Also known as: certainties
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A requirement that essential elements such as contractual terms, identifications of parties or writings, or amounts of damages be shown with sufficient definiteness to allow a court to determine rights, obligations, or remedies.
Rivera Films LLC emailed StreamScape Corp offering first crack at licensing its next movie for a solid payout and suggesting they could sort out the rest later. StreamScape replied that it was on board. When Rivera later licensed the film elsewhere, StreamScape sued for breach. A court would find no enforceable contract because the essential terms of duration, territory, payment, and scope remained undefined.
Colin Chambers executed a will that referred to a separate list of personal property bequests prepared the week before. The will stated an intent to incorporate the list and described it as the inventory kept in his desk drawer. The list existed at execution and could be matched to the will's description without ambiguity.
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Police obtained a warrant for a suspect known only as the driver of a red pickup seen fleeing the scene of a robbery. The warrant described the defendant by height, build, and the vehicle rather than a name. Officers located and arrested the correct individual based on that description.
Cobalt Energy leased space from Continental Bank for a retail outlet. After the landlord breached by failing to repair the roof, Cobalt proved its lost sales through detailed monthly records and industry benchmarks for comparable stores. The court awarded damages for the proven amount of business profits.
Cameron Cruz suffered a broken leg when struck by a vehicle driven by Christine Castro. At trial Cruz introduced medical bills, wage statements, and expert testimony projecting future treatment costs. The jury awarded compensatory damages matching the documented extent of harm.
A witness viewed a lineup after an earlier unconstitutional show-up. The witness had seen the robber clearly under streetlights for thirty seconds during the crime and gave a matching description before the show-up. The in-court identification was admitted because it rested on an independent source.
A manifestation of intention cannot be accepted to form a contract unless the terms are reasonably certain. Terms are reasonably certain only if they supply a basis for determining breach and an appropriate remedy. Vague statements that leave essential elements such as quantity, price, duration, or scope undefined prevent formation even when the parties intend to deal.
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A plaintiff must establish the extent of harm and the amount of compensation with as much certainty as the nature of the claim and circumstances permit. In business contexts this often requires evidence of lost profits shown to a reasonable degree of certainty through records or reliable projections.
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Extrinsic evidence may be admitted to determine whether separate writings were intended as a single will or to clarify identification of a beneficiary or writing. The evidence must still show that the essential terms or identity can be ascertained with reasonable certainty from the documents and surrounding facts.
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A warrant must contain the defendant's name or a description by which the defendant can be identified with reasonable certainty. A description that allows officers to locate the correct individual satisfies the rule even when the true name is unknown.
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…of public use.[^maj-19] Alternatively, petitioners maintain that for takings of this kind we should require a "reasonable certainty" that the expected public benefits will actually accrue. Such a rule, however, would represent an even greater departure from our precedent. "When the legislature's purpose is legitimate…