing any new result or product.
double valueTwice the value of something; in particular, a penalty of twice the yearly value of land, payable by a tenant who ref…
double voucherIn a common recovery, a vouching first by the fictitious tenant to the real tenant, and then by the real tenant to th…
double wasteThe waste committed when a tenant bound to repair lets a house fall into decay and then unlawfully cuts down timber t…
double willA single document in which two people, usually spouses, each set out how their own estate is to pass on death.
double-billTo charge two different clients the same fee, or to charge two clients for the same period of work done for both at o…
double-breasted operationAn arrangement in which a business owner runs both a union and a similar non-union company, so as to compete for both…
double-declining depreciation methodA way of writing off a capital asset by deducting each period twice the percentage the straight-line method would giv…
double-dippingSeeking or taking essentially the same benefit twice, whether from the same source or from two different ones, as by…
double-entry bookkeepingA method of bookkeeping in which every transaction a business records produces one or more debit entries and one or m…
doubt, reasonableThe doubt that stops a fact-finder from being firmly convinced of a defendant's guilt; a real possibility that the de…
doubtful titleA title that leaves the holder open to the risk of litigation with someone claiming against it.
dounA gift.
dovetail seniorityThe merging of the seniority lists of two companies that have combined into one list, so that employees keep the seni…
DowA measure of stock-market performance based on the price movements of the shares of 30 leading U.S. industrial compan…
Dow Jones Industrial AverageA measure of stock-market performance based on the price movements of the shares of 30 leading U.S. industrial compan…
dowableCapable of being endowed; also, capable of receiving dower.
dowagerA widow holding property or a title, especially a life estate in land, that came to her from her late husband.
dowager-queenThe widow of a king of England.
dowerAt common law, a widow's right to a life estate in a third of the land her husband owned in fee. She could not, with…
dower ad ostium ecclesiaeFormerly, a settlement of dower a man made on his wife at the church door, usually as part of the wedding ceremony.
dower by customDower fixed by local custom rather than by the general law.
dower by the common lawThe ordinary form of dower: a life interest in a third of the land the husband held in fee.
dower ex assensu patrisFormerly, a settlement of dower made at the church door while the husband's father was alive and consenting to the pr…
doweressA woman entitled to dower; a tenant in dower.
dowmentAt common law, a widow's right to a life estate in a third of the land her husband owned in fee. Most states have abo…
down marketA securities market in which prices fall over a long period.
down paymentThe part of a purchase price paid in cash at the time the sale agreement is signed.
down reversalIn securities, a sudden fall in prices after a rising trend. The phrase covers the early stage of the fall; if it goe…
down trendIn securities, the part of the market cycle in which stock prices are falling.
downsideIn securities, a period in which stock prices are falling.
downside riskIn securities, a real risk that stock prices will fall.
downside trendIn securities, the part of the market cycle in which stock prices are falling.
downsizingCutting the number of employees, usually to reduce labor costs and improve efficiency.
downstream mergerA merger of a parent company into its own subsidiary.
downward departureUnder the federal sentencing guidelines, a sentence lighter than the guidelines would ordinarily call for, as where t…
dowressA woman entitled to dower; a tenant in dower.
dozen peersIn the reign of Henry III, twelve peers the barons put together to act as the king's advisers.
DR 4-101The rule of the Model Code of Professional Responsibility requiring a lawyer to keep a client's confidences and secrets.
draconianOf a law, harsh or severe. The word comes from Draco, the ancient Athenian lawgiver whose code prescribed death for e…
draftAn unconditional written order signed by one person, the drawer, telling another, the drawee, to pay a set sum of mon…
draft boardA civilian board that registers people and selects them for compulsory military service.
drafterSomeone who draws up a legal document, such as a will, contract, or bill.
draftingThe skill and practice of preparing legal documents such as statutes, rules, contracts, and wills that set out the ri…
draftsmanSomeone who draws up a legal document, such as a will, contract, or bill.
dragnet clauseA clause sweeping into a mortgage or security agreement all other debts the borrower owes the lender, present and fut…
dragnet lienA lien that expands to cover any further credit the same creditor extends to the debtor.
