VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Civ. No. 41.080
Probable Cause: Advice of Counsel
The defendant is not liable for malicious prosecution if he instituted criminal proceedings
against the plaintiff on the good faith advice of a reputable lawyer.
The defendant must prove:
(1) He sought advice of counsel with an honest purpose of being informed of the law;
(2) That he made a full, correct, and honest disclosure of all material facts known to him or that he
should reasonably have known; and
(3) That he acted in good faith guided by the advice given by counsel.
A defendant who relies upon the advice of counsel as a defense has the burden of proving all
three of these elements by the greater weight of the evidence.
If the defendant proves the necessary elements to establish advice of counsel as a defense, then
he had probable cause for instituting the criminal proceedings even if the advice given by the
attorney was wrong.
History
Virginia Model Jury Instructions – Civil, Release 26, April 2026. The unannotated set, posted by the Supreme Court of Virginia at vacourts.gov; the book states that it is made available with the permission of the publisher, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
Provenance
- Source
- vacourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-11
- Edition
- civ-2026-04-01
- Content hash
4e29d6f5cbb04544c3f7dca8d8ac38a844e1ea6eca5bc6047cb8158641f67370
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