Understanding the Meaning of Disp in Court Proceedings

I love to cook, there is almost always something bubbling on the stove. I check the cupboard and pantry like I'm checking my cabinets after a long day of lawyering. I look for that magical ingredient that will bring everything together and really give the dish something special. At my best, I am like this: But, at my worst, I can be like this: As the years go on and the years in the law profession pile up, the truth is that what a judge means when he "disp" something is something that I hardly ever read, but somehow, I came to know what it meant through usage. Okay, here's the legalese: what does disp mean in court?

I like to think cooking is like the law, really. There are rules that help you get stuff done. Sometimes, they are very necessary to the game at hand. Other times not so much, which is what a good recipe is designed to teach you. Well written recipes will have those nice little notes that say things like, "Use fresh ground pepper," or "Brown the meat until it is just barely gray." The reason behind such instructions, dear reader is that a recipe is nothing if not a suggestion. It is a type of instructional oral history passed down from generation to generation.

But, the oral history usually comes with caveats... and sometimes they are the wrong ones. Like in law. I see this all the time. Like the time I was in law school and was told that I was supposed to ask lots of questions and that was the only way to really know. I question that to this day. They told me that when I got the wrong answer, I could recover it by asking questions. That is not true. Asking a question is just like going into an oral history without context. It gives you the right idea, mostly, but not actually at all. A recipe that tells you to use fresh ground pepper is telling you to shortcut the process so you can spend time getting the good stuff. Not using fresh ground pepper (or nutmeg, or garlic, or cayenne) will not ruin a dish. But, to a court, if you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing, then you have strayed from your appointed path and may not recover.

And, let's be real, asking "Why?" of the coach does not usually win you any points. Because you don't really want to know in court. You don't want to know what goes on behind the scenes and why. Using the legal principal of comprehensive understanding of disp in court would be exactly what it sounds like, dispensing with the facts of the matter in favor of the whole point of the exercise. Taking all of the material reality of life and putting it aside so you can reach an appealable judgment that does not resemble the actual product that happened.

It took me years to learn that the point of a recipe is not the result. The point of a recipe is the lessons that you learn along the way. The preparation. The seasoning. Even the tasting. Oh, the tasting is key, my friends. Because, more often than not, it tells you when to do something. Ask yourself, "Is this good? Does it have the freshness and flavor I expect?" One of my favorite jokes is when someone asks me if I use a timer. I usually respond that I do not even use a clock to let me know what to do next, but rather I taste for my timing. And, it is true. That is how I operate... How did I come to know this? Through time, my friends, just like a legal proceeding. Luckily, once you make the commitment to understanding something and making it better, it gets easier and easier.