Drago doctrineThe principle put forward by Luis Drago, Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a letter of December 29, 1902, w…
drainThe gradual drawing off of a liquid, or the gradual exhausting of something; also, a ditch or pipe for carrying liqui…
drainage districtA political subdivision empowered to levy assessments to pay for drainage improvements in its area.
drainage rightsThe right to have surface water drain from one piece of land across another.
dram shopA place where alcoholic drinks are sold; a bar or saloon.
dram-shop actA statute letting an injured person recover damages from a commercial seller of alcohol for injuries caused by a cust…
dram-shop liabilityThe civil liability of a commercial seller of alcohol for injury caused by an intoxicated customer. Similar claims ha…
dramaA story presented through words and action, or action alone; a play.
dramatic compositionIn copyright law, a literary work setting out a story, incident, or scene meant to be performed by actors, often with…
drawTo create and sign a draft; also, to prepare a legal document, to take money out of a bank or treasury, or to select…
drawbackA government allowance or refund of import duties where the importer re-exports the goods instead of selling them at…
draweeThe person or institution a draft is addressed to and asked to pay the amount stated. It is usually a bank.
drawee bankA bank asked to pay the amount of a negotiable instrument, which on accepting becomes bound to pay it; a bank at whic…
drawerThe person who directs another, usually a bank, to pay the sum stated in an instrument, such as someone writing a che…
drawing accountAn arrangement letting an employee, partner, or agent take regular sums against future earnings or commissions, to be…
drawing lotsDeciding something purely by chance, according to which lot is drawn. Juries are usually told not to reach their verd…
drawlatchA thief who waits until a house is empty and then lifts the door latch to steal what is inside.
drayageA charge for carting or transporting property.
dread-disease insuranceInsurance that pays a lump sum if the insured is diagnosed with one of a listed set of serious illnesses, such as can…
dreit dreitThe coming together of the right of possession and the right of property in the same person.
drift of the forestA periodic inspection of cattle in a forest, in which officers drove them into an enclosure to establish who owned th…
drift-stuffMaterial floating loose in water with no traceable owner. It usually belongs to the owner of the bank.
drilling-delay rental clauseIn oil-and-gas law, a clause in a lease allowing the lessee to make periodic payments to put off exploration during t…
drinking shopA place where alcoholic drinks are sold; a bar or saloon.
drip rightsA servitude allowing water dripping off one person's roof to fall on a neighbor's land.
driverSomeone who steers and propels a vehicle; also, someone who drives animals.
drivingThe steering and controlling of something, such as a car or a herd of animals.
driving under the influenceThe offense of driving while physically or mentally impaired, especially after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. It i…
driving while ability-impairedThe offense of driving while one's ability is impaired by alcohol or drugs, though to a lesser degree than is require…
driving while intoxicatedThe offense of driving after drinking enough to put one's blood alcohol above the statutory limit, 0.08% in many stat…
DRMAn amortized mortgage in which principal and interest are paid together, usually monthly in equal amounts, with inter…
droitA legal right or claim; also, the body of law as a whole.
droit coutumierIn French law, customary law, that is, the local unwritten law of a region, as opposed to written Roman law.
droit de maitriseFormerly in French law, a payment owed to the Crown by an apprentice on becoming a master of their craft.
droit de naufrageIn French law, the right claimed by a sovereign or lord owning the seashore to seize the wreckage of a ship and to ki…
droit de priseFormerly in French law, a commoner's duty to supply goods on credit to the royal household for its own consumption.
droit de quintIn French feudal law, a duty payable to the lord of a fifth of the price when a noble fief changed hands.
droit de suiteA stockbroker's right to sell stock bought for a client who then refuses it; also, a broker's right to sell deposited…
droit du seigneurA supposed customary right of a feudal lord to sleep with a tenant's bride on her wedding night. There is no reliable…
droit internationalInternational law; the body of rules governing relations between states.
droit moralThe doctrine of moral rights, which lets artists stop others from altering their work. It covers the right to create,…
droit-closeFormerly, a writ against a lord on behalf of a tenant in ancient demesne holding land by charter in fee simple, in fe…
droit-droitThe coming together of the right of possession and the right of property in the same person.
