Also known as: reasonable effort · reasonable endeavours
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of diligence requiring a party to take steps that are reasonable under the circumstances to achieve a specified objective. The steps must be proportionate to the risk or goal involved and need not be exhaustive or guarantee success.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Rhea Reynolds, a solo practitioner, stored client files on a cloud server with basic encryption. After learning of a recent breach at a similar firm, she upgraded to multi-factor authentication and trained staff on phishing risks. The steps satisfied her obligation to prevent unauthorized access to client information.
Raymond Ramos, an agent handling real-estate acquisitions for Rocky Mountain Mining, learned that a target parcel faced new zoning restrictions. He promptly notified the principal even though the information arrived after hours. The disclosure fulfilled his duty to communicate relevant facts the principal would want.
Rising Sun Electronics contracted to sell custom circuit boards to Reliance Insurance. After the buyer repudiated, the seller listed the identified boards on two industry exchanges and contacted three regular customers within a week. The unsuccessful resale efforts allowed recovery of the contract price.
Rosa Ruiz offered a witness statement under the residual exception. The court required her to show the statement was more probative than other available proof. She documented unsuccessful attempts to locate live witnesses and obtain contemporaneous records before the statement was admitted.
Roberto Reyes suffered property damage from a neighbor's negligence. He obtained three contractor bids and hired the lowest-cost firm to repair the roof within two weeks. The prompt repair prevented further water damage and limited recoverable loss.
Rina Rahman represented a client in a contract dispute. She filed a motion to compel within thirty days of receiving incomplete discovery responses and scheduled depositions before the close of fact discovery. The actions satisfied her duty to expedite the proceeding.
Reasonable efforts require steps that are proportionate to the circumstances. Best efforts impose a higher standard that may require exhausting all reasonable alternatives. Courts often treat the phrases as functionally similar when the contract supplies no further definition.
Supporting sources
A violation occurs only when the lawyer knew or should have known that basic precautions were inadequate under the circumstances. The rule requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access, not perfect security.
…outside the mother's womb." Ibid. In order to fulfill the requirement of narrow tailoring, "the State is obligated to make a reasonable effort to limit the effect of its regulations to the period in the trimester during which its health interest will be furthered." Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. , 462 U. S.…
…says that the plaintiff does not bind himself to anything. It is true that he does not promise in so many words that he will use reasonable efforts
…before a final adoption order may be entered. The procedures adopted by the State, however, must at least represent a reasonable effort to determine the identity of the putative father and to give him adequate notice. II In this case, of course, there was no question about either the identity or the location of the…
…v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 176, 181-182 [89 Cal. Rptr. 737, 474 P.2d 689, 44 A.L.R.3d 615]]]) make reasonable efforts
…statement is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable efforts
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Breach occurs when the agent has notice that the principal would want the information and can communicate it without violating a superior duty. The duty applies only to facts relevant to the entrusted affairs.
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The seller must prove that goods were identified to the contract and that reasonable efforts to resell at a reasonable price were unsuccessful or would have been unavailing. The seller must also hold the goods for the buyer.
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The statement must be more probative than other evidence obtainable through reasonable efforts. The proponent must document attempts to find live testimony or more reliable substitutes before the residual exception applies.
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Recovery is barred only for harm that could have been avoided by reasonable effort or expenditure. The injured party need not take measures that are unduly burdensome or that exceed the expected benefit.
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