Damages:
Money payment recovered in the courts for an injury
or loss caused by an unlawful act or omission or
negligence of another.
Decedent: A deceased person.
Decision: The judgment reached or given by a
court of law.
Declaratory Judgment: Judicial adjudication of
the rights of the parties in a lawsuit made to clarify
the parties' legal positions.
Decree: An order of the court. A final decree
is one that fully and finally disposes of the
litigation. An interlocutory decree is a preliminary
order that often disposes of only part of a lawsuit.
Defamation: That which tends to injure a
persons reputation. Libel is published defamation,
whereas slander is spoken.
Default: A failure to respond to a lawsuit
within the specified time.
Default Judgment: A judgment entered against a
party who fails to appear in court or respond to the
charges.
Defendant: In civil law, the party defending a
lawsuit ; the party against whom the plaintiff seeks to
recover damages from.
Demurrer: Defendant's claim that even if the
allegations in a complaint are true, they are not
sufficient to impose any liability on the defendant.
De Novo: A new. A trial de novo is a new trial
of a case.
Deposition: Testimony of a witness taken under
oath, but not in a courtroom. May be used to discover
evidence prior to trial or to preserve testimony for use
in court at a later time.
Deponent: The person who testifies at a
deposition.
Descent and Distribution Statutes: State laws
that provide for the distribution of estate property of
a person who dies without a will. Same as intestacy
laws.
Dicta: Plural of "obiter dictum." A
remark made by a judge in a legal opinion that is
irrelevant to the decision and does not establish a
precedent.
Directed Verdict: Now called Judgment as a
matter of Law. An instruction by the judge to the jury
to return a specific verdict.
Direct Evidence: Generally, eyewitness
evidence. Compare with circumstantial evidence.
Direct Examination: The first questioning of
witnesses by the party on whose behalf they are called.
Disability: In the legal sense, lack of legal
capacity to perform some act. Used in a physical sense
in connection with workers' compensation acts and is a
composite of (a) actual incapacity to perform employment
tasks and the wage loss resulting therefrom and (b)
physical bodily impairment which may or may not be
incapacitating.
Disbarment: Form of discipline of a lawyer
resulting in the loss (often permanently) of that
lawyer's right to practice law. It differs from censure
(an official reprimand or condemnation) and from
suspension (a temporary loss of the right to practice
law).
Disclaim: To refuse a gift made in a will.
Discovery: The pretrial process by which one
party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon in
the trial by the opposing party.
Disfigurement: A technical term in workers'
compensation cases for a serious and permanent scar to
the head, neck, or face.
Dismissal with Prejudice: Final judgment
against the plaintiff which prohibits bringing an action
on the same cause of action in the future. In contrast,
"dismissal without prejudice" allows the
plaintiff to sue again for the same cause of action.
Dismissal: The termination of a lawsuit. A
dismissal without prejudice allows a lawsuit to be
brought before the court again at a later time. In
contrast, a dismissal with prejudice prevents the
lawsuit from being brought before a court in the future.
Dissent: To disagree. An appellate court
opinion setting forth the minority view and outlining
the disagreement of one or more judges with the decision
of the majority.
Diversion: The process of removing some minor
criminal, traffic, or juvenile cases from the full
judicial process, on the condition that the accused
undergo some sort of rehabilitation or make restitution
for damages.
Docket: A list of cases to be heard by a court
or a log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
Doctrine of avoidable consequences or mitigation
of damages: Imposes a duty on victims of a tort to
take reasonable steps to minimize their damages after an
injury has been inflicted.
Domicile: The place where a person has his or
her permanent legal home. A person may have several
residences, but only one domicile.
Double Jeopardy: Putting a person on trial
more than once for the same crime. It is forbidden by
the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Dram shop: A drinking establishment where
alcoholic beverages are served to be drunk on the
premises.
Dram Shop Act: In Pennsylvania, this statute
imposes liability on drinking establishments, like bars
and restaurants, for harm resulting from the
establishment's service of alcohol to visibly
intoxicated persons.
Due Process of Law: The right of all persons
to receive the guarantees and safeguards of the law and
the judicial process. It includes such constitutional
requirements as adequate notice, assistance of counsel.
and the rights to remain silent, to a speedy and public
trial, to an impartial jury, and to confront and secure
witnesses.
Duty: In negligence cases, a "duty"
is an obligation to conform to a particular standard of
care. A failure to so conform places the actor at risk
of being liable to another to whom a duty is owed for an
injury sustained by the other of which the actor's
conduct is a legal cause. See reasonable man doctrine.
