Legal Definitions - autre action pendant

Autre action pendant is a legal principle, originating from Law French, that translates to "another action pending." It refers to a situation where a lawsuit involving the same parties and the same fundamental issues is already ongoing in a different court.

This principle allows a court to pause or dismiss a newly filed case if an identical or substantially similar case is already being litigated elsewhere. The purpose is to prevent redundant legal proceedings, avoid the waste of judicial resources, and preclude the possibility of conflicting judgments from different courts on the same matter.

Here are some examples illustrating this concept:

• Contract Dispute: Imagine a scenario where "Tech Innovations Inc." sues "Global Supply Co." in a state court, alleging breach of a software development contract. A week later, "Global Supply Co.," unaware of the first filing, initiates its own lawsuit against "Tech Innovations Inc." in a federal court, also claiming breach of the *same* software development contract and seeking damages. In this situation, "Tech Innovations Inc." could raise the defense of autre action pendant in the federal court. They would argue that the state court case, involving the exact same parties and the same contract dispute, was filed first and is already pending. The federal court would likely pause or dismiss "Global Supply Co.'s" case to avoid duplicate litigation and potential inconsistent rulings.

• Family Law Matter: Consider a couple, Maria and David, who are separating. Maria files for divorce and child custody in the Family Court of County A. A few days later, David, who resides in a neighboring county, files his own divorce and custody petition in the Family Court of County B, unaware of Maria's prior filing. When the court in County B becomes aware of the case in County A, David's filing could be challenged on the grounds of autre action pendant. Since the same parties (Maria and David) and the same core issues (divorce, child custody, asset division) are already being litigated in County A, the County B court would typically defer to the first-filed case, consolidating the proceedings or dismissing the later one.

• Property Boundary Dispute: Suppose Mr. Henderson sues his neighbor, Ms. Rodriguez, in a local municipal court over an encroachment stemming from a shared driveway and fence line. While that case is progressing, Ms. Rodriguez files a separate lawsuit against Mr. Henderson in a higher superior court, also concerning the *same* driveway and fence line and seeking a declaration of her property rights. Mr. Henderson could invoke autre action pendant in the superior court case. He would argue that the dispute over the property boundary between him and Ms. Rodriguez is already being addressed in the municipal court, and therefore, the superior court should not proceed with a redundant lawsuit involving the same parties and the identical property issue.