If an order grants relief for a nonparty or may be enforced against a nonparty, the procedure for enforcing the order is the same as for a party.
Rule 71.Process in Behalf of and Against Persons Not Parties
Group VIII: Provisional and Final Remedies and Special Proceedings · Last amended March 1, 2011 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 71 makes a court order enforceable in favor of or against a nonparty in exactly the same way it would be enforced by or against an actual party, whenever the order grants that nonparty relief or binds them.
Full Text of Rule 71
Explanatory Note
Rule 71 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; March 1, 2011. Rule 71 is derived from Fed.R.Civ.P. 71, and is "* * * intended to assure that process be made available to enforce
court orders in favor of and against persons who are properly affected by them, even if they are not parties to the action." Lasky v. Quinlan, 558 F.2d 1133, 1137 (2d Cir. 1977).
As an example, the North Dakota Supreme Court held, in United Accounts, Inc. v. Larson, 121 N.W.2d 628 (N.D. 1963), that a judgment of foreclosure of a lien was enforceable against the original party's assignee who was not made a party to the action. This rule may also be used in conjunction with class actions governed by Rule 23.
Rule 71 was amended, effective March 1, 1990, to follow the 1987 amendment to the federal rule. The amendment is technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
Rule 71 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.
Plain-English Summary
Court orders sometimes reach people who were never made parties to the lawsuit — an assignee who took over a party's interest, a successor, or a member of a class in a class action. Rule 71 keeps those orders from becoming hollow just because the person affected was not formally a party. It says the procedure for enforcing an order in favor of or against a nonparty is the same procedure used for a party, so the enforcement tools elsewhere in these rules — writs, contempt, and the rest — remain available.
North Dakota's own case law shows the rule at work. In United Accounts, Inc. v. Larson, the North Dakota Supreme Court held that a foreclosure judgment could be enforced against the original party's assignee, even though the assignee had never been made a party to the action. The rule's drafters, drawing on the identical federal rule, meant it to assure that process stays available to enforce orders in favor of and against everyone properly affected by them, not just the named parties.
The rule also does work alongside class actions under Rule 23, where relief may run to or against class members who were never individually named as parties. Rule 71 supplies the enforcement mechanism for those situations too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a North Dakota court order be enforced against someone who was never a party to the lawsuit?
Yes, if the order grants relief for that nonparty or may be enforced against them, Rule 71 makes the same enforcement procedure available as if the person had been a party.
Has a North Dakota court applied Rule 71 against someone who was not a party?
Yes. In United Accounts, Inc. v. Larson, the North Dakota Supreme Court held that a foreclosure judgment was enforceable against the original party's assignee, who had not been made a party to the action.
Does Rule 71 create its own separate enforcement procedure for nonparties?
No. It borrows the procedures already used to enforce orders against parties, such as those in Rules 69 and 70, and extends them to nonparties an order affects.
How does Rule 71 connect to class actions under Rule 23?
Class actions often grant relief to, or bind, class members who were never individually named as parties. Rule 71 supplies the mechanism for enforcing that relief in favor of or against those class members.
If I benefit from a court order but was never formally made a party, can I enforce it?
Rule 71 says the procedure for enforcing an order is the same for a nonparty as for a party, so a person who was properly granted relief by an order can use the same enforcement tools a party would use.
Source & verification. Rule text and the Explanatory Note are
reproduced verbatim from the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of North Dakota. Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: enforcing a court order against a nonparty ndunited accounts v larson north dakotaassignee bound by judgment ndclass action nonparty enforcement ndprocess against persons not parties nd