Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A threshold of probability or materiality in legal standards. It requires that the chance of a specified outcome or effect is great enough to trigger a legal consequence or satisfy an element under the governing rule or test.
Stella Shapiro, counsel for the plaintiff in a pending contract dispute, posted detailed accusations on a local forum that the defendant had shredded records. The post reached hundreds of county residents days before jury selection. The court found the statements created a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the proceeding.
Two days after a warehouse theft, police showed Simon Stern a single photograph of Steven Silva. Stern identified Silva with certainty. The court ruled there was no substantial likelihood of misidentification under the totality of the circumstances.
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Spencer Silver, disciplined for press comments about an ongoing trial, argued the publicity rule's "without elaboration" exception was unconstitutionally vague. The court agreed the standard failed to give fair notice of what speech carried a substantial likelihood of prejudicing the proceeding.
Sierra Solutions' officers withheld news of active merger negotiations from investors. The market later learned the talks had reached an advanced stage. Plaintiffs showed a substantial likelihood that reasonable investors would have viewed the information as altering the total mix of available data.
An insider at Sentinel Security tipped nonpublic acquisition plans to a friend who traded. The government proved the deception was in connection with a securities transaction because there was a substantial likelihood the omitted facts would have altered a reasonable investor's assessment.
Starlight Media's board omitted details of a compensation package from proxy materials. Shareholders claimed the omission was material. The court assessed whether there was a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider the information important in deciding how to vote.
The standard requires that an extrajudicial statement is likely to be disseminated publicly and to materially prejudice the proceeding. A mere possibility of harm is insufficient to trigger discipline under Rule 3.6(a).
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No. Even a suggestive procedure is admissible if the identification remains reliable under the totality of the circumstances and there is no substantial likelihood of misidentification.
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A rule is void for vagueness when its safe-harbor language, such as an unclear "without elaboration" exception, fails to give fair notice of what statements carry a substantial likelihood of prejudicing a proceeding.
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Information is material when there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would view its disclosure as significantly altering the total mix of available information.
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…Inc., 426 U. S. 438 (1976), concluding in the proxy-solicitation context that "[a]n omitted fact is material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important in deciding how to vote."[^maj-7] Acknowledging that certain information concerning corporate developments could well be of…