Adverse means to be against or opposed to one’s own interests. Adverse is used in several legal contexts. For example:
- Anadverse partyis the party with contrary interests to one’s own.
- Inproperty law,adverse possessionrefers to the enjoyment of land to which another person hastitlewith the intention of possessing it. One of the elements of adverse possession is hostile occupation.
- This means that the landowner has not given the occupier permission to use the property.
- The doctrine of adverse domination allows thestatute of limitationson a claim for breach offiduciary dutyagainst directors and officers of a corporation to be tolled until the corporation is no longer controlled by the alleged wrongdoers.
- InClark v. Milam, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia explained this rule stating that “[t]olling is considered appropriate because where the culpable directors and officers control a corporation, they are unlikely to initiate actions or investigations for fear that such actions will reveal their own wrongdoing.”
[Last updated in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
