Also known as: orally · verbal
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An adjective describing a communication, agreement, or statement that is spoken rather than written.
Octavia Okonkwo sold land to Oliver Okeke under a contract containing a merger clause. After closing, Oliver discovered that Octavia had orally promised to repair the roof but the deed contained no such promise. The court held that the oral promise merged into the deed and could not be enforced.
Odilia Okamura noticed the deposition of a witness in her contract dispute. She asked the witness a series of oral questions about the timing of deliveries. The witness answered under oath without any court order being required.
Orlando Okafor testified that the defendant had shouted an accusation during an argument. The court treated the shout as an oral assertion offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted and therefore analyzed it under the hearsay rule.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Odin Obeng orally agreed to rent a storage unit from Oakley Osei for six months. Because the term did not exceed the statute of frauds period, the agreement created a valid landlord-tenant relationship enforceable by both parties.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Odyssey Logistics signed a final written supply contract. When a dispute arose, Odyssey attempted to introduce evidence of a prior oral agreement changing the delivery date. The court excluded the evidence because the writing was intended as the final expression of the parties' agreement.
Osprey Aviation was charged with a regulatory violation. Upon the company's request, the government disclosed the substance of an oral statement made by its officer during an interview with a known federal agent. The statement was later used at trial.
An oral agreement may survive if it is a collateral agreement not intended to be merged into the writing or if fraud or mistake is shown. Otherwise, a merger clause and the parol evidence rule typically bar enforcement of prior oral promises.
An oral lease is valid if its duration does not exceed the period specified in the controlling statute of frauds. When the term exceeds that period, the lease is invalid unless it meets the writing requirements or falls within an exception such as part performance.
A prior or contemporaneous oral agreement may not contradict a writing intended as the final expression of the parties' agreement. It may, however, be used to explain or supplement the writing through course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade.
An oral assertion is a person's spoken statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Nonverbal conduct intended as an assertion receives the same treatment under the definition of statement.
…in the Comment to the ALI's Model Penal Code § 207.11, at 158 and nn. 35-37 (Tent. Draft No. 9, 1959). [^maj-51]: Tr. of Oral Rearg. 20-21. [^maj-52]: Tr. of Oral Rearg. 24. [^maj-53]: We are not aware that in the taking of any census under this clause, a fetus has ever been counted. [^maj-54]: When Texas urges…