Also known as: expressly · in express terms
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A requirement or authorization that appears directly in the text of the governing instrument rather than arising by implication.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officer Rivera shot an armed assailant who was actively attacking a civilian. Because the statute expressly authorized the use of deadly force to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, the killing fell into the justifiable category and carried no criminal liability.
During discovery, Indigo Textiles withheld emails it claimed were attorney-client privileged. The court held the withholding improper because the company failed to expressly make the claim in a privilege log that described the documents without revealing protected content.
Judge Harlan agreed to mediate a commercial dispute between two local businesses. The state judicial conduct commission disciplined him because no statute expressly authorized a sitting judge to perform mediation functions outside official duties.
After leaving the EPA, attorney Imani Idowu represented a chemical company in a permitting matter against the agency. Because she possessed confidential government information about the opposing party that could be used to its material disadvantage, the representation violated the rule absent an express statutory permission.
Landlord Ivy Ibarra leased a commercial building to Ironclad Industries. The lease contained no clause requiring the landlord to keep the premises in repair. When the roof leaked, the tenant could not compel repairs because the landlord had not expressly or impliedly agreed to perform them.
Ismael Ibrahim signed a waiver before participating in a high-speed go-kart race. When he was injured by another driver's negligence, the court dismissed his claim because the waiver expressly agreed to accept the risk of harm arising from reckless conduct.
The phrase requires the authorization or statement to appear directly in the text of the governing instrument. An implied authorization arises from surrounding circumstances or general language even when the instrument is silent on the precise point.
Supporting sources
A party withholding information on privilege grounds must expressly assert the claim and provide a description that allows the opposing party to assess the assertion without revealing the protected content itself.
…judicial decisions. Congress, by a law passed at the first session after the adoption of the Constitution (the Judiciary Act), expressly gave the Supreme Court the power of issuing writs of mandamus. The words are: 'The supreme court shall also have appellate jurisdiction ... and shall have power to issue writs of…
…act of will, not legal judgment. The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or this Court’s precedent. The majority expressly disclaims judicial “caution” and omits even a pretense of humility, openly relying on its desire to remake society according to its own “new insight” into the “nature of injustice.” Ante,…
…was it necessary to reexamine the doctrine to grant relief to the Negro plaintiff. And in Sweatt v. Painter , supra, the Court expressly
…with it or by other lawful means. Association in that context is a form of expression of opinion; and while it is not expressly
…the Fourth Amendment does not itself create a private right of action for damages, and that there is no federal statute that
Yes. Judicial conduct rules prohibit a judge from acting as an arbitrator or mediator apart from official duties unless a statute expressly authorizes the activity.
A lawyer who acquired confidential government information while a public employee may not represent a private client adverse to the person the information concerns when the information could cause material disadvantage, unless the law expressly permits the representation.
A landlord must keep the leased property in repair only to the extent the lease expressly or impliedly imposes that obligation. Absent such language the landlord has no duty to repair.
A plaintiff who expressly agrees by contract to accept the risk of harm from the defendant's negligent or reckless conduct generally cannot recover for that harm unless the agreement violates public policy.