Legal Definitions - fictitious

In a legal context, fictitious describes something that is assumed, imagined, or created by law for a specific legal purpose, even if it does not exist in reality or is not literally true. It refers to a legal construct or assumption used to facilitate legal reasoning, achieve a particular outcome, or simplify complex situations, rather than something based purely on factual existence.

• Corporate Personhood

  A corporation is often referred to as a fictitious person in law. While a corporation is an organization of people, not a living individual, the law treats it as a separate legal entity with many of the same rights and responsibilities as a human being. For instance, a corporation can enter into contracts, own property, sue, and be sued in its own name.

  How it illustrates the term: The legal system creates the fiction of a "person" for the corporation to allow it to function as a distinct legal actor, separate from its owners or employees, thereby managing its rights and obligations effectively.

• "John Doe" or "Jane Doe" Defendants

  When a lawsuit is filed, and the plaintiff knows a person caused harm but does not yet know their actual name, the complaint might name a fictitious defendant such as "John Doe" or "Jane Doe."

  How it illustrates the term: This allows the legal process to begin and the lawsuit to be filed within statutory deadlines, even before the true identity of the defendant is discovered. Once the actual name is known, the complaint is amended to replace the fictitious name with the real one, but the initial use of the placeholder name is a legal fiction.

• Relation Back Doctrine for Amendments

  Under the "relation back" doctrine, an amendment to a legal pleading (like a complaint) might be treated as if it were filed on the date of the original pleading, even though it was filed later. This creates a fictitious filing date for the amendment.

  How it illustrates the term: This legal fiction is often used to prevent a claim from being barred by the statute of limitations. If the original complaint was filed on time, and a later amendment merely clarifies or adds details related to the original claim, the law treats the amendment as if it were part of the original, timely filing, even though it wasn't physically filed on that earlier date.