Also known as: proprietary interests · property interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal right or share in property or a cause of action that confers ownership-like benefits or burdens on the holder.
Paula Pierce represents client Pedro Pacheco in a personal-injury suit. Pierce proposes taking a direct ownership share in the recovery in exchange for reduced hourly fees. The arrangement violates the prohibition because the lawyer would hold a proprietary interest in the very claim being litigated.
Pioneer Energy buys land subject to a recorded access easement. After closing, a neighboring owner demands maintenance payments that accrued while Pioneer held title. Pioneer owes only those obligations that arose during its period of ownership.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Peak Performance seeks a building permit for a waterfront project. The city requires conveyance of a public access easement across the site. The condition effects a taking because it forces transfer of a property interest without an essential nexus to the project's impacts.
Progressive Healthcare finances Prism Analytics' purchase of diagnostic machines. The financing agreement grants the lender an interest in the machines to secure repayment. That interest qualifies as a security interest under the UCC definition.
Patricia Patel sells the dominant parcel that enjoyed a recorded view easement. The buyer of the servient parcel refuses further compliance. The easement benefit terminates because the original holder no longer owns the benefited property.
Pablo Perez funds and directs strategy for a supplier's challenge to a regulatory fee. After losing, Perez later sues on the same issue. Issue preclusion bars relitigation because Perez held a direct proprietary interest and exercised control over the earlier action.
The prohibition applies whenever the lawyer obtains a direct ownership stake in the cause of action or its subject matter. Permissible exceptions include liens authorized by law and reasonable contingent-fee agreements in civil cases.
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Liability attaches only for obligations that accrue while the party holds the burdened property interest. Successors incur no personal liability for periods before or after their ownership.
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An exaction that requires conveyance of an easement or other property interest constitutes a taking unless an essential nexus exists between the condition and a legitimate governmental interest that would justify permit denial.
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Yes. The Code defines a security interest as an interest in personal property or fixtures that secures payment or performance of an obligation, expressly including certain consignment and Article 9 interests.
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Collateral estoppel binds a nonparty who assumed control over prior litigation in which it held a direct financial or proprietary interest, provided the issue was actually and necessarily decided by a competent court.
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…for Copyright, 29 J. Copyright Soc. 560, 563 (1982). But 'sweat of the brow' courts took a contrary view; they handed out proprietary interests in facts and declared that authors are absolutely precluded from saving time and effort by relying upon the facts contained in prior works. In truth, '[i]t is just such wasted effort that…