Rule 17.Parties plaintiff and defendant; capacity

Rule 17(a) requires every action to go forward in the name of the real party in interest -- the person who holds the claim. The rule then lists people who may sue in their own name without joining the person they represent: an executor, administrator, guardian, bailee, or trustee of an express trust; someone who contracted in their own name for another's benefit; a party authorized by statute; and, when a statute requires it, an action brought in the name of the State of Vermont for another's use. An insurer that has paid a loss may sue in the name of the assured to whom it is subrogated. If someone is sued or sues in the wrong name, the case is not dismissed on that ground alone -- the court allows a reasonable time after the objection for the real party in interest to ratify the suit, or to join or be substituted in, and once that happens the case proceeds as though it had been filed correctly from the start.

Section (b) protects people who cannot represent themselves in litigation. An infant or incompetent person who already has a general guardian, conservator, or similar fiduciary sues or defends through that representative. Without one, the person may proceed through a next friend or a guardian ad litem, and the court must appoint a guardian ad litem for anyone in that position who has no other representation, or make whatever other order protects that person. When a defendant has been served only by publication and has not appeared, the court may likewise appoint an agent, guardian ad litem, or next friend to represent that defendant's interests.

Section (c) adds a specific notice requirement for subrogated insurance claims. Before an insurer can assert a claim or counterclaim in the assured's name based on subrogation or assignment, it must give the assured at least 14 days' written notice of its intent, served the way a summons is served under Rule 4 or by certified mail with a signed return receipt. A copy of that notice, along with proof of service or the return receipt, must be attached to the pleading asserting the subrogated claim. If the assured wants to raise a claim of their own arising from the same transaction or occurrence, they must notify the insurer or its attorney in writing within 14 days of receiving the insurer's notice.