Also known as: immaterial issues · immaterial
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A fact or contention that does not affect the legal rights or obligations of the parties because it has no bearing on the controlling legal standard or outcome. Resolution of the point therefore leaves the result unchanged regardless of which side prevails on it.
Ines Ibarra sues Ironclad Industries for breach of contract. The complaint contains a paragraph alleging that the CEO once vacationed in the same resort as the plaintiff three years earlier. Ironclad moves under Rule 12(f) to strike the paragraph. The court grants the motion because the vacation fact is an immaterial issue that cannot influence whether a contract was formed or breached.
Isaiah Ishikawa locks the only door to a room while Igor Ito remains inside. A second person later blocks the window exit. Because the initial locking was done with intent to confine, the court holds that it is immaterial whether the confinement resulted directly or indirectly from Ishikawa's act.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Isabelle Inman uses a rolled newspaper to strike an attacker. The blow unexpectedly causes serious injury. The court finds it immaterial that the newspaper was not intended or likely to cause serious bodily harm. The privilege analysis focuses on the intended or likely harm at the time of the act.
Ike Ingram sues Inertia Dynamics in federal court under diversity jurisdiction. The parties dispute whether a state procedural rule that would bar the claim is outcome-determinative. The court treats the rule as immaterial to jurisdiction because it does not change the substantive result that would obtain in state court.
Isabella Ingram seeks specific performance in federal court on a state-law contract claim. The defendant argues that the state statute of limitations applies differently in equity. The court holds the distinction immaterial because the outcome must be the same as it would be in state court under the applicable substantive law.
Innovate Pharmaceuticals files a class action in federal court under a state statute that permits aggregate damages. The defendant contends the state rule conflicts with federal procedure. The court finds the state rule immaterial to the federal question analysis because the federal rule governs the availability of the class mechanism.
A court may strike an immaterial allegation on its own or on a party's motion before responding or within twenty-one days after service. The allegation must have no possible bearing on the rights or obligations at issue.
Supporting sources
No. When an act is done with intent to confine and is the legal cause of confinement, it is immaterial whether the act directly or indirectly produces the confinement.
Supporting sources
No. The privilege turns on the harm the actor intends or that a reasonable person would realize is likely, not on harm that unexpectedly occurs. Unexpected serious consequences are therefore immaterial.
Supporting sources
…The court opined he was not bound to say what had become of them; if they never came to Mr. Madison's possession, it was immaterial to the present cause what had been done with them by others. To the other questions he answered that he had seen commissions of justices of the peace of the District of Columbia signed by…