Also known as: preclude · precludes · precluded · precluding · preclusive · issue preclusion · claim preclusion · res judicata · collateral estoppel
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A bar or prevention that stops a party from asserting a claim, defense, or right due to prior conduct, judgment, or agreement.
Premier Manufacturing noticed a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of Pinnacle Holdings on contract performance issues. After the deposition, Premier served interrogatories on the same topics. Pinnacle moved to quash, arguing the 30(b)(6) notice barred other discovery. The court denied the motion because the rule expressly permits additional procedures.
Judge Parker Phillips presided over a sentencing hearing involving defendant Phuong Pham. The prosecutor referenced the defendant's national origin when arguing for an enhanced sentence based on immigration status. Defense counsel objected under the bias rule. The judge overruled the objection, finding the reference directly relevant to the statutory sentencing factor.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Attorney Piper Patel advised client Paige Porter, a corporate HR director, on how to structure diversity training without violating antidiscrimination statutes. Opposing counsel later filed a grievance claiming the advice constituted harassment counseling. The disciplinary board dismissed the grievance because the rule permits legitimate advice consistent with professional duties.
Pilar Pena was acquitted of robbing a convenience store when identity was the sole contested issue. The state then charged Pena with robbing a different victim during the same incident. Pena moved to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds. The court granted the motion because the prior acquittal conclusively determined the identity issue.
Priya Prasad and Parker Phillips entered a separation agreement that expressly barred modification of alimony. The divorce decree incorporated the agreement without any reservation of modification power. Two years later, Prasad petitioned to increase alimony due to changed circumstances. The court denied the petition because the decree expressly precluded modification.
Peak Performance employees organized a charity boxing match with full participant waivers. One participant suffered serious injury and the state charged the organizer with assault. The organizer raised consent as a defense. The court dismissed the charge because the victim's knowing consent negated the harm the statute sought to prevent.
No. Acceptance precludes rejection of the goods but preserves the buyer's right to pursue damages for breach of warranty or contract. The buyer must still pay the contract rate yet may recover the difference in value plus incidental or consequential losses.
Ordinary negligence in failing to discover facts does not by itself preclude avoidance or reformation. Relief is barred only when the party's conduct amounts to bad faith or falls below reasonable standards of fair dealing.
Collateral estoppel embodied in the Double Jeopardy Clause bars retrial when an ultimate fact such as identity has been determined by a valid final judgment. The state cannot retry the defendant for a different victim of the same robbery on the same factual issue.
Yes. Except for child support, custody, or visitation, the decree may expressly preclude or limit modification when the separation agreement so provides. Otherwise, decree terms are automatically modified by later decree changes.
Consent is a defense only when it negatives an element of the offense or precludes the harm the law seeks to prevent. Consent to serious bodily injury or to conduct the statute expressly prohibits does not constitute a defense.
…is to be determined in federal courts as a matter of general law. The trial judge refused to rule that the applicable law precluded recovery. The jury brought in a verdict of $30,000; and the judgment entered thereon was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals, which held, 90 F.2d 603, 604, that it was unnecessary to…