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double agent- See dual agent under AGENT (2).

double assessment The act of requiring that tax be paid twice for the same property. See double taxation under TAXATION.

double assessment- See ASSESSMENT.

double audit An audit of the same subject performed separately by two independent auditors.

double audit- See AUDIT.

double commission See COMMISSION (5).

double complaint See DUPLEX QUERELA.

double creditor A creditor who has a lien on two funds. Cf. single creditor.

double creditor- See CREDITOR.

double criminality The punishability of a crime in both the country where a suspect is being held and a country asking for the suspect to be handed over to stand trial. Double criminality is a requirement for extradition.

double damages See DAMAGES.

double damages- Damages that, by statute, are twice the amount that the fact-finder determines is owed or twice the amount of actual damages awarded. In some cases, double damages are awarded in addition to actual damages, so the effect is the same as treble damages.

double forgery See FORGERY.

double forgery- A draft haVing a forged payor signature and a forged indorsement.

double gibbet See GIBBET.

double gibbet- A gibbet with two arms extending from its top so that it resembles a capital "T'."

double hearsay See HEARSAY.

double indemnity See INDEMNITY.

double indemnity- The payment of twice the basic benefit in the event of a specified loss, esp. as in an insurance contract requiring the insurer to pay twice the policy's face amount in the case of accidental death.

double insurance Insurance coverage by more than one insurer for the same interest and for the same insured. Except with life insurance, the insured is entitled to only a single indemnity from a loss, and to recover this, the insured may either (1) sue each insurer for its share of the loss, or (2) sue one or more of the insurers for the entire amount, leaving any paying insurers to recover from the others their respective shares of the loss.

double insurance See INSURANCE.

double jeopardy The fact of being prosecuted or sentenced twice for substantially the same offense. Double jeopardy is prohibited by the Fifth Amendment. In 2005, the United Kingdom abolished the rule for certain serious offenses, such as murder and hijacking. A court may quash an acquittal and order a retrial if new and compelling evidence of the defendant's guilt is discovered, and the evidence was not available before the acquittal. Only one retrial is allowed. Cf. FORMER JEOPARDY.

double jeopardy clause The Fifth Amendment provision stating, "nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." The clause, which was ratified in 1791, does not prevent postacquittal appeals by the government if those appeals could not result in the defendant's being subjected to a second trial for substantially the same offense before a second fact-trier. See United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 95 S.Ct. 1013 (1975).

double patenting 1. Obtaining two patents covering the same invention. An inventor is not allowed to receive more than one patent on one invention. 37 CFR 1.56. Also termed same-invention double patenting. 2. The issuance or obtaining of a patent for an invention that differs from an already patented invention only in some unpatentable detail. - Also termed obviousness double patenting.

double plea See PLEA (3).

double plea A plea consisting in two or more distinct grounds of complaint or defense for the same issue. Cf. alternative pleading under PLEADING (2); DUPLICITY (2).

double pleading See DUPLICITY (2).

double possession The doctrine that, in a bailment, both the bailor and the bailee have possession of the item that has been bailed. This doctrine does not apply in most Anglo-American jurisdictions. "It has been suggested that the essence of bailment is that the bailee secures possession and therefore that the bailor loses possession. This elementary proposition is some times obscured by the fact that some dicta treat the possession of the bailee as the possession of the bailor. The theoretical justification for this is the doctrine of double possession - a principal may have possession through the possession of an agent, This view is in accord with some foreign systems, but it does not suit the basic principles of English law which treats possession as exclusive," GW. Paton, Bailment in the Common Law 6 (1952).

double possession See POSSESSION.

double proof See PROOF.

double proof 1. Bankruptcy. Proof of claims by two Of more creditors against the same debt. This violates the general rule that there can be only one claim with respect to a single debt. 2. Evidence. Corroborating government evidence (usu. by two witnesses) required to sustain certain convictions.

double quarrel See DlIPLEX QUERELA.

double recovery 1. A judgment that erroneously awards damages twice for the same loss, based on two different theories of recovery. 2. Recovery by a party of more than the maximum recoverable loss that the party has sustained.

double recovery See RECOVERY.

double rent See RENT (1).

double rent Twice the amount of rent agreed to; specif. a penalty of twice the amount of rent against a tenant who holds possession of the leased property after the date provided in the tenant s notice to quit. The penalty was provided by the Distress for Rent Act, 1737, 11 Geo. 2., ch. 19, § 13.

double standard A set of principles permitting greater opportunity or greater lenience for one class of people than for another, usu. based on a difference such as gender or race. See DISCRIMINATION.

