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Simple English definitions for legal terms
offensive collateral estoppel
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A quick definition of offensive collateral estoppel:
Offensive collateral estoppel is when a person sues someone else and uses a previous court decision against that person. This means that the person being sued cannot argue the same thing again, even if the new case is different from the old one. It's like saying "you already lost this argument before, so you can't use it again." This is different from defensive collateral estoppel, which is when the person being sued uses a previous court decision in their own defense.
A more thorough explanation:
Offensive collateral estoppel is a legal term that means a party cannot re-litigate an issue that has already been decided against them in a previous case. This applies even if the second case is different from the first one. It is called "offensive" because it is used by the plaintiff to prevent the defendant from re-litigating an issue.
Let's say that in a previous case, a court decided that a company was liable for a defective product that caused harm to a customer. In a new case, the same company is being sued by a different customer for the same issue. The new customer can use offensive collateral estoppel to prevent the company from re-litigating the issue of liability, since it has already been decided against them in the previous case.
This means that the company cannot argue that they are not liable for the defective product, even if they have new evidence or arguments. They are bound by the previous court's decision.