Also known as: feasances · feasant · feasants · feasor · feasors · malfeasance · misfeasance · nonfeasance · tortfeasor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The performance or carrying out of an act, condition, or obligation.
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Frank Fisher and Fiona Foster jointly operated a chemical plant that released toxins into a nearby stream. Frank intentionally increased the discharge rate to cut costs, causing permanent damage to Freya Freeman's property. After Freya recovered the full judgment from Fiona, Fiona sought contribution from Frank. Because Frank's intentional conduct produced the harm, the court denied any right of contribution.
Fairview Manufacturing contracted with Freeman Engineering to install safety equipment. Freeman's defective work caused an explosion that injured several workers. Fairview paid the entire judgment and then sought contribution from Freeman. Because Fairview held an independent contractual right of indemnity against Freeman, the court held that neither party could pursue contribution against the other.
Francois Fortier operated a delivery service whose negligent driving caused a fatal collision. The victim's estate obtained a judgment that included punitive damages. Before the punitive award was collected, Francois died. The court ruled that Francois's death terminated any liability for the punitive component of the judgment.
A state statute authorized injunctions against newspapers that published charges of official corruption. A county attorney obtained an order stopping further issues of a weekly paper that had printed articles accusing local officials of malfeasance. The Supreme Court held the statute unconstitutional as a prior restraint on the doing of protected speech.
Congress created an accounting oversight board whose members could be removed only for cause by the SEC commissioners, who themselves could be removed only for cause by the President. The dual layers of protection prevented the President from exercising direct control over the board members' performance of their executive duties. The Court struck down the structure as an unconstitutional interference with the President's authority to ensure faithful execution of the laws.
A prominent attorney brought a defamation suit against a magazine that published an article accusing him of participating in a conspiracy. Because the attorney had voluntarily assumed a role of special prominence in public affairs, the Court required him to prove actual malice before recovering damages. The attorney's own conduct in the affairs of society triggered the heightened standard for the doing of the allegedly defamatory statements.
Feasance refers to the performance or carrying out of an act, condition, or obligation. It serves as the root concept for the related terms malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance.
Feasance is the neutral doing of an act. Malfeasance is the wrongful or unlawful performance of an act, while feasance itself carries no implication of wrongdoing.
No. The concept appears in multiple contexts whenever the law examines whether a required act has been performed, including constitutional, corporate, and remedies settings.
…on an official's fitness for office . . . . Few personal attributes are more germane to fitness for office than dishonesty, malfeasance, or improper motivation, even though these characteristics may also affect the official's private character." Those classed as public figures stand in a similar position. Hypothetically,…