What Is the 'Unclean Hands' Defense to a Lawsuit?

Full Video Transcript

Unclean hands is a legal defense to a complaint, which states that a party who is asking for a judgment cannot have the help of the court if he or she has done anything unethical in relation to the subject of the lawsuit. Basically, the person must be innocent of wrongdoing or unfair conduct relating to the subject matter of the claim. Therefore, if a defendant can show the plaintiff had “unclean hands,” the plaintiff’s complaint will be dismissed, or the plaintiff will be denied judgment. This defense may not be used to put in issue conduct of the plaintiff unrelated to the plaintiff’s claim. Therefore, plaintiff’s unrelated corrupt actions and general immoral character would be irrelevant.