virtual representation doctrine
virtual-representation doctrine. The principle that a judgment may bind a person who is not a party to the litigation if one of the parties is so closely aligned with the nonparty’s interests that the nonparty has been adequately represented by the party in court. • Under this doctrine, for instance, a judgment in a case naming only the husband as a party can be binding on his wife as well. See RES JUDICATA. [Cases: Judgment 677. C.J.S. Judgments §§ 847, 851–854.]
