Also known as: business purposes
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A commercial or profit-making objective that motivates an action, transaction, or use of property or services.
Brandon Black operates a manufacturing plant and regularly retains outside counsel for contract reviews. A lawyer sends him a targeted letter offering services for employment disputes. Because Brandon routinely uses the type of legal services offered, the solicitation falls within the permitted exception.
Brighton Manufacturing opens its loading dock to delivery drivers and suppliers. A third-party contractor's negligence injures a driver on the premises. The company faces liability because it holds the land open to the public for its business purposes.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Blackwood Technologies leases space from Barclay Financial for its software development operations. After the landlord defaults, the tenant proves lost profits from delayed product launches. Recovery is available because the lease contemplated business purposes and the losses were foreseeable.
Baxter Dynamics supplies a forklift to a subcontractor for use on its warehouse expansion. Knowing the equipment has a faulty brake, the company is liable when the subcontractor is injured. Liability arises because the chattel was supplied for the supplier's business purposes.
Benjamin Brooks loans a defective crane to a crew working on his construction site. The crew suffers harm because Brooks failed to inspect the equipment. Liability follows from supplying the chattel for his own business purposes without reasonable care.
Belinda Baxter supplies scaffolding through a subcontractor for her retail renovation project. Even though the subcontractor had a duty to inspect, Baxter remains liable for injuries caused by a hidden defect. The rule applies because the chattel served her business purposes.
When the lease contemplates business use, a tenant may recover lost profits proven to a reasonable certainty if the landlord could have foreseen the loss at the time of contracting. This measure supplements ordinary contract damages and applies only because the parties intended commercial operations on the premises.
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A supplier remains liable for physical harm caused by a dangerous chattel supplied for its own business purposes, regardless of whether the third-party recipient was obligated to inspect. The supplier's knowledge or reason to know of the danger triggers responsibility under the applicable sections.
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A lawyer may solicit a person who routinely uses the offered type of legal services for business purposes. This exception recognizes that such individuals are not vulnerable prospects but active commercial actors who can evaluate the communication.
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…§ 202.01, reprinted in 3 CCH Fed. Sec. L. Rep. ¶ 23,515 (1987) (premature public announcement may properly be delayed for valid business purpose and where adequate security can be maintained); American Stock Exchange Company Guide §§ 401-405, reprinted in 3 CCH Fed. Sec. L. Rep. ¶¶ 23,124A-23, 124E (1985) (similar provisions). It…