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discontinuing easement See discontinuous easement under EASEMENT.

discontinuor A tenant in tail whose conveyance of the entailed estate causes a discontinuance. Cf. DISCONTINUEE.

discontinuous easement See EASEMENT.

discontinuous easement- An easement that can be enjoyed only if the party claiming it deliberately acts in some way with regard to the servient estate. Examples are a right-of-way and the right to draw water. Also termed discontinuing easement; noncontinuous easement; nonapparent easement; (in Louisiana) discontinuous servitude. Cf. continuous easement.

discontinuous servitude See discontinuous easement under EASEMENT.

discontinuous servitude See discontinuous easement under EASEMENT.

disconvenable (dis-kan-vee-na-bal), adj. [Law French], Archaic. Unfit; improper.

discount 1. A reduction from the full amount or value of something, esp. a price. 2. An advance deduction of interest when a person lends money on a note, bill of exchange, or other commercial paper, result-in its present value. See PRESENT VALUE. 3. The amount by which a security's market value is below its face value. Also termed bond discou n t. Cf. PREMI GM (3). - discount, vb.

discount bond A bond sold at its current market value, which is less than its face value. Also termed non-interest-bearing bond.

discount bond- See BOND (3).

discount broker 1. A broker who discounts bills of exchange and promissory notes, and advances money on securities. 2. A broker who executes buy and sell orders at commission rates lower than those of full-service brokers.

discount broker- See BROKER.

discount interest See INTEREST (3).

discount interest The interest that accrues on a discounted investment instrument (such as a government bond) as it matures. The investor receives the interest when the instrument is redeemed.

discount loan See LOAN.

discount market See MARKET.

discount rate 1. The interest rate at which a member bank may borrow money from the Federal Reserve. This rate controls the supply of money available to banks for lending. Cf. rediscount rate. 2. The percentage of a commercial papers face value paid by an issuer who sells the instrument to a financial institution. 3. The interest rate used in calculating present value.

discount rate See INTEREST RATE.

discount share See discount stock under STOCK.

discount stock A stock share issued for less than par value. Discount stock is considered a type of watered stock, the issuance of which may impose liability on the recipient for the difference between the par value and the cash amount paid. Also termed discount share.

discount yield. See YIELD.

discounted cash flow A method ofevaluating a capital investment by comparing its projected income and costs with its current value . Discounted cash flow is used to determine the value of a company by calculating the present value of its future cash flows. In theory, the value of the corporation's assets equals the present value of the expected cash flow generated by those assets. - Also termed discounted-cash-flow method. Abbr. DCF; DCF method.

discounted cash flow- See CASH FLOW.

discounted-cash-flow method See discounted cash flow under CASH FLOW.

discouut stock See STOCK.

discoverable adj. Subject to pretrial discovery <the defendant's attorney argued that the defendant's income-tax returns were not discoverable during the liability phase of the trial>.

discovered-peril doctrine See LAST-CLEAR-CHANCE DOCTRINE.

discoveree A party who is required to respond to a litigant's discovery request or order. Cf. DISCOVERER (1).

discoverer 1. A litigant who seeks information or materials from another party by means of a discovery request. - Also termed discovering party. Cf. DISCOVEREE. 2. Patent law. See INVENTOR. See 35 USCA § 101.

discovering party See DISCOVERER (1).

discovert (dis-kav-art), adj. 1. Archaic. Uncovered; exposed. 2. Not married, esp. a widow or a woman who has never married.

discovery 1. The act or process of finding or learning something that was previously unknown <after making the discovery, the inventor immediately applied for a patent>. 2. Compulsory disclosure, at a party's request, of information that relates to the litigation <the plaintiff filed a motion to compel discovery>. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26-37; Fed. R. Crim. P. 16.o The primary discovery devices are interrogatories, depositions, requests for admissions, and requests for production. Although discovery typically comes from parties, courts also allow limited discovery from nonparties. 3. The facts or documents disclosed <the new associate spent all her time reviewing discovery>. 4. The pretrial phase of a lawsuit during which depositions, interrogatories, and other forms of discovery are conducted. - discover, vb. discoverable, adj. "Discovery has broad scope. According to Federal Rule 26, which is the model in modern procedural codes, inquiry may be made into 'any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the action.' Thus, discov· ery may be had of facts incidentally relevant to the issues in the pleadings even if the facts do not directly prove or disprove the facts in question." Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr. & Michele Taruffo, American Civil Procedure: An Introduction 115 (1993).

