Legal Definitions - admission

An admission occurs when a person involved in a legal case, known as a "party," makes a statement or takes an action that acknowledges the truth of a fact or assertion that is unfavorable to their own legal position. This acknowledgment can be used as evidence against them in court.

Admissions are significant because they are considered reliable evidence; a person is generally unlikely to admit something that harms their own case unless it is true. An admission can be made directly through words, indirectly through conduct, or even by remaining silent when a reasonable person would typically speak up to deny an assertion.

Here are some examples illustrating how admissions work:

• Direct Verbal Admission in a Civil Case:

  Imagine a scenario where two neighbors, Mr. Henderson and Ms. Chen, are involved in a property dispute over a fence line. During an informal discussion before any lawsuit is filed, Mr. Henderson says to Ms. Chen, "I know the survey shows the fence is on your property, but my family has always used that strip of land."

  Explanation: Mr. Henderson's statement, "I know the survey shows the fence is on your property," is a direct verbal admission. He is acknowledging a fact (the fence's true location according to the survey) that is unfavorable to his claim of ownership over that land. This statement could later be introduced as evidence against him if the dispute proceeds to court.

• Admission by Conduct in a Criminal Investigation:

  Consider a situation where police are investigating a series of burglaries in a neighborhood. An officer approaches a suspect, Mark, and says, "We have surveillance footage of someone matching your description leaving the scene of the last break-in." Mark, instead of responding verbally, immediately drops a bag he was carrying and attempts to flee the scene.

  Explanation: Mark's actions—dropping the bag and attempting to flee—can be interpreted as an admission by conduct. While he didn't verbally confess, his behavior implicitly acknowledges the truth of the accusation (that he was involved in the burglary) in a way that is unfavorable to his innocence. This conduct could be presented as evidence against him in a criminal trial.

• Admission by Silence in a Business Dispute:

  Suppose a freelance graphic designer, Lena, sends an invoice to her client, TechCorp, for a completed project. The invoice includes a line item for "expedited delivery fee: $300," which was not explicitly agreed upon in the initial contract. Lena also sends an email stating, "As per our conversation last week, the expedited delivery fee of $300 has been added." TechCorp's project manager reads the email and invoice but does not respond or object to the fee for two months, during which time they pay the rest of the invoice. When Lena later follows up on the outstanding $300, TechCorp disputes it.

  Explanation: TechCorp's silence for two months after receiving Lena's email and invoice, especially when a reasonable business would typically object to an unexpected charge, could be considered an admission by silence. By not disputing the $300 fee when they had the opportunity, they implicitly acknowledged and accepted it. This could be used as evidence against TechCorp if Lena sues to recover the outstanding amount.