alter ego

Legal doctrine that lifts or pierces the 'corporate veil' (limited personal liability of the stockholders in a limited liability firm) and holds the directors and stockholders personally liable for the firm's debts. It is applicable generally where it can be shown that the firm is merely a conduit or front for the personal dealings of certain individual(s). And that, in effect, the firm does not exist as a separate and independent entity envisaged in the corporate legislation. Latin for, the other I.