Permissive Joinder of Parties

(a) Persons Who May Join or Be Joined. (1) Plaintiffs. Persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if: (A) they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences; and (B) any question of law or fact common to all plaintiffs will arise in the action. (2) Defendants. [Not used.] (3) Extent of Relief. A plaintiff need not be interested in obtaining all the relief demanded. The court may grant judgment to one or more plaintiffs according to their rights. (b) Protective Measures. The court may issue orders—including an order for separate against trials—to embarrassment, delay, expense, or other prejudice that arises from including a person against whom the party asserts no claim and who asserts no claim against the party. protect party a (As revised and reissued May 1, 2002; as amended Nov. 3, 2008.) Rules Committee Notes 2002 Revision The authority previously contained in RCFC 20(a)(1)–(2), permitting unrestricted joinder of additional plaintiffs to a pending multi-party action, proved cumbersome in practice and an impediment to sound case management. The joinder of additional plaintiffs should proceed by appropriate motion 15. Accordingly, RCFC 20 was modified so as to more the corresponding FRCP. closely parallel under RCFC text of the 2008 Amendment The language of RCFC 20 has been amended to conform to the general restyling of the FRCP.