§18.3 Historical Development

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§18.3HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

At common law, joinder of claims was narrowly limited to claims falling within the same form of action. Although equity courts took a more liberal approach than courts of law, a party could not join equity claims with legal claims in either court. 6A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary K. Kane, Federal Practice & Procedure §1581 (3d ed. 2010). Early statutes in Washington and other code pleading states struck a compromise between the law and equity systems by authorizing joinder of claims that fell into certain categories. Washington's former RCW 4.36.150 (repealed 1984), enacted by the Territorial Legislature in 1854, exemplified this approach. It provided as follows:

The plaintiff may unite several causes of action in the same complaint, when they all arise out of, -

(1) Contract, express or implied; or

(2)Injuries, with or without force, to the person; or

(3)Injuries, with or without force, to property; or

(4)Injuries, to character; or

(5)Claims to recover real property, with or without damages for the withholding thereof; or

(6)Claims to recover personal property, with or...