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Fictitious defendants
Fictitious defendants are real persons a plaintiff believes it has a cause of action against in a lawsuit who, for one reason or another, cannot be identified by the plaintiff before a lawsuit is commenced. As the statute of limitations for many torts such as medical malpractice is generally very short, plaintiffs under pressure to issue an originating process such as a statement of claim often use contrived names in the title of proceedings (most commonly "John Doe" or "Jane Doe") and identify the person's role in the lawsuit in the body of the pleading.
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