res judicata

Definition

The principle that once a court has decided an issue, you can't keep relitigating it like a broken record. It's the legal system's way of telling parties 'we already settled this, move on with your life.'

Example Usage

The defendant's motion was denied based on res judicata since the exact same claim had been rejected in state court last year.

Origin

Latin for 'a matter judged' or 'a thing decided'

Fun Fact

Without res judicata, vindictive litigants could file the same lawsuit repeatedly until they got a favorable result—turning courts into slot machines.

Source: Common civil procedure terminology

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