Also known as: public interest over private interests · public interest · public policy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A foundational principle requiring that legal structures, agreements, and organizations serve collective societal benefits over individual or private gain. Arrangements that prioritize private advantage at the expense of public welfare are void as contrary to public policy.
Federal prosecutors uncover evidence of widespread public corruption involving multiple officials. The court determines that summoning a grand jury serves the public interest in accountability rather than any private litigant's desire for leverage. It orders the empanelment of sixteen to twenty-three qualified persons to investigate.
A legal services organization represents an indigent tenant facing eviction. The lawyer provides a small sum for rent and medicine without promising further aid or seeking repayment. The gift advances the public interest in access to justice rather than any private benefit to the lawyer or client.
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A commercial lease allows the landlord to change locks and remove a holdover tenant's property without court process. Because the controlling law provides a speedy judicial remedy, the self-help provision is unenforceable. It improperly favors the landlord's private convenience over the public policy favoring orderly judicial resolution.
A skydiving company requires customers to sign a release waiving all claims for the operator's negligence. A customer injured by the company's failure to inspect equipment sues. The release is unenforceable because it contravenes the public interest in deterring reckless conduct that endangers participants.
A settlor creates a trust whose sole purpose is to pay the personal debts of the settlor's adult children. The trustee refuses to administer it. The trust fails because its purpose serves only private family interests and is neither lawful nor beneficial to the community at large.
A mortgage contains a clause converting the instrument into an absolute deed if the borrower misses a single payment. The borrower tenders full payment before foreclosure. The clogging provision is unenforceable because it sacrifices the mortgagor's equity of redemption to the lender's private advantage.
An arrangement violates the requirement when its dominant purpose or effect advances only individual or private gain at the expense of collective welfare. Courts examine the purpose, beneficiaries, and consequences. If private advantage predominates without offsetting public benefit, the provision is void.
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An organization qualifies for exemption only if it is organized and operated exclusively to further public rather than private interests. Private inurement or substantial private benefit disqualifies the entity even if its activities are otherwise charitable.
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Yes. An express assumption of risk or waiver is unenforceable if it contravenes public policy by shielding negligent or reckless conduct that endangers the public. Courts balance the parties' freedom of contract against the societal interest in deterring harm.
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The trust fails because its purposes must be lawful, possible to achieve, and not contrary to public policy. A trust benefiting only private individuals without community benefit cannot be enforced.
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