1. The act or an instance of requesting or seeking to obtain something; a request or petition (a solicitation for volunteers to handle at least one pro bono case per year).
2. The criminal offense of urging, advising, commanding, or otherwise inciting another to commit a crime ( convicted of solicitation of murder). • Solicitation is an inchoate offense distinct from the solicited crime. Under the Model Penal Code, a defendant is guilty of solicitation even if the command or urging was not actually communicated to the solicited person, as long as it was designed to be communicated. Model Penal Code § 5.02(2). — Also termed criminal solicitation; incitement. Cf. ATTEMPT(2). [Cases: Criminal Law 45; Homicide 562. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 115, 124–126.]
3. An offer to pay or accept money in exchange for sex (the prostitute was charged with solicitation). — Also termed soliciting. Cf. PATRONIZING A PROSTITUTE.
4. An attempt or effort to gain business (the attorney’s solicitations took the form of radio and television ads). • The Model Rules of Professional Conduct place certain prohibitions on lawyers’ direct solicitation of potential clients. [Cases: Attorney and Client 32(9). C.J.S. Attorney and Client §§ 47–48.]
5. Securities. A request for a proxy; a request to execute, not execute, or revoke a proxy; the furnishing of a form of proxy; or any other communication to security holders under circumstances reasonably calculated to result in the procurement, withholding, or revocation of a proxy. [Cases: Securities Regulation 49.10–49.16. C.J.S. Securities Regulation §§ 229–231.] — solicit, vb.
