A civil conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful act that causes damage to a person or property. A civil conspiracy is in contrast to a criminal conspiracy where the object of the conspiracy is to commit a criminal offense or crime.

Laws vary from state to state but the elements of a civil conspiracy claim are generally:

• two or more persons;

• an objective to be accomplished;

• a meeting of the minds on the objective or course of action;

• one or more unlawful, overt acts in furtherance of the objective; and

• damages as a proximate result.

An actionable civil conspiracy requires specific intent to agree to accomplish something unlawful or to accomplish something lawful by unlawful means. This inherently requires a meeting of the minds on the object or course of action.

Thus, an actionable civil conspiracy exists only as to those parties who are aware of the intended harm or proposed wrongful conduct at the outset of the combination or agreement.

The actions of one member in a conspiracy might support a finding of liability as to all of the members. But even where a conspiracy is established, wrongful acts by one member of the conspiracy that occurred before the agreement creating the conspiracy do not simply carry forward, tack on to the conspiracy, and support liability for each member of the conspiracy as to the prior acts.

Rather, for conspirators to have individual liability as a result of the conspiracy, the actions agreed to by the conspirators must cause the damages claimed.

Laws regarding civil conspiracy claims may be located in a state's statutes or in its court opinions—also known as common law or case law.

In Minnesota, a civil conspiracy is recognized when two or more persons agree to commit an unlawful act or a lawful act in an unlawful manner, which results in damages to another party. The elements of a civil conspiracy in Minnesota are similar to those generally recognized in other states: (1) a combination of two or more persons, (2) an agreement on an objective or course of action, (3) a meeting of the minds on the objective, (4) one or more overt acts in furtherance of the objective, and (5) damages as a proximate result of the conspiracy. Minnesota law requires that there be specific intent to agree to accomplish the unlawful objective, and only those parties who are aware of the intended harm or wrongful conduct at the outset are considered part of the conspiracy. Liability among conspirators is joint, meaning that the actions of one can result in liability for all; however, wrongful acts by a conspirator that occurred before the agreement do not establish liability for the other conspirators for those prior acts. Instead, the agreed-upon actions must be the cause of the claimed damages. Minnesota's laws on civil conspiracy are derived from case law rather than specific statutes.