Also known as: et sic. · and so · and thus
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An archaic introductory phrase placed at the start of a special conclusion to a plea in bar. The phrase renders the plea positive rather than merely argumentative by asserting that the facts pleaded lead directly to the legal conclusion.
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Esther Eisenberg filed a complaint alleging that airport officials prevented her from distributing literature in the terminal. The city answered with a plea in bar asserting that its blanket prohibition on expressive conduct was valid. Counsel concluded the pleading by stating et sic that the regulation fell within the city's proprietary authority over the facility.
Echelon Security, holding a junior mortgage on an office building, obtained appointment of a receiver and collected rents. When the senior mortgagee later sought the same rents, Echelon's counsel filed a plea in bar and closed with et sic that the junior receiver's priority to pre-appointment rents was established after payment of taxes and maintenance expenses.
Enzo Eastwood gave an engagement ring to Eva Espinosa. After the planned wedding was called off, Eva refused to return the ring. Enzo's attorney filed a plea in bar and concluded et sic that the gift had been made solely in contemplation of a ceremonial marriage that never occurred.
Emmett Egan was charged with assault after striking an aggressor. His counsel entered a plea in bar asserting privilege and closed et sic that the force used was neither intended nor likely to cause serious bodily harm under the circumstances presented.
Emanuel Escobar challenged a city ordinance that singled out a particular religious method of animal slaughter. The city's answer contained a plea in bar and ended et sic that the measure was a neutral law of general applicability that survived constitutional review.
Esme Ellington, operator of a religiously affiliated foster agency, sued the city after it threatened to revoke her license for declining to certify same-sex couples. The city's responsive plea in bar concluded et sic that its policy contained no system of individualized exemptions and therefore remained generally applicable.
The phrase appears only in historical or academic study of common-law pleading. Contemporary rules of civil procedure have replaced the formal plea in bar with answers, affirmative defenses, and motions, eliminating any practical occasion for its use.
Supporting sources
…of a quick fetus, § 1, a capital crime, but in § 2 it provided lesser penalties for the felony of abortion before quickening, and thus preserved the "quickening" distinction. This contrast was continued in the general revision of 1828, 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, § 13. It disappeared, however, together with the death penalty, in…