term:

Moot

moot vt

: to make moot [statute of limitations would the effort "S. R. Sontag"]
adj [(of a trial or hearing) hypothetical, staged for practice, from moot hypothetical case for law students, argument, deliberative assembly, from Old English mōt assembly, meeting]
: deprived of practical significance
: made abstract or purely academic [the case became when the defendant paid the sum at issue] see also mootness doctrine compare justiciable, ripe
moot·ness [müt-nəs]
n

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.