Motion in limine is the name commonly given a pretrial motion that attempts to prevent the offer of, or reference to, specific evidence or other matters in the presence of the jury. A motion in limine is designed to require a party offering evidence to approach the bench and inquire into the admissibility of the evidence at issue before introducing that evidence to the jury. The purpose of the motion in limine is to prevent the other party from asking prejudicial questions or introducing prejudicial evidence in front of the jury without first asking the trial court’s permission.

In New York, a motion in limine is a pretrial request made to the court to rule on the admissibility of certain evidence before it is presented during the trial. The goal of this motion is to prevent potentially prejudicial evidence from being introduced in front of the jury without the judge's approval. This helps to ensure that the jury is not exposed to evidence that may be inadmissible or could unfairly sway their opinion. The motion in limine is particularly useful for addressing issues of evidence that might be highly inflammatory or that could unduly prejudice the jury against one of the parties. If the motion is granted, the court will typically order that the evidence in question cannot be mentioned or introduced during the trial without prior permission from the court. This allows the trial to proceed more smoothly and helps to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings by preventing surprise and maintaining the integrity of the jury's deliberations.