Also known as: natural persons · individual · human being
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A human being who possesses legal rights and duties as an individual. This category excludes artificial entities such as corporations that receive separate legal personality by statute or charter.
Nathaniel Newman struck Noah Nakamura during a bar fight, causing injuries that led to Noah's death hours later. Prosecutors charged Nathaniel with murder because the victim was a natural person whose life the law protects under the homicide statute. The court rejected any argument that the charge required proof of corporate status or other artificial personality.
Nexus Financial sued Nolan Nunez for breach of a loan agreement. In its initial disclosures, Nexus listed Natalie Norris as an individual likely to have discoverable information about the loan negotiations. The rule required identification of natural persons rather than corporate departments or generic titles.
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Neville Norton told a supplier that his company had shipped defective goods. When the supplier later sued Norton personally, the court admitted the statement as a party admission because Norton spoke in his individual capacity as a natural person rather than solely as an agent of the corporation.
Nancy Nelson drove recklessly and struck a pedestrian, causing the pedestrian's death. The state charged Nelson with criminal homicide because the victim qualified as a human being under the penal code definition of natural person. The prosecution did not need to prove any corporate status or artificial entity attributes.
A lawyer prepared a will leaving a substantial bequest to the lawyer's own relative. The ethics rule prohibited the gift because the recipient was related to the lawyer rather than to the client, triggering the prohibition on substantial testamentary gifts to the lawyer or the lawyer's family.
Northstar Logistics assigned an untrained driver to operate a delivery truck. When the driver caused an accident injuring a bystander, the court found negligence because the company knowingly used a natural person who lacked the competence required for safe operation of the vehicle.
The term refers to living human beings who possess legal capacity. Homicide statutes, for example, require that the victim be a person who has been born and is alive at the time of the killing.
A natural person who manifests assent has full legal capacity unless under guardianship, an infant, mentally ill, or intoxicated. Corporations receive capacity through their charter rather than personal attributes.
At common law only natural persons could be subjected to criminal punishment. Modern statutes may impose liability on both, but the term natural person still distinguishes human defendants from corporate ones.
Initial disclosures must identify each individual likely to have discoverable information so opposing parties can locate and depose the actual human witnesses who possess relevant knowledge.
The rule bars gifts to the lawyer or a person related to the lawyer unless the recipient is related to the client. The restriction focuses on natural persons to prevent overreaching in the attorney-client relationship.
…and that right has been violated do the laws afford him a remedy? The essence of civil liberty consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws whenever he receives an injury. It is a general rule that where there is a legal right there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law. The…