ex parte

Ex parte means “from one party” in Latin.

In the legal context, ex parte is used in several manners around ethics and civil procedure.

Legal Ethics

In legal ethics , ex parte refers to improper contact with a party or a judge . Ethical rules typically forbid a lawyer from contacting the judge or the opposing party without the other party's lawyer also being present. A breach of these rules is referred to as improper ex parte contact.

Civil Procedure

In civil procedure , ex parte is used to refer to motions for orders that can be granted without waiting for a response from the other side. Generally, these are orders that are only in place until further hearings can be held, such as a temporary restraining order .

Typically, a court will be hesitant to make an ex parte motion. This is because the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee a right to due process , and ex parte motions--due to their exclusion of one party--risk violating the excluded party's right to due process.

[Last reviewed in November of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

• LEGAL ETHICS
• civil procedure
• ex parte

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