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 New York, civil conspiracy is not recognized as an independent cause of action. However, it can be used to connect the actions of various defendants to an underlying tort claim. The elements of a civil conspiracy in New York are similar to those in other jurisdictions and include an agreement between two or more persons to perform an unlawful act or a lawful act in an unlawful manner, a meeting of the minds on the objective or course of action, an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, and damages resulting from the act. It is important to note that each conspirator must have a specific intent to achieve the objective of the conspiracy. Liability in a civil conspiracy in New York is generally limited to the acts committed in furtherance of the conspiracy after the agreement has been made. Actions by one conspirator prior to the formation of the conspiracy do not automatically impose liability on the others. For a party to be held liable, the actions that are part of the conspiracy must have caused the damages claimed. This principle is derived from New York case law rather than specific statutes.