Meaning & use
exercise due diligence
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Meanings
phraseidiomformalbusinesslaw
To take the careful steps that a reasonable person or company should take before acting, especially to avoid harm or loss.
Grammar: Used with 'in' before the activity: exercise due diligence in checking the accounts.
Patterns
- exercise due diligence in doing something
- exercise due diligence in something
- exercise due diligence before doing something
Buyers should exercise due diligence in checking the property's legal history.
The bank failed to exercise due diligence before lending the money.
She exercised due diligence in verifying every figure in the report.
phraseidiomlegalformal
To make the reasonable effort required by law to protect people, information or property in your care.
Grammar: Often used about safety, data or money that someone is responsible for.
Patterns
- exercise due diligence to protect something
- exercise due diligence in relation to something
Employers must exercise due diligence to keep the workplace safe.
The council exercised due diligence in relation to the personal data it held.
Common combinations
- exercise due diligence in
- The auditor exercised due diligence in reviewing the accounts.
- exercise due diligence before
- Investors should exercise due diligence before signing the contract.
- fail to exercise due diligence
- The firm failed to exercise due diligence and was fined.
- exercise due diligence to protect
- Staff must exercise due diligence to protect customer data.
- proper due diligence
- The deal went through after proper due diligence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- take reasonable care
- A plainer everyday phrase with much the same idea, used outside legal contexts.
- do your homework
- Informal and figurative; it means checking things carefully, but carries no legal duty.
- investigate
- Focuses on finding facts, while 'exercise due diligence' stresses the duty to be careful.
Opposites
Word family
- due diligence noun
- The careful investigation or checks themselves.
- diligent adjective
- Careful and hard-working in what you do.
- diligence noun
- Careful and continued effort in your work.
Commonly confused: exercise due diligence or due diligence? exercise due diligence or exercise?
exercise due diligence vs due diligence
The noun phrase names the checks; 'exercise due diligence' is the verb phrase meaning to carry them out.
exercise due diligence vs exercise
Here 'exercise' means to use or apply a quality, not to do physical activity.
Practice
Before buying the company, the investors ______ due diligence in examining its debts.
Choose one answer.
'Exercise due diligence' is the fixed formal phrase, so 'exercised' fits. 'Did' is possible in informal speech ('did due diligence') but is not the standard form in this formal sentence, and 'took' and 'made' do not collocate with 'due diligence' in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exercise due diligence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.