discovery abuse 1. The misuse of the discovery process, esp. by making overbroad requests for information that is unnecessary or beyond the scope ofpermissible disclosure or by conducting discovery for an improper purpose. "The term 'discovery abuse' has been used as if it were a single concept, but it includes several different things. Thus, it is useful to subdivide 'abuse' into 'misuse' and overuse: What is referred to as 'misuse' would include not only direct violation of the rules, as by failing to respond to a discovery request within the stated time limit, but also more subtle attempts to harass or obstruct an opponent, as by giving obviously inadequate answers or by requesting information that clearly is outside the scope of discovery. By 'overuse' is meant asking for more discovery than is necessary or appropriate to the particular case. 'Overuse,' in turn, can be subdivided into problems of 'depth' and of 'breadth,' with 'depth' referring to discovery that may be relevant but is simply excessive and 'breadth' referring to discovery requests that go into matters too far removed from the case." Charles Alan Wright, The Law of Federal Courts § 81, at 580 (5th ed. 1994). 2. The failure to respond adequately to proper discovery requests. - Also termed abuse ofdiscovery.

discovery immunity An exemption provided by statute, caselaw, or court rules to exclude certain documents and information from being disclosed during discovery.

discovery policy See claims-made policy.

discovery policy See claims-made policy under INSURANCE POLICY.

discovery rule Civil procedure. The rule that a limitations period does not begin to run until the plaintiff discovers (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury giving rise to the claim. The discovery rule usu. applies to injuries that are inherently difficult to detect, such as those resulting from medical malpractice. See STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. Cf. OCCURRENCE RULE.

discovery vein See VEIN.

discredit To destroy or impair the credibility of (a witness, a piece of evidence, or a theory); to lessen the degree of trust to be accorded to (a witness or document). - discredit, n.

discreet (di-skreet), adj. Exercising discretion; prudent; judicious; discerning.

discrete (di-skreet), adj. Individual; separate; distinct.

discretion (di-skresh-an). 1. Wise conduct and management; cautious discernment; prudence. 2. Individual judgment; the power of free decision-making. sole discretion. An individual's power to make decisions without anyone else's advice or consent. 3. Criminal & tort law. The capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, sufficient to make a person responsible for his or her own actions. 4. A public official's power or right to act in certain circumstances according to personal judgment and conscience, often in an official or representative capacity. - Also termed discretionary power.

discretion statement English law. In an action for divorce or judicial separation, a written request for the court to consider granting a judgment favorable to a spouse who has admittedly committed a matrimonial offense, esp. adultery. "In a suit for divorce or judicial separation, the defendant's own adultery is a discretionary bar. The petitioner asking the court to exercise its discretion to grant a decree not withstanding his own adultery must lodge in the Divorce Registry a statement, known as a 'discretion statement,' dated and signed by him or his solicitor, stating that the court will be asked to exercise its discretion on his behalf notwithstanding his own adultery, and setting forth particulars of his acts of adultery and of the facts which is it material for the court to know for the purpose of exercising its discretion." N. Simon Tessy, Is a Discretion Statement Really Necessary?, 21 Mod. L. Rev. 48, 48 (1958).

discretion, abuse of See ABUSE OF DISCRETION.

discretionary (di-skresh-a-ner-ee), adj. (Of an act or duty) involving an exercise of judgment and choice, not an implementation of a hard-and-fast rule. Such an act by a court may be overturned only after a showing of abuse of discretion.

discretionary account An account that allows a broker access to a customer's funds to purchase and sell securities or commodities for the customer based on the broker's judgment and without first having to obtain the customer's consent to the purchase or sale.

discretionary act A deed involving an exercise of personal judgment and conscience. - Also termed discretionary function. See DISCRETION; ABUSE OF DISCRETION.

