Also known as: mala fide · malafides · bad faith
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Dishonesty of belief or purpose in legal dealings. It denotes conduct undertaken with an improper motive that undermines the integrity of a transaction or proceeding.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Musa Mensah filed a state-court complaint against Meridian Motors seeking damages exceeding $100,000. More than one year after commencement, Meridian Motors filed a notice of removal asserting diversity jurisdiction. The district court found that Musa Mensah had deliberately withheld information about the amount in controversy to block removal and therefore denied remand.
Mariam Mansour offered secondary evidence of a contract after the original was destroyed in a flood. The court admitted the evidence because the destruction occurred without any action by Mariam Mansour that could be characterized as mala fides. The proponent therefore satisfied the loss-or-destruction exception.
Marco Marquez threatened to sue Mason McCarthy for breach of warranty on a vehicle sold years earlier even though inspection records showed no defects. The court held that the threat constituted an improper use of civil process made in mala fides and therefore rendered the resulting agreement unenforceable.
Miranda Morales, trustee of a family trust, sought to enforce an exculpatory clause after breaching her duties. The court refused enforcement because the breach involved mala fides toward the beneficiaries and therefore fell outside the protection of the clause.
Marcus Mitchell listed property with Morgan Financial under an exclusive agreement. Morgan Financial produced a buyer ready, willing, and able to purchase on the stated terms and the parties executed a contract. Marcus Mitchell then refused to close in mala fides and attempted to deny the broker its commission.
Maxwell Manufacturing and Matrix Technologies formed a limited partnership. Their agreement attempted to relieve a partner from liability for conduct involving mala fides. The court held the provision unenforceable under the uniform act.
A plaintiff who deliberately withholds the amount in controversy to prevent removal after one year has acted in mala fides. The district court may then permit removal despite the one-year bar.
Secondary evidence is admissible if the original is lost or destroyed without mala fides by the proponent. Routine or accidental destruction satisfies the rule.
A threat to sue is improper if made in mala fides. Courts examine whether the threat lacks any colorable basis or is deployed solely to extract contractual concessions.
…In order to escape the rule articulated in the cases cited in the next paragraph of this opinion that, absent harassment and bad faith, a defendant in a pending state criminal case cannot affirmatively challenge in federal court the statutes under which the State is prosecuting him, Dr. Hallford seeks to distinguish his…