droits civilsIn French law, private rights unconnected with a person's civil status. Foreigners held certain of them, enforceable…
droits of admiraltyThe Lord High Admiral's rights connected with the sea, such as the right to the proceeds of wrecks, enemy goods seize…
droituralTo do with an interest in property, as distinct from actual possession of it.
dromonesLarge ships; also, warships of a recognized navy, usually fitted out for fighting.
dropA rule nisi that is not adopted because the members of the court are evenly divided. It is dropped rather than discha…
drop letterA letter addressed to someone within the delivery area of the very post office where it was posted.
drop shipperA wholesaler who arranges for goods to be sent straight from the manufacturer to the customer.
drop-down clauseA clause in an insurance policy requiring an excess insurer to provide cover even though the underlying cover has not…
drop-shipment deliveryA manufacturer's sending of goods straight to the customer rather than through a wholesaler. Where the wholesaler too…
dropsy testimonyA police officer's false evidence that a fleeing suspect dropped illegal drugs, which the police then seized and used…
droveA group of animals driven together in a herd; also, a large moving crowd of people.
drugA substance meant for use in diagnosing, curing, treating, or preventing disease; also, a natural or synthetic substa…
drug abuseThe harm caused by repeatedly taking a narcotic or other dangerous drug otherwise than as a doctor has prescribed for…
drug addictSomeone psychologically or physically dependent on a narcotic drug.
drug dependenceA psychological or physical need for a drug.
drug kingpinThe organizer, leader, financier, or supervisor of a drug conspiracy; someone with more authority than the others in…
drug paraphernaliaAnything used, meant for use, or designed for use with a controlled substance. Possessing it is an offense.
drug-free zoneAn area in which possessing or dealing in a controlled substance carries a heavier penalty. Such zones are often set…
druggistSomeone who mixes, compounds, dispenses, or otherwise deals in drugs and medicines, usually as the owner of a drugsto…
drummerA traveling sales representative who takes orders from retailers for goods to be shipped by wholesale merchants.
drungariusA commander of a band of soldiers; also, a naval commander.
drunkUnder the influence of alcohol to the point where the normal capacity for rational thought and conduct is impaired.
drunkardSomeone who is habitually or often intoxicated.
drunkennessThe state of being intoxicated, brought on by drinking enough to impair the normal capacity for rational thought and…
drunkometerA device measuring the alcohol in a person's breath, used especially where the police suspect drunk driving. The resu…
dryFree from moisture; also, unprofitable or merely nominal. Of a jurisdiction, forbidding the sale or use of alcoholic…
dry checkA check that is not paid because the account holds too little money or does not exist.
dry exchangeA transaction that appears to pass value both ways but in truth passes it only one way, once used to disguise a loan…
dry mortgageA mortgage that creates a lien on property but leaves the borrower under no personal liability for anything beyond th…
dry receivershipA receivership in which nothing is left over to pay the general creditors.
dry rentRent reserved without any clause allowing it to be collected by distress, so that it can be recovered only by an ordi…
dry trustA trust in which the trustee holds the property with no active duties to perform, the beneficiary being entitled to p…
DTCThe main central clearing agency for securities traded on the public markets.
dual agentSomeone who shares with another agent the authority to act for the same principal.
dual citizenshipHolding citizenship of two countries at once, as where someone born in the United States has parents who are citizens…
dual contractOne of two contracts made for the same transaction, sometimes so that one may be used to mislead someone else, such a…
dual distributorA firm selling goods at two different levels of the distribution chain at once, especially a manufacturer selling bot…
dual distributorshipA business arrangement in which a company runs a branch or dealership at the same market level as one or more of its…
dual employmentWorking at a second job outside the hours of one's regular employment.
dual fundA closed-end fund that issues two classes of share, one taking the dividends and the other taking the growth in capit…
dual listingThe listing of a security on more than one exchange.
dual-capacity doctrineThe rule making an employer, otherwise shielded from tort liability by workers'-compensation law, liable to an employ…
dual-criminality principleThe rule barring extradition unless the conduct in question is a crime in both countries.
