MBE Fast Fact: Joinder of Claims

The issue of joinder of claims is implicated when plaintiff has sued defendant on one claim and wants to join other claims to the same lawsuit. Joinder of claims in such an instance is allowable, though if there are multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants, then it is necessary that at least one of the claims arise out of a transaction in which all were involved.

A few jurisdictional issues to keep in mind here. If jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, then plaintiff may aggregate all claims against a single defendant in order to satisfy the jurisdictional amount. Further, once the jurisdictional amount has been satisfied in respect to one claim, other claims that do not satisfy the jurisdictional amount may invoke supplemental jurisdiction if they arise from the same common nucleus of operative facts as the claim that did satisfy the amount.

If, instead, jurisdiction is based on a federal question claim, a nonfederal claim may be joined provided it is part of the same case or controversy as the federal claim.