Rule 17.Parties Plaintiff and Defendant — Capacity.

Rule 17 says a lawsuit has to be filed in the name of the person or entity that owns the claim — the real party in interest. But the rule carves out a long list of people who can sue in their own name even though the underlying right belongs to someone else: executors, administrators, guardians, bailees, trustees of an express trust, someone who made a contract for another person’s benefit, and anyone a statute authorizes to sue. When a statute calls for it, the action goes forward in the name of the state. An insurance company that has paid a loss and stepped into the insured’s shoes through subrogation can also sue using the insured’s name.

If a case is filed in the wrong name, the court will not throw it out right away. The rule requires that the plaintiff get a reasonable amount of time, after someone objects, to have the real party in interest ratify the suit, join it, or be substituted in. Once that happens, the case is treated as if it had been filed correctly from the start.

The rule also addresses who has the legal capacity to sue or be sued. For an individual — including someone suing in a representative role — and for a partnership or unincorporated association, Rhode Island law controls. A corporation’s capacity is measured by the law of the state where it was organized, unless a Rhode Island statute says otherwise.

Finally, Rule 17 protects minors and incompetent persons. If they already have a guardian, conservator, or similar fiduciary, that representative can sue or defend for them. If not, they can proceed through a next friend or guardian ad litem, and the court must appoint a guardian ad litem — or issue whatever other order it thinks proper — to protect anyone in that position who is not otherwise represented.