Filing as John Doe

A

awayawayandaway

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
I want to file a claim before the end of this calendar year to preserve the statute for sexual abuse perpetrated against me when I was a minor, but I would like to file with John Doe instead of my legal name to protect my privacy. How do I do this? I already have a draft suit written up by an attorney.
 
awayawayandaway said:
I want to file a claim before the end of this calendar year to preserve the statute for sexual abuse perpetrated against me when I was a minor, but I would like to file with John Doe instead of my legal name to protect my privacy. How do I do this? I already have a draft suit written up by an attorney.
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I think you'll find that you can't file as a "John Doe" plaintiff in this case. In order for the defendants to respond to the complaint they need to know who you are. Usually John Doe cases are those in which the plaintiff is suing but doesn't know who the actual defendants are at the time of filing, and thus they use John Doe as a place holder until they can identify the actual defendants. You are trying to file using John Doe as the plaintiff but you obviously know who the real plaintiff is. So you're likely going to have to use your name as plaintiff in the lawsuit. What you probably want is for the court to seal the case instead, but I'm not seeing any good basis for doing that. If you were a minor, that would allow you more options for this. But as an adult, generally if you want to sue you have to accept that you're exposing yourself to potential public scrutiny. Then you'd have to make a choice as to what is most important to you. Before filing as a John Doe plaintiff here I strongly recommend you seek the advice of a local civil litigation lawyer. If you go the John Doe route and the court ultimately decides that was improper, that could cause you to blow the statute of limitations. And that would end your lawsuit. If this lawsuit is important to you, then spend the money for a consultation on the issue.
 
If you want to sue anonymously, you will have to retain an attorney. Keep in mind that while you might be able to keep your identity out of the court file, you'll obviously have to disclose your identity to the court and the defendants.
 
Tax Counsel said:
I think you'll find that you can't file as a "John Doe" plaintiff in this case. In order for the defendants to respond to the complaint they need to know who you are. Usually John Doe cases are those in which the plaintiff is suing but doesn't know who the actual defendants are at the time of filing, and thus they use John Doe as a place holder until they can identify the actual defendants. You are trying to file using John Doe as the plaintiff but you obviously know who the real plaintiff is. So you're likely going to have to use your name as plaintiff in the lawsuit. What you probably want is for the court to seal the case instead, but I'm not seeing any good basis for doing that. If you were a minor, that would allow you more options for this. But as an adult, generally if you want to sue you have to accept that you're exposing yourself to potential public scrutiny. Then you'd have to make a choice as to what is most important to you. Before filing as a John Doe plaintiff here I strongly recommend you seek the advice of a local civil litigation lawyer. If you go the John Doe route and the court ultimately decides that was improper, that could cause you to blow the statute of limitations. And that would end your lawsuit. If this lawsuit is important to you, then spend the money for a consultation on the issue.
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Thank you, should I consult with a personal injury attorney who specializes in sex abuse or a civil litigation attorney?
 

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