Adverse authority
Authority that cuts against the position a filing takes; in its strongest form, directly adverse controlling authority, which a lawyer who knows of it must disclose to the tribunal if opposing counsel has not.
First used in What a Best-in-Class Opposition System Must Actually Do
Model Rule 3.3(a)(2) requires a lawyer to disclose legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to be directly adverse and not disclosed by opposing counsel. The Institute treats finding that authority as a design requirement rather than a compliance afterthought.
The Counter-Model Builder surfaces directly adverse controlling authority before drafting and forces a disposition: distinguish it, limit it to its facts or posture, or concede the point it controls and pivot to the points it does not reach. The Pre-Filing Completeness Protocol adds an adverse sweep for every controlling case, retrieving the decisions that limited it, distinguished it or carved exceptions from it.
A brief that handles its worst authority in the open reads stronger than one that hopes. A system that hides the bad case has chosen the sanction over the awkward conversation.
Related terms
Related frameworks
Counter-Model Builder
An opposition system succeeds when it hands the court a complete, record-grounded replacement for the movant's proposed order, not a list of objections filed under the movant's headings.
Pre-Filing Completeness Protocol
Research is complete enough to file when every element of every claim at issue has its governing standard, controlling authority, record support, adverse-authority check and rejected-argument check recorded, and every one of those cells ends in a citation or a logged search that found nothing.