Arguendo Law and Legal Definition
Latin term meaning “for the sake of argument.” It is a statement, possibly hypothetical, made for the purpose of argument. Making an assumption arguendo allows an attorney to pursue arguments in the alternative without admitting even the slightest possibility that those assumptions could be true. For example, an attorney in a criminal case may say “assuming, arguendo, that the accused stole the car, it would be clear that he would have been justified in doing so in order to save a life.” It has to be noted that the term “arguendo” appears most commonly in appeals briefs.
