Also known as: organizations · organizational · organize · organized · organisation · entity · body corporate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An entity formed by persons for a common purpose. The entity may take the form of a corporation, partnership, association, governmental agency, or similar body. Designated representatives of the entity may act or testify on its behalf in legal proceedings.
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Osprey Aviation receives a deposition notice describing matters about maintenance logs. The company designates its director of operations to testify on its behalf after conferring with the serving party about the topics. The designated witness provides testimony based on information known or reasonably available to Osprey Aviation.
Optima Health faces a claim that a nurse deviated from protocol on a specific date. The hospital offers evidence of its standard procedure for documenting medication orders. The court admits the evidence to show that the nurse followed the routine practice on the occasion in question.
Oswald Orozco and two associates face separate conspiracy counts arising from a series of coordinated thefts. Prosecutors seek joint trial because the alleged agreements form different aspects of one scheme of organized criminal conduct. The court permits the joint prosecution on that basis.
A judge presides over a case involving Overland Transport. The judge's spouse serves on the board of a trade association that publicly supports Overland Transport. The judge takes steps to avoid any appearance that the association could influence the outcome.
A lawyer owns a financial consulting firm that provides investment advice to clients of the lawyer's firm. The lawyer fails to inform recipients that the consulting services are not legal services. A client later claims the protections of the attorney-client relationship applied to the investment advice.
Onyx O'Reilly forms Onyx Pharmaceuticals but commingles personal and corporate funds while undercapitalizing the company. A creditor sues and shows that the separate personalities of Onyx O'Reilly and the corporation no longer exist. The court disregards the corporate form to prevent injustice.
The organization must designate one or more officers, directors, managing agents, or other consenting persons to testify on its behalf. It must confer in good faith with the serving party about the matters for examination and ensure the designees testify about information known or reasonably available to the organization.
Evidence of an organization's routine practice may be admitted to prove that the organization acted in accordance with that practice on a particular occasion. The court may admit the evidence regardless of corroboration or the presence of an eyewitness.
…referral must be readily available through state and local public health departments, medical societies, or other nonprofit organizations. "b. An important function of counselling should be to simplify and expedite the provision of abortion services; it should not delay the obtaining of these services. "c. Psychiatric…
…was false, since the state of mind required for actual malice would have to be brought home to the persons in the Times' organization having responsibility for the publication of the advertisement. With respect to the failure of those persons to make the check, the record shows that they relied upon their knowledge of the…
…institutions in American life—state and local governments, the military, large and small businesses, labor unions, religious organizations, law enforcement, civic groups, professional
…from regulating or taxing a business carried on within its boundaries simply because this is done by agents of a corporation organized and having its headquarters elsewhere. To read this into the due process clause would in fact result in depriving a State’s citizens of due process by taking from the State the power to…
…be prejudicial to the health, the morals, or the safety of the public, is not—and, consistently with the existence and safety of organized
Joint prosecution is permitted when the conspiracies are so related that they constitute different aspects of a scheme of organized criminal conduct, even if they involve the same or different parties.
A judge must not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any organization is in a position to influence the judge.
A lawyer is subject to the rules when law-related services are provided by an entity the lawyer controls if the lawyer fails to take reasonable measures to ensure recipients know the services are not legal services and that client-lawyer protections do not apply.
A plaintiff must demonstrate unity of interest and ownership such that the separate personalities of the corporation and the individual no longer exist, plus circumstances where adherence to the corporate fiction would sanction fraud or promote injustice.