dual-persona doctrineThe rule making an employer, otherwise shielded from tort liability by workers'-compensation law, liable to an employ…
dual-priorities ruleThe rule that partnership creditors have first claim on partnership assets and personal creditors on a partner's own…
dual-prosecution ruleThe rule that federal and state governments may each prosecute a defendant for the same act, because they are separat…
dual-purpose doctrineThe rule that an employer is liable for an employee's injury on a business trip even though the trip also served a pe…
dual-purpose fundA closed-end fund that issues two classes of share, one taking the dividends and the other taking the growth in capit…
dual-sovereignty doctrineThe rule that federal and state governments may each prosecute someone for the same act without breaching the protect…
duarchyA government ruled jointly by two people.
dubitanteDoubting: a word put beside a judge's name in a report to show that the judge doubted a point of law but was not prep…
dubitaturIt is doubted: words marking a point of law as uncertain.
ducatA gold coin used as currency chiefly in Europe, first struck in Venice in the early 12th century and bearing an inscr…
duces tecumBring with you: words in a subpoena requiring the witness to produce documents as well as attend.
duces tecum licet languidusFormerly, a habeas corpus writ ordering a sheriff to bring a person to court despite the sheriff's return saying they…
Duchy of LancasterLand in the county of Lancaster, at the Savoy in London, and around Westminster, which first belonged to the Duke of…
ducking stoolA device for punishing scolds by ducking them in water again and again.
dueProper, regular, and reasonable; also, immediately enforceable, or owing and payable.
due careFor deciding negligence, the care that a prudent and competent person in the same line of work would take in the same…
due compensationUnder the Fifth Amendment, fair payment by the government for property taken under eminent domain, usually its market…
due considerationThe attention properly given to something, according to what the circumstances deserve.
due course of lawThe regular administration of law through the legal system; the conduct of proceedings according to settled rules for…
due course, payment inA payment to the holder of a negotiable instrument at or after maturity, made in good faith and without notice of any…
due daysAnother name for a boon day, on which a tenant owed the lord extra work at harvest or ploughing.
due diligenceThe care a person can reasonably be expected to take in meeting a legal requirement or discharging an obligation. In…
due influenceLegitimate influence one person has over another through persuasion, argument, or an appeal to affection, as opposed…
due negotiationThe transfer of a negotiable document of title in such a way that the transferee takes it free of claims that could h…
due noticeNotice that is sufficient and properly given, likely to reach the person or the public concerned, and legally adequat…
due postingThe stamping and placing of letters or packages in the mail; also, the proper entry of an item in a ledger, or the pr…
due processThe conduct of legal proceedings according to settled rules for protecting private rights, including notice and a fai…
Due Process ClauseThe constitutional provision forbidding the government to deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property unfairly or ar…
due process of lawThe conduct of legal proceedings according to settled rules for protecting private rights, including notice and a fai…
due proofEvidence sufficient and properly put forward to produce a result or support a conclusion, such as an entitlement to b…
due-billAnother name for an IOU: a written acknowledgment of a debt.
due-course holderSomeone who has given value in good faith for a negotiable instrument that is complete and regular on its face, not o…
due-diligence informationIn securities law, the information a broker-dealer must hold on file and make available to prospective customers befo…
due-on-encumbrance clauseA mortgage clause letting the lender call in the debt if the borrower takes out a further mortgage on the property wi…
due-on-sale clauseA mortgage clause letting the lender call in the debt if the borrower sells or transfers any part of the property wit…
due-process rightsRights, such as those to life, liberty, and property, so fundamental that they may be interfered with only in accorda…
duelAnother name for trial by combat; also, a fight arranged in advance with deadly weapons between two people under agre…
duelingThe common-law offense of fighting at an appointed time and place after an earlier quarrel. If one of the fighters is…
duellumTrial by combat: a form of trial in which the parties, or their champions, fought and the outcome was taken as the ju…
DUIThe offense of driving while physically or mentally impaired, especially after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. It i…
DUILDriving under the influence of liquor.
dukeA sovereign prince ruling a duchy; also, the highest rank of the British nobility below the royal family.
