Also known as: good faith effort · good-faith efforts · good-faith effort · good faith
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An obligation or standard requiring parties to act honestly and diligently when performing duties or exercising rights under law or contract. The standard typically demands a reasonable inquiry or basis for action and precludes pretextual or abusive conduct.
Guillermo Guzman missed two mortgage payments on his home. Grandview Holdings, the lender, declared the full balance due and scheduled foreclosure. Guzman showed he had offered a cure plan and partial payment before the declaration. The court refused to enforce acceleration because the lender had not acted with good faith efforts to allow cure.
Gerald Gibson served a Rule 30(b)(6) notice on Glacier Energy describing five topics. The company designated two officers but refused to confer about the scope. Gibson moved to compel after documenting repeated unanswered emails. The court ordered the parties to confer because the rule requires good faith efforts to narrow the matters for examination.
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Genevieve Gardner filed a derivative suit against Gable Construction directors for self-dealing. The board formed a committee that reviewed documents and interviewed witnesses for six weeks. The committee concluded suit would harm the company and recommended dismissal. The court granted the motion because the determination rested on good faith efforts after reasonable inquiry.
Gregory Gates asked his lawyer whether a proposed transaction violated new regulations. The lawyer researched the statute and analogous cases, then advised Gates that a good-faith argument existed for a narrow reading. The lawyer declined to help structure the deal to conceal the activity. The conduct satisfied the rule permitting good faith efforts to test the law's scope.
George Garcia, a journalist, received a grand jury subpoena for notes on a public corruption story. He moved to quash, claiming a First Amendment privilege. The court enforced the subpoena after finding the investigation was a good faith grand jury proceeding with no evidence of harassment. Garcia was required to appear and testify.
Greenleaf Farms defaulted on its home loan. The servicer sent repeated notices and offered a modification review before accelerating and commencing foreclosure. The borrower claimed the process was rushed. The court upheld the foreclosure because the servicer had complied with the act through good faith efforts throughout the process.
A party must demonstrate honest attempts to resolve disputes without court intervention, such as documented communications seeking to narrow issues or obtain information. Courts examine whether the efforts were reasonable and not merely formalistic.
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No. The determination must follow a reasonable inquiry and be made by qualified directors acting without conflicts. A plaintiff can overcome the motion by pleading particularized facts showing the inquiry was inadequate or the conclusion lacked good faith.
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Yes. A lawyer may counsel or assist a client to make a good faith effort to determine the validity, scope, meaning, or application of the law even if the ultimate position proves incorrect.
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The acceleration may be set aside or the foreclosure enjoined until the lender complies with notice and cure requirements or otherwise acts in good faith.
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…was not to be found guilty of the offense "unless it is proved that the act which caused the death of the child was not done in good faith for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother." A seemingly notable development in the English law was the case of Rex v. Bourne , [1939] 1 K. B. 687. This case apparently…