laches

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And finally, the en banc Sixth Circuit rejected Secretary Brunner's arguments that the GOP had been guilty of "laches" - an equitable doctrine which basically says that if you've been tardy in asserting your rights, you may have forfeited them.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun Negligence or undue delay in asserting a legal right or privilege.

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Examples (50)

  • Judge Newman concurred with this result, but would have decided the case on laches (based on the long delay in making the claim) and estoppel (based on Tavory's silence during the NTP trial). —  Patent Law Blog (Patently-O)
  • Although if any copyright case ever called for application of laches, this one is probably it. —  Scrivener's Error
  • But most U.S. courts begin their "laches" analyses by looking to the most analogous statute of limitations, which probably just brings Russia back to civil RICO's four-year limit. —  FORTUNE Features
  • Worried that there is not enough time to remedy the ballot's deficiencies, the Secretary's lawyers asserted the doctrine of laches which would squash the case based on delay in bringing suit. —  Illinois Review
  • Crosby and Skippy, Inc. did nothing about it for about two decades, while the company / ies behind Skippy spent millions of dollars producing and advertising the product - the legal notion of laches has been applied to this case (the notion being "you can't sleep on your claim for decades without losing it"). —  Comic Book Resources
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, slackness, negligence, from Anglo-Norman lachesse, laches, from Old French laschesse, from lasche, loose, remiss; see lush1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English lachesse, lacchesse, from Old French lachesse, laxness, remissness, from lache, lax, remiss; see lache lash
 

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/ˈlætʃɛz/
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