Joinder of Claims and Parties

This exercise is designed to help students learn the principles of joinder under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It is designed to be used in different ways. Students may use it as a tutorial to accompany assigned readings, as a supplement to reinforce concepts discussed in class, or as a review before exams. The tutorial is interactive, requiring the student to respond to various questions and hypotheticals to learn the principles embodied in the rules. It does not assume any specific knowledge of the joinder rules - it is designed to teach the rules from the beginning.

The exercise includes links between various parts of the tutorial. These links offer students options in navigating through the lesson so they are not forced to follow a particular order. The user is the master of the organization. All of the rules and statutes that are needed are available as part of the lesson.

The lesson includes units on a variety of joinder topics: Claim Joinder (Rule 18); Party Joinder (Rule 20); Counterclaims; Cross-claims; Third-Party Claims (Rule 14); Compulsory Joinder (Rule 19); and Intervention (Rule 24). It also contains an extensive unit devoted to the Subject Matter Jurisdiction problems raised by these rules. Finally, there is a review unit to allow the user to apply the principles learned in the lesson. The exercise is not tied to the organization of any particular civil procedure text.