double taxation 1. The imposition of two taxes on the same property during the same period and for the same taxing purpose. 2. The imposition of two taxes on one corporate profit; esp., the structure of taxation employed by Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code, under which corporate profits are taxed twice, once to the corporation when earned and once to the shareholders when the earnings are distributed as dividends. 3. The imposition of comparable taxes in two or more states on the same taxpayer for the same subject matter or identical goods. - Also termed duplicate taxation.

double taxation See TAXATION.

double use See USE (1).

double value Twice the value of something; specif., a penalty payable by a tenant to a landlord of twice the yearly value of lands held by the tenant, who refused to leave when the landlord provided written notice of intent to possess the property.o The penalty was provided under the Landlord and Tenant Act (1730). St. 4 Geo. 2. ch. 28, s. 1.

double voucher In a common-recovery suit, a voucher first by the fictitious tenant to the real tenant, and then by the real tenant to the common vouchee. - The use of a fictitious tenant was necessary because ifthe recovery had been obtained directly against the real tenant, it would be effective only to the limited extent that the real tenant actually possessed an interest in the estate. But if recovery was obtained against another party, it would be effective against any latent interest that the real tenant might assert in the estate. See COMMON RECOVERY. "The recovery, here described, is with a single voucher only; but sometimes it is with double. . or farther voucher, as the exigency of the case may require. And indeed it is now usual always to have a recovery with double voucher at the least; by first conveying an estate of freehold to any indifferent person, against whom the praecipe is brought; and then he vouches the tenant in tail, who vouches over the common vouchee. For, if a recovery be had immedi· ately against tenant in tail, it bars only such estate in the premises of which he is then actually seised; whereas if the recovery be had against another person, and the tenant in tail be vouched, it bars every latent right and interest which he may have in the lands recovered." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 359 (1766).

double waste See WASTE (1).

double will See mutual will under WILL.

double-bill To charge two different clients or customers the same charge; to charge two different customers for services rendered to each customer at the same time.

double-breasted operation An arrangement in which a business owner operates both a union business and a similar nonunion business, to compete for both types of business contracts. - Also termed open-shop-closed shop operation.

double-breasting Labor law. The practice by a common owner of dividing its employees between two companies, one that is unionized and is party to a collective-bargaining agreement, and one that is nonunion. Also termed dual-shop operation.

double-declining depreciation method A depreciation method that spreads over time the initial cost of a capital asset by deducting in each period twice the percentage recognized by the straight-line method and applying that double percentage to the undepreciated balance existing at the start of each period.

double-declining depredation method See DEPRECIATION METHOD.

double-dipping An act of seeking or accepting essentially the same benefit twice, either from the same source or from two different sources, as in simultaneously accepting retirement and unemployment benefits. double-dipper, n.

double-entry bookkeeping A method of bookkeep-in which every transaction recorded by a business involves one or more "debit" entries and one or more "credit" entries .The debit entries must equal the credit entries for each transaction recorded.

double-entry bookkeeping- See BOOKKEEPING.

double-fraction problem Oil & gas. A common ambiguity that arises when the owner of a fractional interest conveys or reserves a fractional interest. For example, if the owner of an undivided half interest in minerals conveys "an undivided half interest in the minerals," it is unclear whether the intention is to convey the owner's entire half interest or half of the owner's half interest.

double-proxy marriage See MARRIAGE (3).

double-taxation treaty An international agreement designed to ameliorate the legal and financial consequences to taxpayers who have income that is taxable by two nations.

doubt the vote See DIVIDE THE ASSEMBLY.

doubt, reasonable See REASONABLE DOUBT.

doubtful title See TITLE (2).

doulocracy See DULOCRACY.

doun (doon or dohn), n. [Law French], A gift.

dovetail seniority The combination of seniority lists from merging companies into one list that allows employees to keep their premerger seniority.

dow (dow). See DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE.

dow jones industrial average A stock-market-performance indicator that consists of the price movements in the stocks of 30 leading industrial companies in the United States. Abbr. DJIA. Often shortened to Dow. - Also termed Dow Jones Average.

dowable (dow-a-bal), adj. 1. Capable of being endowed <the widow received the dowable estate>. 2. Capable of receiving dower <the woman was dowable of the estate>.

dowager (dow-a-jar). A widow holding property or title - esp. a life estate in real property received from her deceased husband.

