Legal Definitions - in cursu diligentiae

in cursu diligentiae

This historical legal term, originating from Latin, translates to "in the course of doing diligence". It refers to the active and diligent steps taken by a court or a party to enforce or carry out a court's judgment or order. Essentially, it describes the process of making sure a court's decision is not just declared, but actually put into effect through careful and persistent effort.

Here are some examples:

• Example 1: Enforcing a Monetary Judgment

  Imagine a small business, "InnovateTech," wins a lawsuit against a former client who refused to pay for a completed software project. The court issues a judgment ordering the client to pay $50,000 to InnovateTech. If the client fails to pay voluntarily, InnovateTech's legal team would begin the process of identifying the client's assets, such as bank accounts or real estate, and then taking legal steps to seize those assets or garnish wages to satisfy the judgment. These actions—the asset search, filing liens, or initiating wage garnishment—are all undertaken in cursu diligentiae, as they are part of the diligent effort to execute the court's monetary judgment.

• Example 2: Compelling Specific Performance

  Consider a situation where a court orders a construction company to complete a specific building project that was abandoned midway, as per a breach of contract claim. If the company refuses to resume work, the court might appoint a third-party receiver to oversee the completion of the project, or issue further orders to compel the company's compliance. All the subsequent legal and administrative actions taken by the court or the winning party to ensure the physical completion of the project, thereby fulfilling the court's order, are considered to be done in cursu diligentiae.

• Example 3: Enforcing Family Law Orders

  In a divorce case, a court might issue a judgment detailing a specific child custody schedule and child support payments. If one parent consistently fails to adhere to the agreed-upon custody visitation times or misses multiple child support payments, the other parent can petition the court for enforcement. The court's subsequent actions, such as issuing a wage garnishment order to collect overdue support, or holding the non-compliant parent in contempt of court to enforce the custody schedule, are all steps taken in cursu diligentiae to diligently execute the family law judgment.