Also known as: dijudications · dijudicate · dijudicates · dijudicated · dijudicating · adjudication
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal judicial determination resolving a legal issue or claim. The determination carries preclusive effect in subsequent proceedings when rendered on the merits after notice and opportunity to be heard.
Daniel Diaz's property was placed under guardianship after a court found him mentally ill. He later signed a supply agreement with Dakota Industries. The company cannot enforce the duties because the guardianship adjudication removed his capacity to contract.
Diana Delgado sued Dawson Steel in federal court. The court dismissed the action because the statute of limitations had run. Under the jurisdiction's rule on the effect of such dismissals, the adjudication bars Delgado from refiling the same claim in state court.
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Delilah Duran ignored two court orders to produce documents in her suit against Dynamic Solutions. The defendant moved to dismiss under Rule 41(b). The resulting adjudication on the merits prevents Duran from bringing the identical claim again.
Diane Dawson signed an acknowledgment naming Dylan Duffy as the child's father. A later adjudication under the Uniform Parentage Act resolved competing claims and established that another man is the legal parent. The court order displaced the earlier presumption.
Deanna Davenport challenged a state statute restricting access to contraceptives. The court issued a final adjudication declaring the law unconstitutional. The determination settled the rights of the parties and barred relitigation of the same constitutional claim.
Davenport Pharmaceuticals sought a writ to compel a federal officer to deliver a commission. The Supreme Court adjudication established that the judiciary may review executive refusals to perform ministerial duties. The decision resolved the separation-of-powers dispute between the parties.
Under Rule 41(b) an involuntary dismissal for failure to prosecute or obey court orders operates as an adjudication on the merits unless the order states otherwise or the dismissal rests on jurisdiction, venue, or failure to join a required party.
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Capacity is removed only when the person's property is under guardianship by reason of the adjudication. A bare finding of mental illness without guardianship does not automatically eliminate the ability to incur contractual duties.
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A presumption of parentage may be overcome only by an adjudication under Article 6 or a valid denial filed under Article 3 of the Uniform Parentage Act. An acknowledgment alone does not prevent later judicial resolution of competing claims.
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A judgment rendered on the merits after full litigation bars relitigation of the same claim between the same parties or their privies. Jurisdictions may differ on whether certain dismissals, such as those based on statutes of limitations, count as adjudications on the merits for preclusion purposes.
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…provided a different mode and enacted that the Secretary of War in conjunction with the Attorney General take measures to obtain adjudication by the Supreme Court on the validity of such rights. A mandamus was moved for to the Secretary at War to place a person on the pension list. The decision was not that a mandamus would not…