ABSTRACT
To modern Americans 'legal fiction' brings to mind the novels of John Grisham or Scott Turow, but to an earlier generation of lawyers the phrase meant a different kind of make-believe. Fictions made available some convenient forms of action. They also unlocked the doors to the common law courts. Not only could convenient fictions overcome jurisdictional obstacles, they could also assist a court in doing justice in individual cases. Jeremy Benthamand his followers had so blackened the name of legal fiction that the name at least had to go. But a very similar reality remained under the label of 'constructive this-and-that'. The Statute of Frauds requires a writing 'signed by the party to be charged therewith' for 'any contract or sale of lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any interest in or concerning them'. Again, the Statute of Frauds requires a writing for leases of more than a certain period.