discretionary bail Bail set in an amount that is subject to judicial discretion.

discretionary bail- See BAIL (3).

discretionary commitment A commitment that a judge mayor may not grant, depending on whether the government has proved usu. by clear and convincing evidence that the commitment is necessary for the well-being of the defendant or society (as when the defendant is insane and dangerous) . Most states allow discretionary commitment.

discretionary commitment- See COMMITMENT.

discretionary damages Damages (such as mental anguish or pain and suffering) that are not precisely measurable but are determined by the subjective judgment of a jury. - Also termed indeterminate damages.

discretionary damages- See DAMAGES.

discretionary duty See DUTY (2).

discretionary duty- A duty that allows a person to exercise judgment and choose to perform or not perform. Cf. ministerial duty.

discretionary function See DISCRETIONARY ACT.

discretionary immunity See IMMUNITY (1).

discretionary immunity- A qualified immunity for a public official's acts, granted when the act in question required the exercise of judgment in carrying out official duties (such as planning and policy-making). 28 USCA § 2680(a). "Probably no one test will control the decision on discretionary immunity. Although the fact that the government has omitted to act is not in itself a defense, the discretionary immunity is frequently emphasized in nonfeasance cases. On the other hand, where the government's activity is affirmative, specific, and in violation of a statute, regulation, or constitutional provision imposing a duty upon government, courts are often willing to say there is no room for discretion." Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 131, at 1041-42 (W. Page Keeton ed., 5th ed. 1984).

discretionary order See ORDER (8).

discretionary order An order to buy or sell at any price acceptable to the broker.

discretionary power A power that a person may choose to exercise or not, based on the person s judgment.

discretionary power 1. See POWER (3). 2. See DISCRETION (4).

discretionary review The form of appellate review that is not a matter of right but that occurs only with the appellate courts permission. See CERTIORARI.

discretionary review See REVIEW.

discretionary sentencing See indeterminate sentencing under SENTENCING.

discretionary sentencing See indeterminate sentencing.

discretionary trust See TRUST.

discretionary-transfer statute See TRANSFER STATUTE.

discriminant function (di-skrim-a-nant). An IRS method of selecting tax returns to be audited. The method consists of (1) using a computer program to identify returns with a high probability of error (such as those showing a disproportionate amount of deductible expenses), and (2) having examiners manually review the selected returns to determine which ones should be audited. - Also termed DIP system.

discriminatee (di-skrim-a-na-tee). A person unlawfully discriminated against.

discrimination 1. The effect of a law or established practice that confers privileges on a certain class or that denies privileges to a certain class because of race, age, sex, nationality, religion, or disability. Federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibits employment discrimination based on anyone of those characteristics. Other federal statutes, supplemented by court decisions, prohibit discrimination in voting rights, housing, credit extension, public education, and access to public facilities. State laws provide further protections against discrimination. 2. Differential treatment; esp., a failure to treat all persons equally when no reasonable distinction can be found between those favored and those not favored. 'The dictionary sense of 'discrimination' is neutral while the current political use of the term is frequently non-neutral, pejorative. With both a neutral and a non-neutral use of the word having currency, the opportunity for confusion in arguments about racial discrimination is enormously multiplied. For some, it may be enough that a practice is called discriminatory for them to judge it wrong. Others may be mystified that the first group condemns the practice Without further argument or inquiry. Many may be led to the false sense that they have actually made a moral argument by showing that the practice discriminates (distinguishes in favor of or against). The temptation is to move from 'X distinguishes in favor of or against' to 'X discriminates' to 'X is wrong' without being aware of the equivocation involved." Robert K. Fullinwider, The Reverse Discrimination Controversy 11-12 (1980).

discriminatory tariff See TARIFF (2).

discriminatory tariff A tariff containing duties that are applied unequally to different countries or manufacturers.

discussion 1. The act of exchanging views on something; a debate. 2. Civil law. A creditor's act of exhausting all remedies against the principal debtor before proceeding with a lawsuit against the guarantor. See BENEFIT OF DISCUSSION.

