An order from a court suspending proceedings in a case. In effect a stay will usually ‘stop the clock.’ Stay’s are often issued when the parties are in settlement discussions or where in debt cases where the defendant is in bankruptcy. It is unusual to issue a stay on the application or request of just one party in a case.
Courts will also often issue a stay on final judgement of their case pending an appeal of their judgment or where there are other proceedings that may call their judgement into question (for example a separate infringement proceeding under the German split system) and in particular may stay the enforcement of an injunction pending the final outcome of the case.