RULE 19. JOINDER OF PERSONS NEEDED FOR JUST ADJUDICATION
Effective Date: 3/1/1990
Obsolete Date: 3/1/2011
(a) Persons to Be Joined if Feasible. A person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive the court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action must be joined as a party in the action if (1) in the person's absence complete relief cannot be accorded among those already parties, or (2) the person claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in the person's absence may (i) as a practical matter impair or impede the person's ability to protect that interest or (ii) leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations by reason of the claimed interest. If the person has not been so joined, the court shall order that the person be made a party. If the person should join as a plaintiff but refuses to do so, the person may be made a defendant, or, in a proper case, an involuntary plaintiff. If the joined party objects to venue and the joinder would render the venue of the action improper, that party must be dismissed from the action.
(b) Determination by Court Whenever Joinder Not Feasible. If a person as described in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2) hereof cannot be made a party, the court shall determine whether in equity and good conscience the action should proceed among the parties before it, or should be dismissed, the absent person being thus regarded as indispensable. The factors to be considered by the court include: first, to what extent a judgment rendered in the person's absence might be prejudicial to the absent person or those already parties; second, the extent to which, by protective provisions in the judgment, by the shaping of relief, or other measures, the prejudice can be lessened or avoided; third, whether a judgment rendered in the person's absence will be adequate; fourth, whether the plaintiff will have an adequate remedy if the action is dismissed for nonjoinder.
(c) Pleading Reasons for Nonjoinder. A pleading asserting a claim for relief shall state the names, if known to the pleader, of any persons as described in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2) hereof who are not joined, and the reasons why they are not joined.
(d) Exceptions of Class Actions. This rule is subject to the provisions of Rule 23.
Rule 19 was amended, effective March 1, 2011.
Rule 19 is derived from Fed.R.Civ.P. 19.
Rule 19 was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendments are technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
Rule 19 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 24-25, 2008, pages 28-29; April 20, 1989, page 2; December 3, 1987, page 11; September 20-21, 1979, pages 12-13; Fed.R.Civ.P. 19.
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 23 (Uniform Class Actions Rule).