Barred by Dirty Hands
A plaintiff’s case may be barred from litigation if the plaintiff’s conduct constitutes unclean hands, meaning that the plaintiff acted inequitably. If a plaintiff is found to have unclean hands then he is not allowed to look to the court system to help his action. Here is an excerpt from a brief of mine dealing with a claim of unclean hands:
“The doctrine of unclean hands is only available where plaintiff is guilty of immoral or unconscionable conduct directly related to the subject matter and the party seeking to invoke the doctrine is injured by such conduct.” Frymer v. Bell, 99 A.D.2d 91, 96 (1st Dept. 1984). “[R]elief to the plaintiff cannot be denied unless the immoral or unconscionable act alleged by the defendant was done to the defendant himself.” Id.
There is an expression: “One who seeks equality must do equality.”
If you have any legal questions or need help with the unclean hands defense, please contact Attorney Scott Lanin at (212) 764-7250 x 201 or use the contact form in the right sidebar.
