21 Misjoinder and nonjoinder of parties

If someone sues the wrong people, or leaves out people who should be part of the case, that mistake alone won't get the case thrown out. The court can fix the problem by adding or dropping people from the lawsuit at any point. This can happen because one of the parties asks for it, or because the judge decides on their own that it needs to happen.

The court also has the power to split up claims and handle them separately if that makes more sense. For example, if a lawsuit involves several different people or several different issues, the judge might decide it's better to deal with one part of the case on its own instead of lumping everything together.

What this means for you is that having the wrong parties in a lawsuit, or missing some parties, usually isn't a fatal problem. Courts would rather fix these issues and keep the case moving than throw it out over a technical error. If you're involved in a case like this, expect the judge to have flexibility in deciding who stays in the lawsuit and how the claims get handled.