At common law, if a person is unable to defend his or her own interests or make an application, the court appoints a person to represent his or her legal interests. In judicial terminology, this person was referred to as the closest friend, which is derived from the French term prochein ami. People who needed another friend included minors, the mentally ill or mentally retarded, frail or senile people, and others whose disabilities prevented them from managing their affairs. When you`re involved in lawsuits, it`s always good to have a friend or two. But when a legal document refers to a person`s “next friend,” it doesn`t talk about that person`s social circle. Rather, the “next friend” is a person who appears or is appointed by a court to act on behalf of an incapable person, such as a child or a person who has become unable to work due to illness or injury. A future friend is not a party to a lawsuit, but a court official. When the dispute is over, the next friend`s assignment ends. The next friend does not have the right to control the property of the person he represents or to take custody of that person. These rights may be transferred to a person appointed by a court as guardian of a minor or a prohibited person. The next friend`s name appears on a complaint or other legal document – sometimes followed by the designation “a/n/f” or “as next friend” – but the next friend is not a party to the lawsuit. Rather, the next friend is simply acting on behalf of another party by filing a lawsuit or during legal proceedings.
In the case of mental disability, a curator, guardian or committee represents the person in court. However, if they do not have such a representative, or if the committee has an interest against the applicant, they can sue another friend. A person acting on behalf of another person who does not have the legal capacity to act on his or her own behalf. Learn more about FindLaw`s newsletters, including our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This website is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google`s privacy policy and terms of service apply. State laws now set out the qualifications and duties of a person acting as a closest friend, but those laws more often refer to that person as a court-appointed guardian ad litem or special advocate. Regardless of the designation, that person`s responsibility is now limited to representing a minor or an incapacitated person in litigation or legal proceedings. At common law, a closest friend represented a plaintiff, while a guardian represented a defendant.
This distinction has been abolished in modern law. This disability is often caused by a minority, a mental disability or a lack of access to counselling. Therefore, any application to the court on behalf of a minor, a mentally disabled person or a detained person without access to a lawyer who does not have a legal guardian or a person authorized to act on his or her behalf with a power of attorney must be made through a close friend (prochein ami, prochein amy or proximus amicus). A minor often defends a claim not by a closest friend, but by a guardian, who is often appointed by the court competent to hear the case or by a court competent in matters of succession. In some states, the next friend may be called a guardian ad litem (some states have additional requirements for those acting as guardians ad litem), but the next friend is not a legal guardian. At the end of the legal dispute in which he or she appears as the next friend, the duty of the next friend ends. The next friend does not get additional custody of the person for whom they are acting as their next friend, and the role does not confer any rights or control over that person`s property. Often, a close friend is a relative or family member. A modern trend in the United States is for courts to appoint a litigation guardian to represent a minor or disabled person involved in legal proceedings. In situations involving minors, the court appoints a guardian for criminal hearings, adoption proceedings or cases of abuse and neglect before the family court.
In the case of adults with disabilities, this person may be part of an advocacy group that assists a designated lawyer. Guardians ad litem are often used in family and juvenile courts, where the best interests of the child require an independent and neutral person to protect the rights of the child. The growing number of such representatives has led States to develop training and certification programmes for individuals who wish to serve as closest friends or guardians ad litem. Although lawyers can also represent minors, Next Friends provides valuable assistance to the courts. Historically, in the case of a minor, the father was prima facie the right person to act as the closest friend; In the absence of the father, the testamentary guardian was, at the very least, the closest friend; But any person who is not disabled can act as the closest friend as long as he has no interest in the action detrimental to that of the minor. A married woman has historically not been able to act as a next girlfriend (female covert), but this practice is no longer common, at least in the United States, where one or both parents of a minor may act as the next boyfriend. (Exceptions are cases of divorce or other custody cases; in such cases, courts often appoint a guardian or lawyer (independent of the parents) to represent the interests of the child, which may not coincide with the interests of one of the parents.) The next friend can also be used for someone who has been declared unfit or unable to work. Often, these can be adults with age-related dementia or Alzheimer`s disease. In a recent case, a potential $50 million class action lawsuit against the NCAA was filed on behalf of the lead plaintiff by his sister as a close friend. That plaintiff — former University of Texas football player Julius Whittier — suffers from early-onset Alzheimer`s disease, which the lawsuit says was caused by repeated head injuries he sustained during his time as a college football player.
