Due diligence

Definition - Noun
1  : such diligence as a reasonable person under the same circumstances would use
: use of reasonable but not necessarily exhaustive efforts
Due diligence is used most often in connection with the performance of a professional or fiduciary duty, or with regard to proceeding with a court action. Due care is used more often in connection with general tort actions.
2 a  : the care that a prudent person might be expected to exercise in the examination and evaluation of risks affecting a business transaction
b  : the process of investigation carried on usu. by a disinterested third party (as an accounting or law firm) on behalf of a party contemplating a business transaction (as a corporate acquisition or merger, loan of finances, or esp. purchase of securities) for the purpose of providing information with which to evaluate the advantages and risks involved <the greatest exposure...for failure to conduct adequate due diligence arises in the context of public offerings of securities ­G. M. Lawrence>
c  : the defense (as to a lawsuit) that due diligence was conducted



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Based on Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©2001.
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collateral estoppel

estoppel by judgment barring the relitigation of issues litigated by the same parties on a different cause of action


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