dulyIn a proper manner; in accordance with what the law requires.
dumWhile, or provided that.
dum non fuit compos mentisFormerly, a writ letting heirs recover an estate transferred by someone of unsound mind.
dum solaWhile single: words used to limit a conveyance, especially to a woman, so that her interest lasted only while she rem…
dumb biddingAn auction in which the lowest acceptable price is placed out of sight beneath the item, unknown to the bidders, and…
dummodoSo that, or provided that: words used to limit a conveyance, as in a grant made provided the grantee pays a stated rent.
dummySomeone with no real interest in a transaction who takes part to help bring about a legal result; also, someone who b…
dummy corporationA company whose only purpose is to hide who is really behind it and to shield that person from liability.
dummy directorA board member who is a figurehead only and has no real say in running the company.
dummy shareholderA shareholder who holds stock in name only, for the benefit of the true owner, whose identity is usually kept hidden.
dumpTo unload something, especially in a heap; also, to sell goods at a very low price, particularly to sell them abroad…
dumpingThe selling of a large quantity of goods for less than their fair value, especially selling abroad below the price ch…
Dumping ActA federal antidumping law requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to notify the U.S. International Trade Commission w…
dunTo press a debtor who is behind for payment.
dungeonThe lowest part of a fortress or tower, often used as a prison; also, a dark underground prison.
dunnageAnything, especially pieces of wood, placed under or between cargo on a ship to keep it from being bruised or getting…
duodecemvirale judiciumA trial by twelve people; trial by jury.
duodecima manusTwelve men, as in the twelve compurgators needed to make out a wager of law.
duplex querelaFormerly in church law, an appeal by a clerk to the archbishop where the bishop had delayed or wrongly refused to do…
duplex valor maritagiiFormerly, a ward's forfeiture of twice the value of a marriage made without the guardian's consent.
duplicate willA will executed in two identical originals, the testator keeping one and giving the other to someone else. The ordina…
duplicatioIn Roman and civil law, a defendant's answer to the claimant's replication, matching a rejoinder at common law; also,…
duplicatum jusA double right, where the right of possession and the right of property are united in the same person.
duplicitousOf a person, deceitful or double-dealing; of a pleading, especially an indictment, alleging two or more separate matt…
duplicitous appealAn appeal brought from two separate judgments, from a judgment and an order, or from two orders.
duplicitous indictmentThe joining of two or more offenses in a single count of an indictment.
duplicitous informationThe joining of two or more offenses in a single count of an information.
duplicityDeceitfulness or double-dealing; in pleading, the raising of two or more distinct grounds of claim or defense on the…
duplumIn civil law, twice the price of something.
duplyIn Roman and civil law, a defendant's answer to the claimant's replication, matching a rejoinder at common law.
durable goodsGoods that are meant to last and be used repeatedly over a period of years, such as furniture and machinery.
durable leaseA lease reserving a rent payable yearly, usually with a right of re-entry if it is not paid.
durable power of attorneyA power of attorney that stays in force even after the person granting it becomes incapable. Such documents commonly…
durablesGoods that are meant to last and be used repeatedly over a period of years, such as furniture and machinery.
duranteWhile or during, as in during minority, during widowhood, or during life.
durante absentiaDuring absence: the phrase for administration of an estate while the executor was out of the county or otherwise away…
durante bene placitoDuring good pleasure: words in a royal writ granting a judge tenure that lasted only so long as the king was content,…
durationThe length of time something lasts.
duration of interestThe length of time an interest in property lasts.
duration of trustThe length of time a trust lasts.
durational-residency requirementA requirement that a person live in a state for a set period, such as a year, before exercising a particular right. A…
Duren testA test for deciding whether a jury's makeup breaches the requirement that juries be drawn from a fair cross-section o…
duressPressure that overcomes a person's free will, whether by confining them, seizing their property, or threatening harm,…
duress of circumstancesIn criminal law, a justification for someone who acts in an emergency they did not bring about and causes a harm smal…
duress of goodsThe seizing of someone's goods by force, or withholding them from the person entitled, and then demanding something a…
duress of imprisonmentThe wrongful confining of a person to force them to do something.
duress of the personCompulsion of a person by imprisonment, by threat, or by a show of force that cannot be resisted.
duress per minasDuress by threat of death, loss of a limb, maiming, or other harm to the person.
duressorSomeone who forces another to act against their own will or judgment.
