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 Utah, a civil conspiracy is recognized as a cooperative effort between two or more parties to commit an unlawful act or a lawful act by unlawful means, resulting in damage to another party. The elements of a civil conspiracy in Utah align with the general principles outlined: there must be an agreement between two or more persons, a common objective, a meeting of the minds regarding the objective or course of action, one or more unlawful overt acts in furtherance of the objective, and damages resulting as a proximate cause of the conspiracy. Utah courts require specific intent to accomplish the unlawful objective for a civil conspiracy claim to be actionable. Liability among conspirators is joint, meaning that the actions of one can lead to liability for all, but only for wrongful acts that occur after the formation of the conspiracy. Prior acts do not create liability for the group unless they are part of the agreed-upon scheme. Utah's approach to civil conspiracy is derived from case law rather than specific statutes, meaning that the principles have been developed and refined through judicial decisions over time.