a legal doctrine which is a defense to a complaint, which states that a party who
is asking for a judgment cannot have the help of the court if he/she has done anything
unethical in relation to the subject of the lawsuit. Thus, if a defendant can show
the plaintiff had "unclean hands," the plaintiff's complaint will be dismissed or
the plaintiff will be denied judgment. Unclean hands is a common "affirmative defense"
pleaded by defendants and must be proved by the defendant. Example Hank Hardnose
sues Grace Goodenough for breach of contract for failure to pay the full amount
for construction of an addition to her house. Goodenough proves that Hardnose had
shown her faked estimates from subcontractors to justify his original bid to Goodenough.
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