Legal Definitions - persuasion burden

The persuasion burden, also commonly referred to as the burden of persuasion, is the legal obligation of a party in a lawsuit to convince the judge or jury that their claims or defenses are true based on the evidence presented. This burden requires a party to present enough compelling evidence to meet a specific legal standard of proof, such as "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal cases or "by a preponderance of the evidence" in most civil cases. If the party carrying this burden fails to persuade the fact-finder to the required standard, they will lose on that particular issue.

Here are some examples illustrating the persuasion burden:

• Contract Dispute: Imagine a small business owner sues a software developer, claiming the custom software delivered was faulty and did not meet the agreed-upon specifications. The business owner, as the plaintiff, carries the persuasion burden to convince the court, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the contract was breached, the software was indeed defective, and this defect caused their business financial harm. If the evidence presented by the business owner is not more convincing than the developer's evidence (e.g., showing the software worked as designed or the issues were due to the owner's misuse), the business owner will not win the case.

  This illustrates the persuasion burden because the business owner must actively present a stronger case and more convincing evidence than the developer to meet the "preponderance of the evidence" standard and win the lawsuit.

• Criminal Assault Case: In a criminal trial where an individual is accused of assault, the prosecution bears the persuasion burden to prove to the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed the assault. This means the prosecution must present enough evidence (e.g., witness testimony, forensic evidence, security footage) to leave no reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds about the defendant's guilt. If, after considering all the evidence, the jury has a reasonable doubt, they must acquit the defendant.

  This demonstrates the persuasion burden as the prosecution must overcome a very high standard ("beyond a reasonable doubt") by presenting overwhelming evidence to convince the jury of the defendant's guilt. If they fail, the defendant goes free, regardless of whether the jury believes the defendant *might* have done it.

• Medical Malpractice Claim: A patient files a lawsuit against a hospital, alleging that a surgeon's negligence during an operation led to a serious complication. The patient, as the plaintiff, has the persuasion burden to show the jury, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the surgeon's actions fell below the accepted standard of care for medical professionals and that this negligence directly caused the patient's injury. If the patient's expert testimony and medical records are not more persuasive than the hospital's defense (e.g., arguing the complication was a known risk of the procedure, not due to negligence), the patient may not recover damages.

  Here, the patient must actively persuade the jury that the surgeon was negligent and that this negligence caused harm, meeting the "preponderance of the evidence" standard. If the evidence is equally balanced or favors the hospital, the patient has not met their persuasion burden.