Also known as: general rules
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A baseline legal principle that governs a class of cases or circumstances unless a specific exception applies. The principle supplies the starting point for analysis and controls when no qualifying exception is shown.
Gateway Bank conveyed a parcel to Greenleaf Farms subject to a recorded covenant restricting future commercial uses. Greenleaf later sought to enforce the covenant against a successor owner who argued the restriction did not touch or concern the land. The court applied the general rule and upheld the servitude because validity turned on freedom of contract rather than any touch-and-concern requirement.
Gabriella Gomez placed her newborn for adoption with Global Dynamics as the prospective adoptive parent. The biological father had never registered with the putative-father registry or provided support. The court applied the general rule requiring consent of both biological parents and denied the petition after finding the father's consent could not be waived without notice and a hearing.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Gabriel Gonzalez received a commission from the President but the Secretary of State refused to deliver it. Gonzalez sued for mandamus. The court applied the general rule that a legal right carries a legal remedy and held that the refusal violated a vested right even though the act was ministerial.
Gloria Green sought an abortion at a clinic in Pennsylvania. State law required a 24-hour waiting period and physician disclosure of risks and alternatives. The court applied the general rule that informed consent must be voluntary and upheld the statutory scheme as not imposing an undue burden.
Gino Giordano purchased land in Euclid zoned exclusively for residential use. He challenged the ordinance as arbitrary after the village denied his application for industrial development. The court applied the general rule that zoning ordinances are presumed valid if they bear a reasonable relation to public welfare and upheld the restriction.
Gregory Gates, a nonresident director of a Delaware corporation, was sued in Delaware for alleged mismanagement. The plaintiff relied on sequestration of the director's shares. The court applied the general rule that jurisdiction requires minimum contacts with the forum and held that mere stock ownership did not supply those contacts.
The general rule supplies the starting point and controls unless the facts satisfy a recognized exception stated in a statute, restatement section, or constitutional holding. Courts first identify the applicable general rule, then determine whether any exception has been proved.
In fixture cases the general rule subordinates a security interest in fixtures to a prior recorded mortgage unless the secured party satisfies a specific exception such as a timely fixture filing. The same baseline approach appears in mortgage-transfer disputes where transfer of the note carries the mortgage absent an agreement to sever them.
Yes. The general rule requires consent of both biological parents before an adoption may proceed. Consent of an unmarried father may be waived only after notice and a hearing upon a showing that he abandoned the child or that waiver serves the child's best interest.
The general rule validates a servitude under principles of freedom of contract. No showing that the burden or benefit touches or concerns the land is required. Validity is tested instead under the standards of the governing restatement sections.
…liberty consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws whenever he receives an injury. It is a general rule that where there is a legal right there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law. The government of the United States is a government of laws and not of men; it will cease to deserve…