Damages: The financial compensation awarded to
someone who suffered an injury or was harmed by someone
else's wrongful act.
Debtor: Person who owes money.
Decision: The judgment rendered by a court
after a consideration of the facts and legal issues
before it.
Deed: A written legal document that describes
a piece of property and outlines its boundaries. The
seller of a property transfers ownership by delivering
the deed to the buyer in exchange for an agreed upon sum
of money.
Defamation: The publication of a statement
that injures a person's reputation. Libel and slander
are defamation.
Default Judgment: A ruling entered against a
defendant who fails to answer a summons in a lawsuit.
Default: The failure to fulfill a legal
obligation, such as neglecting to pay back a loan on
schedule.
Defendant: In civil matters, the defendant is
the person or organization that is being sued.
Defense Table: The table where the defense
lawyer sits with the defendant in the courtroom.
Defined Benefit Plan: A type of retirement
plan that specifies how much in benefits it will pay out
to a retiree.
Deposition: Part of the pre-trial discovery
(fact-finding) process in which a witness testifies
under oath. A deposition is held out of court with no
judge present, but the answers often can be used as
evidence in the trial.
Direct Evidence: Evidence that stands on its
own to prove an alleged fact, such as testimony of a
witness who says she saw a defendant pointing a gun at a
victim during a robbery.
Direct Examination: The initial questioning of
a witness by the party that called the witness.
Directed Verdict: A judge's order to a jury to
return a specified verdict, usually because one of the
parties failed to prove its case.
Disbursements: Legal expenses that a lawyer
passes on to a client, such as for photocopying,
overnight mail and messenger services.
Discovery: Part of the pre-trial litigation
process during which each party requests relevant
information and documents from the other side in an
attempt to "discover" pertinent facts.
Dismissal with Prejudice: When a case is
dismissed for good reason and the plaintiff is barred
from bringing an action on the same claim.
Docket: A log containing brief entries of
court proceedings.
Double Jeopardy: Being tried twice for the
same offense.
Due Process: The idea that laws and legal
proceedings must be fair. The Constitution guarantees
that the government cannot take away a person's basic
rights to "life, liberty or property, without due
process of law." Courts have issued numerous
rulings about what this means in particular cases.
Duty to Warn: The legal obligation to warn
people of a danger. Typically, manufacturers of
hazardous products have a duty to warn customers of a
product's potential dangers and to advise users of any
precautions they should take.
