{{Short description|Legal term}}{{refimprove |date=May 2025}} '''Good cause''' is a legal term denoting adequate or substantial grounds or reason to take a certain action, or to fail to take an action prescribed by law. What constitutes a good cause is usually determined on a case-by-case basis and is thus relative.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|article=good cause|encyclopedia=Black's Law Dictionary|author1=Henry Campbell Black |author2=Joseph R. Nolan |author3=Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley |pages=476|date=1991|publisher=West Pub. Co.|isbn=0-314-88536-6}}</ref>
Often the court or other legal body determines whether a particular fact or facts amount to a good cause. For example, if a party to a case has failed to take legal action before a particular statute of limitations has expired, the court might decide that the said party preserves its rights nonetheless, since that party's serious illness is a good cause, or justification for having additional time to take the legal action.
== See also == * Employment law
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:American legal terminology
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