Definition
Begun but not yet completed; in progress without final resolution. A matter is pending when it has been formally initiated—whether by filing a complaint, lodging a motion, or commencing a proceeding—but has not yet reached a final disposition. The term describes the status of an action or matter throughout the interval between commencement and conclusion.
In practice, the term operates in two related but distinct contexts:
1. Pending action or suit. A lawsuit or legal proceeding is pending from the moment it is properly commenced until final judgment is entered. Intermediate orders, continuances, and appeals do not remove a case from pending status; the proceeding remains pending until the court's authority over it is exhausted or the matter is otherwise concluded.
2. Pending motion or application. A motion, petition, or other request addressed to a court or tribunal is pending from the time it is filed until the court rules on it. Local rules in many courts impose obligations—such as disclosure duties or prohibitions on certain conduct—that attach while a motion is pending.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The term appears in general English primarily as the present participle and gerund of "pend," meaning awaiting or not yet decided—as in "pending approval" or "pending further review."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Not yet decided; in continuance; in suspense; as, a pending suit."
The gap between ordinary and legal usage is narrow but consequential. Common usage treats "pending" loosely as anything not yet resolved. Legal usage is more precise: a matter is not pending merely because someone is thinking about it or expects to act on it. Pendency requires formal commencement. A threatened lawsuit is not a pending action; a filed complaint is. That distinction has real legal consequences—most significantly in the doctrine of lis pendens, where rights of third parties and procedural obligations turn on the exact moment pendency begins.
Common Confusion
PENDING vs. CONTEMPLATED OR ANTICIPATED. A proceeding is pending only once it has begun through the appropriate formal act. Pre-filing negotiations, demand letters, and expressed intentions to sue do not create a pending action. Researchers working with older case law should be alert to courts occasionally using "pending" loosely to encompass imminent or anticipated proceedings—usage that would not support modern procedural consequences.
PENDING vs. CONCLUDED. A case that has been voluntarily dismissed without prejudice may be re-filed, but once dismissed it is no longer pending. Whether an appeal keeps the trial court judgment "pending" for purposes of a particular rule (such as a stay, injunction, or lis pendens) varies by jurisdiction and procedural context. Do not assume pendency extends automatically through appellate review without checking the applicable rule.
Why It Matters in Research
The term "pending" is load-bearing in a surprising number of doctrines, and its precise meaning shifts by procedural context. Researchers should be alert to the following:
Lis pendens. The entire doctrine of lis pendens—notice of a pending action affecting title to real property—depends on the moment pendency begins. Jurisdictions differ on whether filing alone establishes pendency or whether service on the defendant is also required. This has direct consequences for priority disputes involving third-party purchasers and encumbrancers. See civpro_120 for full treatment.
Automatic stays and injunctions. Many automatic stays (including those triggered by bankruptcy filing) and preliminary injunctions use "pending" as the operative temporal boundary. Determining exactly when a proceeding became pending—or ceased to be pending—can be outcome-determinative.
Statutes of limitation tolling. Certain tolling rules operate "while an action is pending." The start and end points of pendency therefore matter for calculating whether a related claim is time-barred.
Historical sources and sloppy usage. Older cases and treatises sometimes use "pending" to mean little more than "ongoing" or "in progress" in a non-legal sense. When reading nineteenth-century opinions, confirm that the court is using "pending" with procedural precision before relying on the characterization.
Corpus searches. Because "pending" functions as both a legal term of art and an ordinary adjective, full-text searches will return significant noise. Filter by proximity to words like "action," "suit," "motion," "proceeding," or "appeal" to isolate legally operative uses.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) offers a clean, consistent definition: "Begun, but not yet completed; unsettled; undetermined; in process of settlement or adjustment." Both editions anchor the concept to the life cycle of litigation—from inception to final judgment—a formulation that has remained essentially stable. The second edition adds case citations confirming this usage across multiple jurisdictions in the late nineteenth century.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary declines to define the term independently and redirects the reader to LIS PENDENS, reflecting the view that the primary legal significance of "pending" arises through that doctrine. The Bouvier cross-reference is useful: it signals that for research purposes, the word rarely travels alone—its legal weight is almost always carried by a surrounding doctrine or rule rather than by the term itself.
None of the historical dictionaries address the procedural question of when pendency formally begins (filing vs. service), nor do they engage with the complications introduced by appeals, voluntary dismissals, or administrative proceedings. Modern researchers should treat the historical definitions as establishing the concept's outer shape, not its precise procedural edges.
Jurisdictional Note
Most U.S. jurisdictions treat an action as pending from the date of filing the initial pleading with the court. Some states require both filing and service to establish pendency for lis pendens purposes. Federal practice under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally ties pendency to filing. International and administrative contexts may use different triggering events entirely.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
civpro_120: Lis Pendens and Notice of Pending Action (Law Mind Civil Procedure & Evidence Encyclopedia)