Fraudulent Concealment

Refers to a party concealing what it knows or should know to be a material fact from another party, either to get that party to enter a contract, invest, purchase an asset or refrain from exercising a right. Typical elements that need to be shown to support a claim of fraudulent concealment are:

  • The defendant knew of a material fact, i.e., information that would likely have led the plaintiff not to act, or to take specific were the plaintiff aware of it;
  • The defendant concealed or suppressed information about that material fact;
  • That this material fact was not something that the plaintiff could otherwise have found out through its own due diligence;
  • That the defendant concealed or suppressed the fact with the intent of misleading the plaintiff (degrees of proof on this vary);
  • The plaintiff was reasonably misled because it did not know of the fact;
  • And the plaintiff’s damages flow from that concealment.

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