uniting of several causes of action or parties in a single suit. In federal practice, a party may join as many claims as he or she has against the opposing party. Compare class action; impleader; misjoinder.
COMPULSORY JOINDER: mandatory joining of a person needed in an action for a just adjudication of the controversy. All related claims against another must be joined, or the claimant faces the possibility of being barred from litigating claims separately on the grounds that such action constitutes multiplicity of suits. A defendant must raise related claims as compulsory counterclaims.
JOINDER OF ACTIONS OR CLAIMS: the joinder of two or more claims or actions in a single suit.
see PERMISSIVE JOINDERJOINDER OF ISSUE: the act by which an issue is formally fashioned and structured for the purpose of its consideration and determination by a court. Under the code system of pleading, an issue is joined when one side asserts a set of facts and the other side denies it. In criminal law joinder of issue occurs when the defendant pleads "not guilty" in response to an indictment filed against him or her.
JOINDER OF PARTIES: the naming of a person or entity as a party to a lawsuit.
see COMPULSORY JOINDER (above and PERMISSSIVE JOINDER (below)
MISJOINDER: the improper joinder of a party or a claim. In civil cases, the remedy is to remove the improper party or claim from the suit. In criminal cases, the remedy is a separate trial of the misjoinder offenses or defendants. This remedy is also available to criminal defendants if the misjoinder prejudices any of the defendants.
see misjoinderPERMISSIVE JOINDER: the joining of persons, so that in a single lawsuit a plaintiff may raise all his or her unrelated claims against another party with the court severing claims that ought not be tried together. A defendant may plead in his or her answer any PERMISSIVE COUNTERCLAIMS against the plaintiff.
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