Legal Definitions - nominate action

A nominate action refers to a type of legal proceeding or lawsuit that has a specific, recognized name and an established legal framework. These are actions for which the law has developed particular rules, procedures, and elements that must be proven. They represent distinct categories of claims that courts and legal professionals readily identify and understand, as opposed to highly unusual or unnamed legal grievances.

• Example 1: Breach of Contract

  Imagine a small catering company, "Gourmet Bites," signs a contract to provide food for a large corporate event. The contract specifies the menu, the date, and the payment terms. A week before the event, the corporation cancels without valid reason, refusing to pay the agreed-upon cancellation fee.

  Gourmet Bites would initiate a lawsuit for breach of contract. This is a nominate action because "breach of contract" is a well-established and specifically named type of legal claim with defined elements (e.g., existence of a contract, performance by one party, breach by the other, resulting damages) that courts recognize and apply.

• Example 2: Negligence

  Consider a situation where a shopper slips and falls in a grocery store because an employee left a spill on the floor without putting up a warning sign or cleaning it promptly. The shopper sustains an injury requiring medical attention.

  The injured shopper could file a lawsuit against the grocery store for negligence. "Negligence" is a nominate action because it is a distinct category of tort law with specific elements that must be proven (e.g., the store owed a duty of care to the shopper, they breached that duty, the breach caused the injury, and the shopper suffered damages). Courts have a clear framework for evaluating such claims.

• Example 3: Trespass to Land

  Suppose a homeowner discovers that their neighbor has extended their garden fence onto the homeowner's property by several feet, without permission or legal right.

  The homeowner could bring a lawsuit for trespass to land. This is a nominate action because "trespass to land" is a recognized legal claim with specific requirements (e.g., an unauthorized physical intrusion onto another's real property) that courts use to determine liability and potential remedies, such as requiring the removal of the fence.