Dictum is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "obiter dictum." As a legal term, a dictum is any statement or opinion made by a judge that is not required as part of the legal reasoning to make a judgment in a case. Although dictum may be...
ACADEMIC TOPICS
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), is a federal statute that addresses a number of copyright issues created by the use of new technology and the Internet including digital rights management (methods for stopping infringement), and...
diligence
Diligence is the use of care or persistence in performing duties; thorough attention to a matter; heedfulness; assiduity. Diligence is the opposite of negligence.
Due diligence is the use of reasonable care ordinarily...
diminished capacity
"Diminished capacity," as opposed to "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Diminished capacity is a theory that a person due to unique factors could not meet the mental state required for a specific intent crime. A diminished...
diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a State or national government to conduct diplomatic activities with a foreign State or government, or with foreign entities such as international organizations. Diplomats are often public officers...
disbar
Disbarment is the most severe sanction for attorney misconduct, which involves the removal of an attorney's license to practice law. Since the court has exclusive responsibility to license lawyers, it has sole authority / discretion to remove the...
disbarment
Disbarment is the most severe sanction for attorney misconduct, which involves the removal of an attorney's license to practice law. Since the court has exclusive responsibility to license lawyers, it has sole authority / discretion to remove...
disentail
Disentail refers to the process of converting a fee tail into a fee simple. The majority of states have passed some form of disentailing statutes.
While originally an important part of property law, fee tails (property...
disgorgement
Disgorgement is a remedy requiring a party who profits from illegal or wrongful acts to give up any profits they made as a result of that illegal or wrongful conduct. The purpose of this remedy is to prevent unjust enrichment and make illegal...
dispositive fact
A dispositive fact is a fact that, if proven with necessary certainty, resolves a legal dispute on its own. Oftentimes, establishing the truth of a dispositive fact will lead to the resolution of the lawsuit as a whole.
For...