DurhamOne of the three surviving county palatines in England, the others being Chester and Lancaster. Its jurisdiction belo…
Durham Court of PleasThe court of the county palatine of Durham. Its jurisdiction passed to the Supreme Court of Judicature under the Judi…
Durham ruleA test for the insanity defense holding that a defendant is not criminally responsible for an act that was the produc…
Durrett ruleIn bankruptcy law, the rule that a transfer of property for less than 70% of its value should be set aside as a prefe…
Dutch auctionAn auction in which the property is offered first at a high price which is then lowered by stages until someone buys.…
Dutch lotteryA lottery in which tickets are drawn from classes, with the number and value of prizes fixed and rising with each cla…
Dutch-auction tender methodA way of buying back shares in which a company sets a price range, shareholders say how many shares they will sell an…
dutiableSubject to a duty.
dutyA legal obligation owed to another that must be met, and to which someone else has a matching right.
duty of candorThe obligation to take the care that the circumstances demand, so that others are not exposed to unreasonable risk of…
duty of careThe obligation to take the care that the circumstances demand, so that others are not exposed to unreasonable risk of…
duty of detractionA tax on property acquired by succession or will and then moved from one state to another.
duty of fair representationA union's duty to represent its members fairly, honestly, and in good faith.
duty of good faith and fair dealingA duty read into some contracts requiring the parties to deal fairly with each other, so that neither prevents the ot…
duty of loyaltyA duty not to engage in self-dealing or otherwise use one's position to serve one's own interests rather than the ben…
duty of the flagA maritime ceremony in which a foreign vessel struck her flag and lowered her topsail on meeting the British flag, ac…
duty of tonnageA charge on a commercial vessel for entering, staying in, or leaving a port.
duty of waterThe amount of water needed to irrigate a given piece of land.
duty on importA duty charged on bringing a product into the country; also, the duty charged on the imported product itself.
duty to actA duty to take positive steps to prevent harm to another, for the failure of which a person may be liable, depending…
duty to mitigateIn contract law, the innocent party's duty to make reasonable efforts to keep down the losses flowing from the other'…
duty to speakA duty to say something to correct a false impression another has formed. It can arise where, during negotiations, a…
duty-boundBound by legal or moral obligation to do something.
duty-freeOf goods from abroad, not subject to import or export taxes.
duty-to-defend clauseA clause in a liability policy obliging the insurer to take over the defense of any claim brought against the insured…
DWAIDriving while ability-impaired.
dwellTo remain or linger; also, to live in a place permanently or for a period.
dwelling defenseAn exception to the duty to retreat, allowing deadly force to be used by someone protecting their home and the people…
dwelling-houseThe house or other structure a person lives in. In real-estate law it takes in the house and all buildings attached t…
DWIThe offense of driving after drinking enough to put one's blood alcohol above the statutory limit, 0.08% in many stat…
DWOPA court's dismissal of a case because the claimant has not pressed on with it.
DWOP docketA list of cases the court has set down as candidates for dismissal because they are not being pressed on with.
dyarchyA government ruled jointly by two people, as England was by William and Mary.
Dyer ActA federal law, first passed in 1919, making it an offense to take a stolen motor vehicle across state lines knowing i…
dyetA prescribed course of food; also, the sitting of a governing body for legislative, political, or religious business,…
dying declarationA statement about the cause or circumstances of their impending death, made by someone who believes death is close. I…
dying without issueDying with no descendants surviving, whether at the moment of death or at some later time the gift specifies.
dynamite chargeIn criminal procedure, a further direction the judge gives a deadlocked jury after long deliberation, urging them to…
dynamite instructionIn criminal procedure, a further direction the judge gives a deadlocked jury after long deliberation, urging them to…
dynastyA powerful family line that lasts for generations; also, a group who control an industry or field and hand that contr…