Also known as: pecuniary gains · financial gain · monetary gain
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A monetary or economic benefit obtained by a party.
Paula Pierce visited the homes of recent accident victims and offered to handle their claims. The firm stood to collect contingency fees from any resulting cases. Because pecuniary gain supplied the significant motive for the contacts, the solicitation violated the rule.
Pulse Media pleaded guilty to environmental violations that produced millions in extra revenue. The court calculated the fine by doubling the pecuniary gain the company derived from the offenses. The resulting penalty exceeded the statutory maximum that would have applied without the gain measure.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Priscilla Parks assaulted a victim while shouting racial slurs. The state proved the attack was committed to obtain money from the victim. The pecuniary-gain finding increased the sentence beyond the base penalty for the underlying assault.
Perry Pratt killed a store clerk during a robbery and took the cash register proceeds. The jury found the murder was committed for pecuniary gain. That finding qualified the offense for the death penalty under the state statute.
Priya Prasad committed three murders while stealing valuables from each victim. The trial court found every murder was committed for pecuniary gain. Those findings counted as aggravating circumstances that supported the capital sentences.
Pinnacle Holdings aided a bond offering that concealed material risks. Investors lost money while the bank earned substantial fees. The court treated the fees as pecuniary gain when setting the civil penalty amount.
The restriction applies when a significant motive for live person-to-person contact is the lawyer's or firm's own monetary benefit. The rule therefore bars in-person or telephone pitches aimed at generating fees unless the contact falls within an express exception such as a prior relationship.
Several states list commission of the murder for pecuniary gain as a statutory aggravator. Proof that the defendant killed to obtain money or property satisfies the circumstance and may support a death sentence.
Model Penal Code provisions and statutes modeled on them authorize a fine equal to double the offender's monetary benefit. The measure prevents offenders from profiting from economic crimes and supplies an alternative ceiling when the statutory fine would otherwise be inadequate.
Some courts limit the aggravator to murder-for-hire or killings whose sole purpose is financial profit. Other courts treat any murder committed to obtain money or property during a robbery as satisfying the circumstance.
…purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or effecting an escape from lawful custody. "(g) The murder was committed for pecuniary gain. "(h) The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity. "(4) Mitigating Circumstances. "(a) The defendant has no significant history of prior…