Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The quality of being sufficiently precise and particular in a legal statement or description. This requirement ensures that objections, writings, pleadings, or identifications can be evaluated without ambiguity or guesswork.
Serena Soto served interrogatories on Sapphire Holdings seeking details on contract performance. Sapphire responded with a blanket objection that the requests were overly broad but provided no further explanation. Because the objection lacked the required particularity, the court deemed all unstated grounds waived.
Santiago Sanchez and Southland Foods signed a detailed supply contract that listed every delivery term and payment schedule. When Santiago later sought to introduce evidence of an alleged side agreement on pricing, the court treated the writing as integrated because its completeness and particularity reasonably indicated a final expression.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Sasha Stone filed an antitrust complaint against Spectrum Financial alleging parallel pricing but offered only conclusory assertions of agreement. The court dismissed the action because the allegations failed to supply enough particular facts to raise a plausible claim of conspiracy.
Sydney Santos was prosecuted under a state law that criminalized treating the flag with contempt. The court struck down the statute because the phrase failed to define forbidden conduct with enough particularity to avoid unconstitutional vagueness.
Sofia Stern sued her employer after termination and showed that the stated reason for her firing was false. The court required her to advance evidence of particular facts demonstrating that the false reason was a pretext for discrimination rather than relying solely on disbelief of the employer's explanation.
Spencer Silver, the special prosecutor, sought presidential tapes through a subpoena that identified specific conversations by date and participants. The court upheld enforcement because the request demonstrated the necessary particularity to establish relevance and admissibility without constituting a fishing expedition.
Any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the court excuses the failure for good cause. This rule prevents parties from raising new objections after the deadline has passed.
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A writing that appears complete and particular in view of its terms is presumed to be the final expression of the parties' agreement. Other evidence cannot contradict those terms unless the writing is shown not to be final.
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The objection must state whether it applies to the objector, a subset, or the entire class and must detail the specific grounds. This requirement allows the court to evaluate and address objections efficiently.
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An indictment lacking particularity in charging an offense may be dismissed because the defendant must receive fair notice of the charges. Courts examine whether the charging document identifies the offense with enough detail to permit a defense.
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…and is not a fishing expedition. In this case the Special Prosecutor had to clear three hurdles: relevancy, admissibility, and specificity. We have examined the record, much of which is under seal, and are unwilling to conclude the District Court erred in its evaluation under Rule 17(c). There was a sufficient likelihood that…