Misjoinder of parties is not ground for dismissal of an action. Parties may be dropped or added by order of the court on motion of any party or of its own initiative at any stage of the action and on such terms as are just. Any claim against a party may be severed and proceeded with separately.
Rule 21.Misjoinder and Nonjoinder of Parties.
Current through February 2024 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 21 lets a court add or drop parties to a lawsuit at any stage, on any side's motion or its own initiative, and makes clear that joining the wrong parties, or leaving someone out, is never by itself a reason to throw out the whole case.
Full Text of Rule 21
Amendment History
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 21 deals with two joinder problems: parties who never should have been included in a case (misjoinder), and parties who should have been included but were not (nonjoinder). The rule says up front that misjoinder is never grounds for dismissing an action — a case does not die just because someone was mistakenly named as a plaintiff or defendant.
Instead of dismissal, the court fixes the problem by adding or dropping parties. It can do this on a motion from any party, or on its own, at any point in the case, and it can set whatever terms are just — for example, requiring one side to cover costs the mistake caused. Because relief comes by court order rather than automatic amendment, a party who wants someone added or removed generally needs to ask.
The rule also lets the court sever a claim against a particular party and let it proceed as its own separate action. That is useful when one claim in a multi-party case is ready to move forward while claims against another party need more time, or when combining them would confuse the proceedings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a case be thrown out because the wrong person was named as a party?
No. Rule 21 says misjoinder of parties is never grounds for dismissing an action. If someone was added to the case who should not be there, the fix is to drop that party by court order, not to end the whole lawsuit.
Who can ask the court to add or remove a party?
Any party to the case can move to add or drop a party, and the court can also act on its own at any stage of the litigation. The court sets terms it considers just when it does, which can include conditions like shifting costs the mistake caused.
What happens if claims against one defendant should be handled separately?
The court can sever that claim under Rule 21 and let it proceed as its own separate action, which keeps unrelated or out-of-step claims from holding up the rest of the case.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Rhode Island Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure (R.I. Super. Ct. R. Civ. P. 21). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-6-2). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: adding a party to a lawsuitdropping a party from a lawsuitmisjoinder of partieswrong party suedamend complaint to add defendantsevering claims in a lawsuitnonjoinderparty joinder mistake