§21.5 Purpose and Procedure

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§21.5 PURPOSE AND PROCEDURE

CR 21 softens the harsher remedy for misjoinder or nonjoinder at common law, when misjoinder of parties was fatal to the cause of action. This outcome led to hardship, especially if the applicable statute of limitations expired before the claimant could commence a new action involving the proper parties. As a result, equity courts tried to minimize the effect of joinder problems by waiving joinder defects to which the parties had not objected early in the proceeding.

CR 21 provides a compromise between the common law and equity approaches. By alleviating the...