Also known as: extra-judicium · out of court · extrajudicial
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An action or statement occurring outside of judicial proceedings or court authority. The phrase identifies conduct that takes place beyond the formal bounds of adjudication and therefore falls outside the protections and constraints that attach to in-court activity.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Judge Harlan agreed to deliver the keynote address at a local charity gala. When the event organizer asked him to comment on a pending case involving the charity's tax status, Harlan declined and instead limited his remarks to the organization's general mission. The judge's decision preserved the precedence of his judicial duties over the extrajudicial appearance.
Attorney Patel, who was litigating a high-profile contract dispute for Evergreen Bank, held a televised press conference two weeks before trial. Patel named potential witnesses and asserted that the opposing party had falsified documents. The statements were extrajudicial and created a substantial likelihood of prejudicing the upcoming proceeding.
Judge Ellison signed a contract to write a memoir about her pre-bench career. She submitted the manuscript to her publisher without referencing any pending or recently concluded cases. The writing constituted an extrajudicial activity that the Code permitted because it did not interfere with judicial duties or invite frequent disqualification.
Elise Everly filed suit against Empire Logistics alleging discriminatory hiring practices. Empire moved to dismiss on the ground that Everly lacked standing because she had never applied for a position. Counsel's out-of-court investigation yielding those facts constituted conduct extra judicium and therefore received no judicial-immunity protection.
After a federal jury acquitted Edgar Evers of civil-rights violations, state prosecutors filed parallel charges arising from the same events. Evers moved to enjoin the state proceeding, arguing that counsel's extrajudicial public statements had tainted the new forum and required dismissal.
Police questioned Elliot Edmonds at the station house for several hours without providing Miranda warnings. Edmonds made incriminating statements that the government later sought to introduce at trial. The statements were extrajudicial and therefore subject to separate constitutional scrutiny.
The rule reaches any lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter. It therefore covers statements made after a case has concluded if the lawyer's prior involvement creates a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to a related proceeding.
A judge may accept reasonable compensation for extrajudicial activities permitted by the Code unless acceptance would appear to a reasonable person to undermine the judge's independence, integrity, or impartiality.
…or similar pretrial statements that declarants would reasonably expect to be used prosecutorially," Brief for Petitioner 23; "extrajudicial statements . . . contained in formalized testimonial materials, such as affidavits, depositions, prior testimony, or confessions," White v. Illinois , 502 U. S. 346, 365 (1992) (Thomas,…
…the Confrontation Clause applies only to testimonial hearsay and suggested that testimonial statements include, inter alia , extrajudicial statements made to police during police interrogations. The
…facts,’ and ‘conclusions’ ...”). Under the relaxed pleading standards of the Federal Rules, the idea was not to keep litigants out of court
…police officers, witnesses, and the counsel for both sides." Id. , at 358, 359. "[T]he trial court might well have proscribed extrajudicial
…we upheld a restriction on a lawyer’s speech during a criminal trial. The restriction prohibited the lawyer from making extrajudicial
Lawyers may state the claim or defense involved and information in the public record. They may not make statements that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated publicly and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding.
Yes. A lawyer who deliberately violates a sealing order and supplies confidential juror information to a third party for the purpose of influencing jury selection engages in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice even if no juror actually sees the material.
No. Bias requiring recusal must be directed toward the parties and arise from an extrajudicial source. General views about law or public policy developed in the course of civic discourse do not by themselves require disqualification.