Also known as: pecuniary benefits · monetary benefit · financial benefit
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A form of advantage consisting of money, property, commercial interests, or any other item whose primary significance is economic gain.
Penelope Price, an officer at Platinum Partners, accepted a cash transfer from a vendor that was not authorized by the board. The payment constituted a pecuniary benefit to which she was not entitled. This receipt triggered the statutory bar on indemnification for her conduct in a derivative suit.
Parker Phillips died in a rail accident, leaving his spouse and two children. The jury calculated the survivors' pecuniary benefit from his lost wages and benefits. The award reflected only the economic support the family would have received.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Pavel Petrov rented an apartment from IRM Corp. that contained a latent defect causing injury. The court examined whether the landlord obtained a pecuniary benefit from the rental arrangement that supported strict liability. The economic gain from leasing the unit factored into the duty analysis.
Preston Pratt, a reporter, traded on nonpublic information obtained through his employment at a financial publication. The scheme produced a pecuniary benefit when he sold the securities before the information became public. The court treated the trading profits as the economic gain derived from the breach.
Pacific Bank faced a large punitive award after an oil spill caused widespread harm. The Court considered whether the ratio between compensatory damages and the punitive award properly accounted for the defendant's pecuniary benefit from its operations. The economic scale of the enterprise informed the constitutional limit.
Perry Pratt, an ACLU attorney, contacted potential clients about a civil liberties case without seeking any fee. The arrangement produced no pecuniary benefit for the lawyer or the organization. The Court evaluated whether the solicitation nevertheless implicated rules on lawyer advertising and economic gain.
No. The definition requires that the primary significance of the item be economic gain. Incidental or noneconomic advantages do not meet the standard even if they have some monetary component.
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The Model Business Corporation Act bars indemnification when an officer receives such a benefit. The prohibition applies regardless of whether the proceeding is brought by the corporation itself or arises from intentional harm or criminal conduct.
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Yes. Doing business through a series of acts undertaken to realize economic gain satisfies the definition, as recognized in conflict-of-laws analysis of jurisdictional contacts.
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No. The rule prevents unjust enrichment from the wrong regardless of the slayer's motive, including any intent to obtain financial gain from the victim's death.
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…(West 2001) (greater of 1:1 or $100,000 in cases involving "reckless disregard"); § 9.1(C) (greater of 2:1, $500,000, or the financial benefit derived by the defendant, in cases of intentional and malicious conduct); § 9.1(D) (no limit where the conduct is intentional, malicious, and life threatening). [^app-13]: See, e.g. ,…