Also known as: inadvertence · inadvertently · unintentional
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act or omission performed without deliberate intent or awareness of its consequences.
Isaiah Ishikawa swung a baseball bat at a trespasser during a heated argument on his porch. The bat slipped from his grasp and struck the trespasser in the head, causing death. Because the death resulted from an unintentional act during commission of a misdemeanor, the prosecutor charged involuntary manslaughter rather than murder.
Ironclad Industries produced thousands of documents in response to a discovery request. One email containing legal advice from outside counsel was included by mistake when a paralegal failed to apply the proper filter. The company promptly clawed back the document and asserted that the disclosure did not waive the privilege.
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Isabella Ingram left a client file on an unsecured conference-room table overnight. A cleaning crew member read several pages containing confidential settlement strategy before the file was retrieved the next morning. The firm revised its closing procedures to reduce the risk of similar unauthorized access.
Imperial Motors stored chemical drums near the property line. Rain caused runoff that damaged vegetation on the neighboring parcel owned by Ivy Ibarra. Because the interest in use and enjoyment of land is protected against unintentional invasion when the conduct is independently actionable, Ibarra stated a viable nuisance claim.
The prosecutor’s office failed to turn over a lab report showing that the murder weapon could not have been fired by the defendant. The omission occurred because an investigator misfiled the report. The conviction was reversed because suppression of material exculpatory evidence requires reversal whether the failure was intentional or inadvertent.
Israel Irving missed the deadline to answer a complaint after his assistant placed the summons in the wrong client folder. The court vacated the default judgment because the failure to respond resulted from inadvertence and the defendant promptly sought relief upon discovering the error.
No. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 502(b), an inadvertent disclosure does not waive the privilege if the holder took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure and promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error.
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Yes. Due process requires reversal when material exculpatory evidence is suppressed, whether the suppression was intentional or inadvertent.
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Involuntary manslaughter requires an unintentional killing resulting from criminal negligence or an unlawful act that is not a felony covered by the felony-murder rule.
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No. The rule requires only reasonable efforts to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure.
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A court may relieve a party from a final judgment for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, provided the motion is made within a reasonable time and no more than one year after entry of the judgment.
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…forth in Sibbach. E. g. , Schlagenhauf v. Holder , 379 U. S. 104. Nor has the development of two separate lines of cases been inadvertent. The line between "substance" and "procedure" shifts as the legal context changes. "Each implies different variables depending upon the particular problem for which it is used." Guaranty…