Also known as: doli · dolus malus · fraud · deceit
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Conduct involving intentional deceit or bad faith. It encompasses fraud or willful injury to another's interests and supplies the mental element that distinguishes culpable wrongdoing from mere negligence.
Denise Donovan tells the homeowner she is a city inspector needing to check the furnace. Once inside the dwelling at night she steals jewelry. The entry satisfies the breaking element because the homeowner's consent was procured by deceit.
Dover Bank sells property to Dolores Diaz and makes oral promises about roof repairs that are omitted from the deed. After closing Diaz discovers the promises were false. The fraud exception prevents merger from extinguishing her claim.
Damian Decker sues Drake Logistics alleging the company knowingly overstated earnings. The complaint must detail the specific statements, who made them, and when they were made rather than alleging fraud in conclusory terms.
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Davenport Pharmaceuticals asks its lawyer to help market a drug while concealing known safety risks. After the lawyer discusses the limits of permissible assistance the client persists. The lawyer must withdraw from the representation.
Dorothy Daniels forms Dillon Energy as an undercapitalized shell with no corporate records and uses it to defraud suppliers. Creditors may reach Daniels's personal assets because the corporation was merely an instrumentality for the fraud.
Delilah Duran offers a will for probate. A contestant presents evidence that the testator was induced to sign by false statements about the document's contents. The contestant bears the burden of proving fraud to invalidate the will.
Dolus requires intentional deceit or willful injury while culpa denotes negligence or failure to exercise due care. The distinction determines whether conduct triggers heightened remedies or defenses unavailable for ordinary negligence.
Supporting sources
No. Silence or nondisclosure can constitute dolus when a duty to speak exists and the omission is intended to deceive, as in certain sales or fiduciary contexts.
Supporting sources
A lawyer must withdraw when the client persists in using the lawyer's services to commit or further a crime or fraud after the lawyer has explained the ethical limits under Rules 1.2(d) and 1.4(a)(5).
Merger does not discharge contractual promises when the buyer accepted the deed because of the seller's fraud. The fraud exception preserves the buyer's right to sue despite the deed becoming the operative document.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) requires that the circumstances constituting fraud be stated with particularity while intent or knowledge may be alleged generally.
…may be those which both parties might fairly be supposed to have contemplated at the time of contracting. It was argued that fraud does not alter the logical basis of liability for natural consequences and that there was ample evidence that the defendants knew the purpose for which the shaft was sent and that…