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Rule 19 And The Public Rights Exception To Party Joinder, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The increasing number of "public interest" lawsuits suggests that federal courts increasingly will confront difficult party joinder questions posed by such litigation. These problems arise because entities not involved in the litigation may have interests that may be adversely affected by the litigation. The joinder issue presented by such cases is whether rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that the suit be dismissed or whether the litigation can continue without joinder of the absent entities. Numerous courts have dealt with the question by creating a 'public rights exception," which permits the litigation to continue even without …