Relation-Back Doctrine
Definition
Allows a plaintiff to amend the complaint to add a new claim, even if the statute of limitations has run in the interim on the new claim, so long as the factual situation upon which the new claim depends remains the same and has been brought to the defendant’s attention by the original pleading. If an amendment relates back, then the court will treat the amendment as if it had been filed on the date of the original pleading.