Also known as: for doing
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A Latin phrase denoting an act or obligation undertaken to perform or create a specified result.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Arthur Abrams reviewed client records showing a clear statutory violation before drafting the complaint. He concluded that filing the action would satisfy the requirement to proceed only on a nonfrivolous basis. The court later denied sanctions because the filing met the standard for a good-faith claim.
Anika Anand, a student editor, sought university funding for a religious newspaper under an established program. University officials denied the request citing viewpoint concerns. The Supreme Court held that the denial violated free-speech principles because the program was open to all student groups.
Aether Technologies proposed an energy-conservation advertisement that the state commission prohibited. The company argued the ban suppressed commercial speech without sufficient justification. The Court applied intermediate scrutiny and struck down the restriction as overly broad.
Atlas Ventures challenged an agency rule on nuclear waste disposal that the agency had adopted without full public comment. The company claimed the process violated statutory requirements. The Court upheld the rule because the agency had followed the necessary procedures for informal rulemaking.
Anthony Arnold faced state charges that overlapped with a pending federal indictment. He asked the state court to halt the federal proceeding. The Supreme Court held that principles of comity required the federal court to abstain from interfering with the ongoing state prosecution.
Adrian Aguilar, a private citizen, sued a magazine for publishing false statements about his professional conduct. The publisher claimed First Amendment protection for all speech about public matters. The Court ruled that actual malice must be shown only when the plaintiff is a public figure.
The phrase indicates that a party must perform or create the action or document specified in the instrument.
Modern rules use English equivalents, but the Latin phrase historically signaled an affirmative duty to act.
Rule 3.1 requires a nonfrivolous basis before a lawyer may bring or defend a proceeding, which embodies the obligation to act only when justified.
…they see in the law make it unconstitutional. Had the doctor defendant here, or even the nondoctor defendant, been convicted for doing nothing more than expressing opinions to persons coming to the clinic that certain contraceptive devices, medicines or practices would do them good and would be desirable, or for telling…