Rule 26.Real Party in Interest; Capacity of Partnerships and Associations

Rule 26 starts from a basic principle: a lawsuit has to be brought by the person who holds the claim, not by a stranger to the dispute. Section A lists people who commonly sue on behalf of someone else in a representative capacity — executors, administrators, guardians, conservators, bailees, trustees of an express trust, someone who contracted for another’s benefit, or anyone else a statute authorizes to sue in their own name. These representatives can sue without joining the person who will benefit from the suit. Section A also has a narrow provision for actions brought for someone else’s use or benefit: when an Oregon statute specifically calls for it, that kind of action must be filed in the name of the State of Oregon itself, rather than in the name of the individual who benefits.

Section A includes a safety valve for a case challenged on real-party-in-interest grounds: the court cannot dismiss it outright. The real party in interest first gets a reasonable time, after the objection, to ratify the lawsuit, join it, or be substituted in, and once that happens, the case is treated as if it had been filed correctly from the start.

Section B addresses partnerships and other unincorporated associations, whether or not organized for profit. They can sue under whatever name they have assumed, and can be sued under that same assumed name or any name by which they are known, without listing every partner or member individually. A plaintiff suing the partnership or association may also join an individual member as a party in that same action.