Whenever the name of any defendant or respondent is not known to the plaintiff, the summons and other process may issue against him or her by a fictitious name, or by such description as the plaintiff or complainant may select; and if duly served, it shall not be abated for that cause, but may be amended with or without terms as the court may order.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-5-20
Writs and other process against unknown defendant
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 626 F. Supp. 926 - Brennan v. Lermer Corp. (1986)
Most recently applied in 626 F. Supp. 926 - Brennan v. Lermer Corp. (January 1986)
C.P.A. 1905, § 520; G.L. 1909, ch. 299, § 24; G.L. 1923, ch. 349, § 24; G.L. 1938, ch. 514, § 17; G.L. 1956, § 9-5-20; P.L. 1965, ch. 55, § 13.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Rhode Island General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Rhode Island statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.