Also known as: balances · balanced · balancing · balancing test · interest balancing
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A process of weighing competing interests, hardships, or factors to determine the appropriateness of a remedy or the application of a rule. The analysis compares the burden or harm to one party against the benefit or protection to another, along with any relevant public interests.
A process of weighing competing interests, hardships, or factors to determine the appropriateness of a remedy or the application of a rule. The analysis compares the burden or harm to one party against the benefit or protection to another, along with any relevant public interests.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The remaining portion of an amount, period, or estate after specified distributions or uses have been accounted for.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The remaining portion of an amount, period, or estate after specified distributions or uses have been accounted for.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Brittany Bell operates a small factory whose emissions drift onto Beatrice Brown's adjacent residential property, causing ongoing discomfort. Brown sues for an injunction. The court weighs the modest cost to Bell of installing filters against the substantial harm Brown would continue to suffer without relief and grants the injunction.
Benito Benitez sues in federal court on a state-law claim. No federal rule directly addresses whether a particular evidentiary presumption applies. The court balances the state's interest in uniform application of its substantive policy against the federal system's interest in efficient procedure and decides to follow state law.
Belinda Baxter obtains a building permit and spends heavily on site preparation before the city rezones the parcel. When the city attempts to block construction, the court balances Baxter's good-faith expenditures and reliance against the municipality's interest in the new zoning and recognizes a vested right to proceed.
Blue Horizon Industries challenges the termination of an employee's disability benefits. The agency provides written notice and an opportunity to respond before termination, followed by a post-termination evidentiary hearing with retroactive relief if successful. The court balances the employee's interest, the risk of error, and the government's fiscal burden and finds the procedures satisfy due process.
A court compares the hardship an injunction would impose on the defendant with the hardship the plaintiff would suffer if relief is denied. It also considers the character of each party's conduct, any delay by the plaintiff, and the interests of third parties and the public.
Supporting sources
When no federal rule or statute governs an issue whose substantive or procedural character is unclear, the court weighs the state's interest in having its rule applied against the federal judicial system's interest in its own practice to decide which law controls.
Supporting sources
No. Written notice and an opportunity to respond in writing before termination, followed by a full post-termination hearing with retroactive benefits if the claimant prevails, satisfy due process after the court balances the private interest, risk of erroneous deprivation, and government interests.
Supporting sources
Bharat Bhatia dies intestate survived by one parent and descendants of a deceased parent. After the parent's statutory share is distributed, the balance of the estate passes by representation to the surviving descendants of the deceased parent.
Bella Barnes abandons her commercial lease with two years remaining. The landlord elects not to relet for the balance of the term and instead sues Barnes for the unpaid rent that would have accrued during that period.
After any statutory shares to a surviving spouse or parent are distributed, the remaining balance passes by representation to the surviving descendants of the decedent's deceased parents under the rules of subsection (e).
Supporting sources
…to protect life then extends, it is argued, to prenatal life. Only when the life of the pregnant mother herself is at stake, balanced against the life she carries within her, should the interest of the embryo or fetus not prevail. Logically, of course, a legitimate state interest in this area need not stand or fall on…