Also known as: imply · implies · implying · implication · implications
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A quality or condition inferred from circumstances rather than expressly stated. The inference arises when conduct, language, or surrounding facts demonstrate an unstated intention or legal consequence that the law recognizes as operative.
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Ivan Ivanov drives his car at high speed through a crowded intersection while texting and ignoring multiple red lights. When he strikes and kills a pedestrian, the prosecution relies on the circumstances of his driving to establish the mental state required for murder. The factfinder may conclude that the reckless indifference shown by his conduct supplies the form of implied malice that satisfies the homicide statute.
Idris Ives testifies at trial that the defendant committed fraud. Defense counsel suggests on cross-examination that Ives recently invented the story to obtain a reward. The prosecution offers Ives's consistent statement made months earlier to a federal agent. The earlier statement is admissible to rebut the implied charge of recent fabrication.
Insight Consulting represents a corporate client negotiating a contract with an unrepresented small business owner. During discussions the lawyer's tone and statements lead the owner to believe the lawyer is neutral and will protect both sides. The lawyer must make reasonable efforts to correct that misunderstanding and must not give the owner legal advice.
Israel Irving owns two adjacent parcels and conveys the rear parcel to Iris Irons while retaining the front parcel that provides the only access to a public road. The deed contains no express easement language. Because the circumstances of the division show that access across the front parcel is necessary for the reasonable use of the rear parcel, an easement arises by implication in favor of Iris Irons.
Innovate Pharmaceuticals sells its product line to Ideal Solutions after assuring the buyer that all patents are valid and unencumbered. In fact the seller's in-house counsel has serious doubts about one patent's validity that were never disclosed. The buyer later rescinds the contract on the ground that the seller's assertion was fraudulent because the seller lacked the confidence implied by the statement.
Icarus Aviation leases an office building to Ilana Isaacs. Before the lease begins a known structural defect in the roof allows water to enter during storms. The landlord fails to repair the defect despite repeated tenant complaints. When Ilana Isaacs is injured by falling ceiling tiles caused by the leak, the landlord is subject to liability because the dangerous condition violates the implied warranty of habitability.
Express malice requires a deliberate intent to kill. Implied malice is shown when the defendant acts with reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, often described as an abandoned and malignant heart, or when the defendant intends to inflict great bodily injury.
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A prior consistent statement is admissible when offered to rebut an express or implied charge that the declarant recently fabricated testimony or acted from a recent improper influence or motive. The statement must be consistent with the declarant's testimony at trial.
…the Supreme Court shall exercise its appellate jurisdiction and may declare a mandamus to be one. The power does not depend on implication alone; it has been recognized by legislative provision and in judicial decisions. Congress, by a law passed at the first session after the adoption of the Constitution (the Judiciary Act),…
…them by law because of their color? The words of the amendment, it is true, are prohibitory, but they contain a necessary implication
…law of the land. There is nothing in the Constitution similar to the Articles of Confederation which excludes incidental or implied powers. If the end be legitimate and within the scope of the Constitution, all the means that are appropriate, plainly adapted to that end, and not prohibited may constitutionally be…
…"In regard to . . . [a] suggestion, that the affirmance of certain rights might disparage others, or might lead to argumentative implications in favor of other powers, it might be sufficient to say that such a course of reasoning could never be sustained upon any solid basis . . . . But a conclusive answer is, that such an…
…parts. Attention is attracted to the fact that the language quoted above is more comprehensive and formidable in its adverse implications
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A lawyer must not state or imply that the lawyer is disinterested. When the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the unrepresented person misunderstands the lawyer's role, the lawyer must make reasonable efforts to correct the misunderstanding.
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When land in one ownership is divided by conveyance into separately owned parts, an easement may arise by implication from the circumstances of the conveyance alone in favor of one possessory interest against another, provided the formal requisites for creating an estate are satisfied.
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A misrepresentation is fraudulent if the maker intends to induce assent and either knows the assertion is false, lacks the confidence stated or implied in its truth, or knows the assertion lacks the basis stated or implied for it.
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A landlord is subject to liability for physical harm to the tenant or permitted entrants caused by a dangerous condition if the landlord failed to exercise reasonable care to repair it and the condition violates an implied warranty of habitability or a statutory or regulatory duty.
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