Legal Definitions - feigned issue

A feigned issue was a historical legal procedure where parties, by mutual agreement, created a fictitious legal dispute to allow a jury to decide a specific question of fact. This method was typically employed when a court, such as a court of equity, did not have the authority to conduct a jury trial itself or preferred to have a jury resolve a complex factual matter. The outcome of the jury's decision on this 'feigned issue' would then guide the court in making its final judgment on the real underlying legal case.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a feigned issue:

• Will Contest: Imagine a situation in the 18th century where a family is disputing the validity of a deceased relative's will in a court of equity. The equity court, historically, did not use juries for its proceedings. However, the core of the dispute hinges on a critical factual question: Was the testator of sound mind when they signed the will? To resolve this, the parties might agree to a feigned issue. They would create a mock lawsuit, perhaps one person "suing" another for a small sum, with the only point of contention for the jury being the testator's mental capacity at the time of signing. The jury's finding on this specific factual question would then be presented back to the equity court, which would use it to determine the will's ultimate validity.

  This illustrates a feigned issue because a fictitious legal action was created solely to obtain a jury's factual determination on a specific point (mental capacity) that the equity court needed to resolve the actual will dispute, which it could not decide by jury itself.

• Property Boundary Dispute: Consider two landowners who have a long-standing disagreement over the exact location of their shared property line. They want to avoid a full, protracted lawsuit but need a definitive, legally binding resolution to this factual question. They could agree to a feigned issue. One landowner might "sue" the other for a nominal amount, claiming a minor trespass, but the true and only question presented to the jury would be the precise demarcation of the property boundary based on historical surveys and deeds. The jury's verdict on the boundary line would then settle the real-world dispute between the neighbors.

  This illustrates a feigned issue because a fabricated legal action was designed to isolate and present a specific factual question (the exact property boundary) to a jury, whose finding would then definitively resolve the real property dispute without the need for a more extensive and formal legal battle.

• Insurance Claim for a Lost Ship: In a historical context, if a ship sank and the owner filed an insurance claim, the insurance company might dispute the cause of the loss. For instance, they might suspect the ship was intentionally scuttled (an uncovered peril) rather than lost due to a storm (a covered peril). If the matter ended up in an equity court due to complex financial arrangements, and the court wanted a jury's input on this crucial factual point, a feigned issue could be used. The ship owner and the insurance company might agree to a "friendly" lawsuit where the owner "sues" the company for a small sum, and the *only* question put to the jury is whether the ship was lost due to a storm or another cause. The jury's finding would then inform the equity court's decision on the insurance claim's validity.

  This illustrates a feigned issue because a manufactured legal scenario was created to obtain a jury's determination on a critical factual point (the cause of the ship's loss) that directly impacted the validity of the insurance claim, allowing the court to proceed with its judgment based on this factual finding.