dowager-queen The widow of the king of England. If she is also the mother of the reigning monarch, she may also by known as the queen mother. Also written dowager queen. - Also termed queen dowager; queen mother. "A queen dowager is the widow of the king, and as such enjoys most of the privileges belonging to her as queen consort. But it is not high treason to conspire her death; or to violate her chastity ... because the succession to the crown is not thereby endangered. Yet still, ... no man can marry a queen dowager without special licence from the king, on pain of forfeiting his lands and goods .... A queen dowager, when married again to a subject, doth not lose her regal dignity, as peeresses dowager do their peerage when they marry commoners." 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 217 (1765).

dower (dow-ar). At common law, a wife's right, upon her husband's death, to a life estate in one-third of the land that he owned in fee. With few exceptions, the wife could not be deprived ofdower by any transfer made by her husband during his lifetime. Although most states have abolished dower, many states retain ing the concept have expanded the wife's share to a life estate in all the land that her husband owned in fee. Also termed dowment; maritagium. Cf. CURTESY.

dower ad ostium ecclesiae (ad ahs-tee-am e-klee-z[h] ee-ee), n. [Law Latin "dower at the church door"]. An endowment of dower made bv a man to his wife at the church door or porch, usu. a; part of the marriage ceremony. "DOWER AD OSTIUM ECClESIAE.......This appears to have been the original English dower .... It was formerly the most usual species of dower, and, though latterly fallen into disuse, was not abolished until the statute of 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 105, s. 13 .... The wife might be endowed of personalty or goods as well as of lands, and a trace of this ancient kind of dower is still distinctly preserved in the marriage ritual of the church of England, in the expression 'with all my worldly goods I thee endow." 1 Alexander M. Burrill. A Law Dictionary and Glossary 520 (2d ed. 1867).

dower by custom Dower that is determined by custom rather than the general law. Also termed dower by particular custom. "Dower by ... custom; as that the wife shall have half the husband's lands, or in some places the whole, and in some only a quarter." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 132 (1766).

dower by particular custom See dower by custom.

dower by the common law The regular dower, consisting of a life interest in one-third of the lands that the husband held in fee. Also termed dos rationabilis (dos rash-[ee]-a-nab-a-las).

dower consummate See consummate dower.

dower ex assensu patris (eks a-sen-s[y]oo pa-tris), n. [Law Latin "dower bv the father's assent"]. A type of dower ad osti~m ecclesiae made while the husband's father is alive and consents to the endowment to his son's wife.

dower inchoate See inchoate dower.

doweress See DOWRESS.

dowle stones (dohl). Rocks used as land boundaries. See CALL (5); LOCATIVE CALLS.

dowment See DOWER.

down market See bear market under MARKET.

down payment The portion of a purchase price paid in cash (or its equivalent) at the time the sale agreement is executed. Cf. BINDER (2); EARNEST MONEY.

down payment See PAYMENT.

down reversal A sudden market-price decline after a rising trend. The term applies to the early stage of the decline; if the decline continues for several months, it is termed a bear market. Also termed correction; market correction.

down trend See DOWNSIDE TREND.

downright evidence Rare. A preponderance of evidence.

downright evidence- See DOWNRIGHT EVIDENCE.

downside Securities. 1. A downward movement of stock prices. 2. The potential of a downward movement in stock prices. Cf. UPSIDE.

downside risk Securities. A likely risk that stock prices will drop.

downside trend The portion of the market cycle that shows declining stock prices. Also termed down trend.

downsizing Reducing the number of employees, usu. to decrease labor costs and to increase efficiency.

downstream guaranty See GUARANTY.

downstream guaranty- 1. A parent corporation's guaranty of a subsidiary's obligations. 2. A guaranty made for a company by a guarantor who is also a partner, member, or stockholder of the company.

downstream merger See MERGER.

downward departure In the federal sentencing guidelines, a court's imposition of a sentence more lenient than the standard guidelines propose, as when the court concludes that a criminal's history is less serious than it appears.

downward departure- See DEPARTlJRE.

dowress (dow-ris). Archaic. 1. A woman legally entitled to dower. 2. A tenant in dower. - Also spelled doweress.

dowry (dow-ree). Archaic. The money, goods, or property that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. Also termed marriage portion; maritagium (mair-a-tay-jee-am); maritage (mair-i-tij).

dozen peers During the reign of Henry III, 12 peers assembled by the barons to be the King's advisers.

dppa abbr. DEADBEAT PARENTS PUNISHMENT ACT.

dpw abbr. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICES.

dr abbr. 1. DEBTOR. 2. DOCTOR.

DR bbr. DISCIPLINARY RULE.