disdosure document program Patents. A C.S. Patent and Trademark Office program allowing an inventor to file a preliminary description of an invention and establish its date of conception before applying for a patent. The document can help establish a date of inventive effort for use in a later interference. Abbr. DDP. Cf. PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION.

disease 1. A deviation from the healthy and normal functioning of the body <the drug could not be linked to his disease>. 2. (pi.) Special classes of pathological conditions with similar traits, such as having similar causes and affecting similar organs <respiratory diseases> <occupational diseases>. 3. Any disorder; any depraved condition.

disembarrass To free from embarrassment; to extricate or disentangle one thing from another.

disembodied technology Intellectual property. Know-how or knowledge that is in the form of information only. Disembodied technology includes proprietary technology and information in the public domain. Cf. EMBODIED TECHNOLOGY.

disenfranchise (dis-an-fran-chiz), vb. To deprive (a person) of the right to exercise a franchise or privilege, esp. to vote. Also termed disfranchise.

disenfranchisement (dis-an-fran-chiz-mant or -fran-chiz-mant). 1. The act ofdepriving a member of a corporation or other organization of a right, as by expulsion. 2. The act of taking away the right to vote in public elections from a citizen or class of citizens. - Also termed disfranchisement.

disentailing assurance See DISENTAILMENT.

disentailing deed A tenant-in-tail's assurance that the estate tail will be barred and converted into an estate in fee. The Fines and Recoveries Act (3 & 4 Will. 4 ch. 74) introduced this way of barring an entail. It authorized nearly every tenant in tail, if certain conditions were met, to dispose of the land in fee simple absolute and thus to defeat the rights ofall persons claiming under the tenant.

disentailing deed- See DEED.

disentailing statute (dis-an-tayl-ing). A statute regulating or prohibiting disentailing deeds. See disentailing deed under DEED.

disentailment (dis-an-tayl-mant), n. The act or process by which a tenant in tail bars the entail on an estate and converts it into a fee simple, thereby nullifying the rights of any later claimant to the fee tail. Also termed disentailing assurance. See BARRING OF ENTAIL. - disentail, vb.

disentitle (dis-an-tit-al), vb. To deprive (someone) of a title or claim <the plaintiffs' actions disentitled them to recover damages>.

disfacere See DIFFACERE.

disfigurement (dis-fig-yar-mant). An impairment or injury to the appearance of a person or thing.

disfranchise See DISENFRANCHISE.

disfranchisement See DISENFRANCHISEMENT.

disgavel (dis-gav-al), vb. To convert (gavelkind land) into ordinary freehold land. See GAVELKIND.

disgorgement The act of giving up something (such as profits illegally obtained) on demand or by legal compulsion. - disgorge, vb.

disgrading 1. The act of degrading. 2. The depriving of an order; the depriving of a dignity. "Disgrading, or degrading, is when a man having taken upon him a dignity temporal or spiritual, is afterwards thereof deprived. be he knight, clerk or other. Whereof if a clerk be delivered to his ordinary, and cannot clear himself of the offence whereof he is convicted by the jury, he shall be disgraded for it: which is nothing else but the deprivation of him from those orders he hath taken upon him. as priesthood, deaconship, or otherWise .... In like manner there is disgrading of a knight .... And it is worthy the observation, that by the canon law there are two kinds of disgradings: the one summary, by word only, and the other solemn, by devesting the party disgraded from those ornaments and rites which are the ensigns of his order or degree." Termes de la Lev 175-76 (lst Am. ed. 1812).

disguised dividend See informal dividend under DIVIDEND.

disguised dividend- See informal dividend.

disguised installment sale Bankruptcy. A debtors leasing ploy to try to keep property outside the bankruptcy estate, whereby a lease either presents the lessee-debtor with a bargain purchase option or transfers title to the lessee-debtor at the end of the lease term. When such a lease is discovered, the property is treated as part of the bankruptcy estate, meaning that to defeat competing creditors, the lessor must have perfected a security interest.

disguised installment sale See INSTALLMENT SALE.

disherison (dis-her-a-zan). See DISINHERITANCE.

disheritor (dis-her-a-tar or -tor). Archaic. A person who deprives someone of an inheritance.

dishonest act See FRAUDULENT ACT.