Also known as: matter of course · routinely · pro forma
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A routine entitlement or practice that occurs automatically without requiring leave, approval, or additional justification.
Aether Technologies regularly hires outside counsel for regulatory compliance work. A lawyer who handles that type of matter sends the company a targeted letter offering services. The contact is permitted because the recipient routinely uses the offered legal services for business purposes.
The Senate remains in session through daily pro forma meetings even while members are away. The President attempts to fill a vacant agency post without confirmation. The appointment fails because the Senate has not formally declared a recess of sufficient length.
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Adam Anderson serves his answer on Monday. Within twenty-one days he files an amended answer adding an affirmative defense. The court accepts the filing because the amendment occurs as a matter of course under the timing rule.
During a lawful traffic stop an officer approaches the driver. Without additional suspicion the officer orders the driver to exit the vehicle. The order is permitted as a matter of course for officer safety.
A neighborhood association sues to enforce a racial restriction in a deed. The state court orders specific performance as a matter of course under existing property law. The Supreme Court later holds that judicial enforcement constitutes state action subject to equal-protection limits.
A terminally ill patient seeks a physician's assistance to end life. The state statute prohibits the assistance. The court upholds the ban because no fundamental right to assisted suicide exists that would trigger heightened scrutiny.
A party may amend once as a matter of course within twenty-one days after serving the pleading or within twenty-one days after service of a responsive pleading or Rule 12 motion, whichever is earlier.
No. The Senate must formally declare a recess of sufficient duration. Pro forma sessions prevent the Senate from being treated as in recess even if members are away.
No. Solicitation is permitted as a matter of course only when the recipient routinely uses the offered legal services for business purposes or has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer.
No. An injunction is not issued as a matter of course. The court must balance the relative hardships to the parties and consider the interests of third parties and the public.
…cases is clear. Because of the race or color of these petitioners they have been denied rights of ownership or occupancy enjoyed as a matter of course by other citizens of different race or color.[^maj-25] The Fourteenth Amendment declares “that all persons, whether colored or white, shall stand equal before the laws of the States, and,…