Also known as: fictitiously · false · sham
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A quality or thing that is not genuine or real but is created or pretended for a legal purpose or effect. The concept often arises when a document, statement, or arrangement misrepresents its true nature or purpose to achieve a collateral objective.
Farah Fox, representing a client in a contract dispute, files a motion asserting that certain invoices were timely delivered when she knows they were backdated. The tribunal relies on the assertion to grant a continuance. Farah's use of the fictitious timeline violates her duty not to make false statements of fact.
Floyd Franklin, a store manager, locks customer Felix Franco in an office by claiming the door is jammed while security reviews a suspected shoplifting video. Felix remains inside for twenty minutes until the manager admits the lock was deliberate. The confinement rests on the fictitious mechanical failure.
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Francesca Fiore executes a revocation of her will under the mistaken belief that her son has already received his inheritance through an inter vivos trust. The revocation recites this false assumption. Because the revocation rests on a fictitious premise about the disposition, it is presumptively ineffective.
Frank Fisher, on trial for environmental violations, testifies that consultants prepared all compliance reports. The prosecutor offers his earlier conviction for filing fictitious monitoring logs with regulators. The conviction involved a dishonest act and is therefore admissible to impeach his credibility.
Francesca Fowler signs a writing labeled 'Last Will and Testament' solely to induce her partner to move in with her. The document contains standard testamentary language but was never intended to dispose of property. Extrinsic evidence shows the instrument was a fictitious will created for a non-testamentary purpose.
Fidelity Trust sponsors an employee for a visa through a sham marriage to Franklin Foundry's bookkeeper. The couple signs all required forms and holds a ceremony but privately agrees they will never cohabit or share finances. The arrangement is treated as a fictitious marriage under traditional rules that examine whether the parties intended the usual obligations of marriage.
A statement is fictitious when a lawyer knows it is false and presents it to a tribunal as true. The rule prohibits both affirmative false statements and the failure to correct prior false statements of material fact. Knowledge of falsity is measured at the time the statement is made or when the lawyer later learns of the error.
A revocation is presumptively ineffective if the testator acted on a false belief about a fact or law that is recited in the revoking instrument or proved by clear and convincing evidence. The presumption can be rebutted only if keeping the revocation in effect better matches the testator's probable intent.
Courts examine whether the parties intended to assume the usual obligations and status of marriage. Some jurisdictions uphold the marriage if procedural requirements were met, while others invalidate it when the parties privately agreed to contrary terms such as no cohabitation or financial support.
A conviction is admissible under Rule 609(a)(2) if the elements of the crime required proof or admission of a dishonest act or false statement. The court must admit the evidence for any crime when that element is readily apparent, regardless of punishment.
…to him as a plaintiff-intervenor? A. Jane Roe. Despite the use of the pseudonym, no suggestion is made that Roe is a fictitious person. For purposes of her case, we accept as true, and as established, her existence; her pregnant state, as of the inception of her suit in March 1970 and as late as May 21 of that year…