Real-Party-in-Interest Rule Law and Legal Definition
Real party in interest rule is a rule of civil law that the person entitled by law to enforce a substantive right should be the one under whose name the action is prosecuted. The rule is codified at USCS Fed Rules Civ Proc R 17.
The purpose of the real party in interest rule is "to protect the defendant against a subsequent action by the party actually entitled to recover, and to insure generally that the judgment will have its proper effect as res judicata."[Greer v. O'Dell, 305 F.3d 1297, 1303 (11th Cir. Ala. 2002)]
