Fraudulent concealment is a

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

doctrine that may be invoked to toll a

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

. Under this doctrine, if a defendant has concealed his misconduct, then the limitations period shall start from the point when the plaintiff discovers his claim, or should have discovered it with due diligence. It is similar to the

equitable estoppel Estoppel is a judicial device whereby a court may prevent or "estop" a person from making assertions or from going back on their word. The person barred from doing so is said to be "estopped". Estoppel may prevent someone from bringing a particul ...

doctrine. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

first adopted the fraudulent concealment doctrine as a federal common law matter in the 1874 case ''Bailey v. Glover''. The doctrine was notably raised in cases related to the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

; E. Howard Hunt unsuccessfully invoked it in a malpractice suit against his defense lawyer, and journalist

Hedrick Smith Hedrick Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former ''New York Times'' reporter and Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent. After serving 26 years with ''The New York Times'' from 1962-88 as correspondent, editor and bureau chief in both Mos ...

successfully used it in an illegal

wiretapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

case against

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and others. Since then, it has increased in popularity.

References

{{reflist Common law