Also known as: legal theories · jurisprudence · legal philosophy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A principle or set of principles on which a litigant bases claims or defenses in a case. The term identifies the doctrinal foundation that supports a party's position and guides the presentation of evidence and argument.
Linden Bank sued a borrower for default and its counsel prepared internal memos analyzing possible contract defenses. When the borrower sought those memos in discovery, the court reviewed the request under the work-product rule. Because the memos contained the bank's attorney's legal theories about litigation strategy, the court refused to order their production even though the underlying facts were discoverable.
Logan Lane, injured by a train in Pennsylvania, sued the railroad in federal court asserting a negligence theory drawn from state common law. The court applied the state rule rather than a general federal standard because the legal theory of liability arose under state law.
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Luke Latham and his partner challenged a state marriage ban by asserting a substantive due process theory that the right to marry extends to same-sex couples. The court accepted that legal theory and held the ban unconstitutional.
Lena Lawson owned waterfront property condemned by the city for economic redevelopment. She advanced a takings theory that the public-use requirement barred transfer to private developers. The court rejected that legal theory and upheld the condemnation.
Laura Lewis, a clinic director, sued to enjoin a state statute requiring spousal notice before an abortion. She relied on a substantive due process theory protecting a woman's autonomy in reproductive decisions. The court applied that legal theory to strike down the notice requirement.
Lucia Lopez, an Oregon resident, obtained a default judgment against a New York defendant who had never entered Oregon. When she sought to enforce the judgment, the defendant contested it under a due process theory requiring minimum contacts with the forum. The court accepted that legal theory and refused enforcement.
The doctrine protects against disclosure of an attorney's mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories concerning the litigation. A court that orders discovery of work-product materials must still shield those protected elements from disclosure.
Different legal theories rest on distinct doctrinal principles even when they arise from the same facts. A plaintiff may plead both a federal statutory claim and related state-law tort theories, and each theory supplies its own elements and remedies.
No. Absent privity or representation, nonparties are not bound by a prior judgment. A second plaintiff may therefore advance the identical legal theory against the same defendant.
…country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence." City of Chicago v. Tribune Co., 307 Ill. 595, 601, 139 N. E. 86, 88 (1923). The present proposition would sidestep this obstacle by transmuting criticism of government, however impersonal…