Also known as: pecuniary interests · financial interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A financial or economic interest involving money or its equivalent, especially one in the nature of an investment.
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Antonio told Elena that he had overridden safety systems at the plant because repeated shutdowns would likely cost him his job. The admission exposed him to termination and civil liability. Because a reasonable person would make such a statement only if believing it true, the declaration qualifies as one against pecuniary interest.
A lawyer proposed to purchase a client's commercial property on terms that would give the lawyer an ownership interest directly opposed to the client's continued use of the asset. The transaction created a pecuniary interest adverse to the client. The rule therefore bars the lawyer from proceeding without full written disclosure and independent counsel advice.
Premier Fund induced Apex Trust to terminate a wealth-management contract one year early, depriving Federal Fund of expected fees. The loss constituted harm to a pecuniary interest. Federal Fund is therefore entitled to interest on the amount of lost fees from the date of termination until judgment.
A coal company spent millions to elect a state justice after suffering a large verdict. The justice's campaign received the bulk of its funding from the company. The resulting direct pecuniary interest in the outcome required the justice's recusal to satisfy due process.
An association that derived revenue from handling members' legal claims sponsored test litigation. Its financial stake in the outcome gave it a pecuniary interest in the suits. The distinction between organizations with and without such an interest is rationally related to traditional limits on champerty.
A plant operator admitted to a coworker that he had disabled automatic shutoffs to avoid discipline for production shortfalls. The statement threatened his continued employment and exposed him to liability. Mississippi's refusal to recognize declarations against penal interest left the statement inadmissible even though it was plainly against pecuniary interest.
Due process is violated when a judge has a direct, personal, substantial pecuniary interest in the outcome, such as when compensation is tied to fines or when a party has funded the judge's election campaign at a level that creates an unconstitutional probability of bias.
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A statement is against pecuniary interest when a reasonable person would make it only if believing it true because it was so contrary to the declarant's proprietary or pecuniary interest. In civil cases the exception applies without additional corroboration even if the statement also exposes the declarant to criminal liability.
…Maryland , 373 U. S. 59, 60. A conviction must be reversed if the trial judge's remuneration is based on a scheme giving him a financial interest in the result, even if no particular prejudice is shown and even if the defendant was clearly guilty. Tumey v. Ohio , 273 U. S. 510, 535. To try a defendant in a community that has been…
…his own interest at the time it is made. Mississippi recognizes this exception but applies it only to declarations against pecuniary interest
…has been suggested that the state law may contain an invidious discrimination because it treats those organizations that have a pecuniary interest
…also found that petitioner had failed to prove that the person primarily responsible for the article was biased by reason of his
…at 465 (“It is, of course, not every attack on a judge that disqualifies him from sitting”); Lavoie , supra , at 825–826 (some pecuniary interests
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A lawyer may not enter a business transaction with a client or acquire a pecuniary interest adverse to the client unless the terms are fair and reasonable, fully disclosed in writing, the client is advised to seek independent counsel, and the client gives informed consent confirmed in writing.
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Interest is recoverable on the amount found due for harms to pecuniary interests from the time the cause of action accrues until judgment, provided payment of interest is required to avoid injustice and the plaintiff has not elected a restitutionary measure of recovery.
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When a speaker has a pecuniary interest in a transaction and supplies false information for the guidance of others in their business dealings, the speaker is subject to liability for pecuniary loss caused by justifiable reliance if the speaker failed to exercise reasonable care.
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