Fictitious defendants

A fictitious defendant is a person who cannot be identified by the plaintiff before a lawsuit is commenced, and is commonly designated John Doe or Jane Doe. Because 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 such as John Doe in the title of proceedings and identify the person's role in the lawsuit in the body of the pleading. Generally this tactic preserves the limitation period, and with leave of the court the plaintiff can later substitute the real name of the defendant once it is learned during discovery.