Also known as: delays · delayed · delaying · postponement · laches
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A period during which an action or event is postponed or slowed. The concept often carries negative implications when characterized as undue or unnecessary in litigation or transactional settings.
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Dominic Drake sued Diamond Manufacturing for breach of contract. At trial Diamond offered a letter in which Drake had proposed a reduced settlement amount. Drake objected under the compromise rule. The court admitted the letter to show that Drake's own conduct contributed to the extended timeline between filing and trial.
Dominic Drake represented a plaintiff against Diamond Manufacturing. Drake filed repeated motions for extensions and discovery on tangential issues after the case had been pending for two years. The court found the motions served no substantial purpose other than to burden the defendant and imposed sanctions.
Officers arrested Dominic Drake at his home and took him to the station. Two hours later they returned to the home and searched a vehicle parked in the driveway. The court suppressed the evidence because the search was not substantially contemporaneous with the arrest.
A state statute extended the time for payment on existing private contracts by six months. A lender argued the statute violated the Contracts Clause. The court held that the forced postponement impaired the obligation of contracts in violation of Article I Section 10.
Diamond Manufacturing served a set of discovery requests on Dominic Drake two weeks before trial. The requests sought information already produced months earlier. The court struck the requests because they were interposed for the improper purpose of causing unnecessary delay.
Dominic Drake filed articles of incorporation for Diamond Manufacturing on Monday. The articles specified no delayed effective date. On Tuesday the corporation entered a binding contract. The court held that corporate existence began on Monday when the articles were filed.
Evidence of settlement negotiations may be admitted when offered for a purpose other than proving liability or the amount of a claim. One recognized purpose is negating a contention of undue delay in the litigation.
A lawyer violates the rule by employing litigation tactics that have no substantial purpose other than to delay or burden a third person. Filing repeated baseless extension motions after the case has been pending for years is an example.
…"b. An important function of counselling should be to simplify and expedite the provision of abortion services; it should not delay the obtaining of these services. "c. Psychiatric consultation should not be mandatory. As in the case of other specialized medical services, psychiatric consultation should be sought for…
…was itself an unconstitutional infringement on First Amendment rights. Thus, in those cases irreparable injury—the loss or postponement
…of personal service of citation on even the large number of known resident or nonresident beneficiaries would, by reasons of delay
…prepare for trial without such production and inspection in advance and the failure to obtain inspection may unreasonably delay
…Many criminal defendants do not receive speedy trials and neither society nor the accused are assured of justice when inordinate
A search incident to arrest must be substantially contemporaneous in time and place with the arrest. A delayed or remote search after impoundment falls outside the rationale and requires separate justification.
The Contracts Clause prohibits states from passing laws that impair the obligation of contracts. A statute that forces a six-month extension of payment deadlines on existing contracts violates this prohibition.
A court may strike a discovery request when it is interposed for an improper purpose such as causing unnecessary delay. Requests that duplicate prior productions and are served shortly before trial fall within this prohibition.
Corporate existence begins when the articles of incorporation are filed unless a delayed effective date is specified. The filing date therefore controls the start of the corporation's legal capacity to contract.