Also known as: maintaining an action · maintains an action · maintained an action · sustain an action
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The capacity or right of a party to institute legal proceedings to enforce a claim or protect an interest. This right exists when the party holds a protectable stake arising from statute, contract, property, or fiduciary relationship and is not barred by registration, standing, or procedural prerequisites.
Maurice Marshall and Mina Mehta formed a catering partnership. Mina created a separate LLC and steered profitable weekend jobs to it using partnership contacts, cutting Maurice's profit share. Maurice filed suit against both the partnership and Mina to recover the lost income and protect his stake in the shared business.
After Malcolm McKinley's death, the personal representative learned that an heir held title to estate real property. The representative demanded delivery of the property and, when refused, filed suit against the heir to obtain possession for proper administration of the estate.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Magnolia Foods, a trucking partnership, discovered that partner Melissa Mills repeatedly assigned high-margin routes to her personally owned trucks and left low-paying loads for the partnership vehicle. The partnership filed suit against Mills to recover the lost profits caused by the breach of duty.
Melanie Morris pursued a fox with hounds across open land. Mustafa Mahmoud, seeing the chase, shot and carried off the fox before Morris could capture it. Morris filed suit against Mahmoud asserting her right to the animal based on the pursuit.
Matrix Technologies sold a car to Mirage Hotels. The vehicle contained a latent defect that injured the wife of a hotel executive who was driving it. The wife filed suit against the manufacturer and dealer to recover for breach of implied warranty despite lacking privity of contract.
A pregnant woman sought to terminate her pregnancy in a state that criminalized the procedure except to save the mother's life. She filed suit against the district attorney to enjoin enforcement of the statute on constitutional grounds.
No. The statute expressly permits a partner to maintain an action against the partnership or another partner with or without an accounting as to partnership business.
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No. A foreign limited liability partnership doing business in the state may not maintain an action or proceeding there unless it has registered to do business in the state.
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Yes. Modern partnership statutes treat the partnership as a separate entity that may maintain an action against a partner for breach of the partnership agreement or violation of a duty to the partnership that causes harm to the partnership.
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No. The personal representative may maintain an action to recover possession of property or to determine title to it, and the representative's request for delivery is conclusive evidence that possession is necessary for administration.
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…In a recent development, generally opposed by the commentators, some States permit the parents of a stillborn child to maintain an action for wrongful death because of prenatal injuries.[^maj-65] Such an action, however, would appear to be one to vindicate the parents' interest and is thus consistent with the view that the…