Also known as: generally-known · judicial notice facts
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An adjudicative fact qualifies as generally known when it is common knowledge throughout the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court. Such a fact is not subject to reasonable dispute and may therefore be judicially noticed without formal proof.
An adjudicative fact qualifies as generally known when it is common knowledge throughout the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court. Such a fact is not subject to reasonable dispute and may therefore be judicially noticed without formal proof.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Information relating to a former client's representation becomes generally known when it enters the public domain through filings or other disclosures. A lawyer may then use or reveal that information without violating the duty of confidentiality.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Information relating to a former client's representation becomes generally known when it enters the public domain through filings or other disclosures. A lawyer may then use or reveal that information without violating the duty of confidentiality.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Maria Lopez and other diners sue Harvest Bistro after a food-poisoning outbreak at a city festival. Harvest Bistro asks the court to recognize that the annual street festival draws thousands of visitors and ranks as the city's largest event. The court grants the request because residents throughout the jurisdiction commonly know these background facts about the local calendar.
Teresa sues Apex Builders after her balcony collapses. Apex asks the court to recognize that the city experiences a well-known rainy season from late fall through early spring. The court grants the request because the seasonal pattern constitutes common local knowledge within the jurisdiction.
A court may take judicial notice when the fact is not subject to reasonable dispute because it is generally known within the trial court's territorial jurisdiction. Local facts such as the scale of an annual festival, the county's leading crop, or the timing of a rainy season qualify when they are common knowledge among residents.
Supporting sources
Generally known facts are those an average person in the jurisdiction would recognize without dispute, such as major local events or seasonal patterns. Specific case details, such as exact rainfall on particular dates, remain subject to ordinary proof even when broader patterns qualify for notice.
Supporting sources
Orlando previously represented Clear Energy in negotiating power-purchase agreements. Horizon Utilities later asks Orlando to challenge those same agreements in an antitrust suit. Because the executed contracts and supporting regulatory filings have been placed in the public record, Orlando may rely on their terms without breaching confidentiality to Clear Energy.
Information becomes generally known once it enters the public domain through regulatory filings or other disclosures. A lawyer may then use that information without violating the confidentiality duty to a former client under Rule 1.9(c)(1).
Supporting sources
…years later. We hold, that in matters of local interest, when the fact in question is of such a public nature it would be generally known throughout the community, and when the questioned fact occurred so long ago that the testimony of an eye-witness would probably be less trustworthy than a contemporary newspaper account, a…