Also known as: expressly actual knowledge · actual knowledge
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Direct personal awareness of a specific fact or circumstance. This form of knowledge stands in contrast to constructive notice or information that a person merely has reason to know from surrounding facts.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Judge Edward Everett served as a university trustee while a case involving that university came before him. He had never been told of ongoing negotiations between the university and the litigant. The judgment was later vacated because the statute imposed an objective standard even without his direct personal awareness of the conflict.
Elena Estrada, an editor at a consumer magazine, reviewed internal test data showing defects in a speaker design before publishing a critical article. She confirmed in discovery that she had read the data herself. That admission established her express actual knowledge of the falsity element in the ensuing product disparagement suit.
Eugene Ellsworth, a vice president at a tobacco company, personally opened and read a letter from a smoker describing health risks tied to a specific brand. The letter was later introduced in a products liability trial. His direct receipt and reading of the letter satisfied the requirement of express actual knowledge for the warning claim.
Emanuel Escobar, a university therapist, conducted a session in which a patient stated he intended to kill Tatiana. Escobar documented the precise statement in his notes. The court held that this conversation supplied the therapist with express actual knowledge sufficient to trigger a duty to warn the intended victim.
Elliot Edmonds, a senior manager at an energy firm, attended a board meeting where the CEO described an undisclosed accounting maneuver. Edmonds later testified that he understood the maneuver at the time. That testimony established his express actual knowledge for the honest-services fraud prosecution.
Elijah Edwards, a sales manager at a data company, was handed a memo stating his employment would end if he continued certain outside activities. He signed an acknowledgment of receipt. The signed memo supplied the employer with proof of his express actual knowledge that the conduct violated company policy.
Express actual knowledge requires direct personal awareness of the prior interest. Inquiry notice arises when visible facts would prompt a reasonable buyer to investigate further. A purchaser with only inquiry notice still lacks the direct awareness needed to defeat bona fide purchaser status under many recording statutes.
Yes. The Model Rules define actual knowledge as direct awareness but expressly permit inference from surrounding facts. A lawyer who receives documents plainly disclosing a conflict therefore possesses actual knowledge even without an explicit admission.
…received from one Fitzgerald a warranty deed to the parcel in question.[^maj-1] The trial court found that petitioners had no actual knowledge of the restrictive agreement at the time of the purchase. On October 9, 1945, respondents, as owners of other property subject to the terms of the restrictive covenant, brought suit in the…
…after respondent purchased his car). Florida requires dealers to disclose paint repair costing more than $100 of which they have actual knowledge
…at the time of the accident and was moving at a speed of only eight miles an hour. There was no allegation or proof of any actual knowledge of the defect on the part of the defendant or any suggestion that any element of fraud or deceit or misrepresentation entered into the sale. The theory upon which the case was submitted to…
…except upon clear proof of actual participation in, or actual
…nor read into it by the California court as a condition necessary for a conviction. We must assume that appellant had no actual knowledge
No. Personal liability for a trustee requires direct awareness of the particular hazardous condition. High-level budget cuts without knowledge of skipped inspections on a specific vehicle do not meet the actual-knowledge threshold.
A mortgagee loses priority for future advances made after gaining direct personal awareness of the transfer. The rule protects only advances made before that awareness arises.
No. Liability attaches upon transfer to an impermissible appointee regardless of the fiduciary's lack of direct knowledge. The rule focuses on the objective fact of the appointee's status rather than the trustee's awareness.