Also known as: obligations · obligate · obligates · obligated · obligating · obligor · obligors · obligee · obligees · oblige · obliges · obliged · obliging · obligatory · obligational · obligatio · obligant · duty · liability
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal duty to do or refrain from doing a specified act, arising from contract, statute, or other source of law.
Dr. Odin Obeng had an obligation to continuously monitor a post-operative patient under his care. He left the patient unattended for several hours despite clear signs of distress. The patient died from complications that monitoring would have detected. The resulting charge is involuntary manslaughter because the breach of that obligation constituted criminal negligence.
Oakridge Manufacturing contracted to sell industrial land to Osprey Aviation. The title search revealed an unreleased lien from a prior owner. Oakridge Manufacturing failed to clear the lien before closing. Osprey Aviation refused to close because the seller had not satisfied its obligation to deliver marketable title.
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Oriana Oberman sued a supplier for breach of a supply contract. A related company claimed an interest in the same goods and threatened separate litigation. The court joined the related company because disposing of the action without it would leave the supplier subject to a substantial risk of incurring double or inconsistent obligations.
After a workplace injury, Oakridge Manufacturing offered to cover Otis Olsen's hospital bills. At trial Olsen sought to introduce the offer as evidence of liability. The court excluded the evidence because an offer to pay medical expenses does not establish an obligation to compensate for the injury.
Oswald Orozco was charged with assault after his arm involuntarily struck a bystander during a seizure. The prosecution argued that his prior decision to drive created the obligation to avoid harm. The court dismissed the charge because liability requires a voluntary act and no such act occurred.
Optima Health retained Oakley Osei to defend a malpractice suit. The firm asked the client to sign an agreement capping the firm's liability for future negligence. Because Oakley Osei did not ensure the client had independent counsel, the agreement violated the prohibition on prospectively limiting a lawyer's malpractice obligation.
Title is unmarketable when it is not free from reasonable doubt or when a reasonably prudent purchaser would refuse it. Recorded liens, gaps in the chain of title, or adverse claims render title unmarketable. The buyer may then refuse to close or seek rescission unless the contract provides otherwise.
A court joins a party when that party claims an interest in the action and disposing of the case without the party would leave an existing party subject to a substantial risk of double, multiple, or inconsistent obligations. The rule requires joinder when the risk is substantial and practical.
No. Evidence of furnishing, promising to pay, or offering to pay medical expenses is inadmissible to prove liability for the injury. The rule protects such humanitarian offers from being used against the offeror.
A person is not guilty of an offense unless liability is based on conduct that includes a voluntary act or the omission of an act the person is physically capable of performing. Involuntary movements such as reflexes or seizures do not satisfy this requirement.
A lawyer may not make an agreement prospectively limiting malpractice liability unless the client is independently represented in making the agreement. The rule protects clients from uninformed waivers of important rights.
…but they had no doubt he ought to answer. There was nothing confidential required to be disclosed; if there had been, he was not obliged to answer it; nor was he obliged to state anything which would criminate himself; but the fact whether such commissions had been in the office or not could not be a confidential fact; it is…