Also known as: adequate representation · adequately represent · adequately represents · adequately representing · adequate counsel
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A condition in which existing parties or representatives in litigation protect the interests of absent or potential parties sufficiently to preclude intervention or to bind nonparties to the judgment. The condition turns on alignment of interests and vigorous prosecution without disabling conflicts.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Atlas Ventures sought to intervene in a breach-of-contract suit between Apex Dynamics and a supplier over exclusive supply rights. The district court denied the motion because Apex Dynamics already asserted the same contract interpretation and had every incentive to maximize recovery. Atlas Ventures could not show that its interests would be impaired.
Royalty owners across multiple states received notice of a class action against Phillips Petroleum for underpayment. The named plaintiffs shared identical interests and actively litigated the claims. The Supreme Court held that the absent owners were adequately represented and therefore bound by the judgment.
Prospective law-school applicants moved to intervene in Grutter's challenge to affirmative-action admissions. The court found that the university defendants already defended the policy vigorously and shared the applicants' interest in preserving the program. The motion was denied because existing parties adequately represented the applicants' interests.
Plaintiffs sought certification of a settlement class in a securities fraud action. The court refused because the proposed representatives had already sold their shares and lacked incentive to maximize recovery for current holders. The class could not be certified without adequate representation.
A named plaintiff challenged parole-revocation procedures on behalf of a class of inmates. After his release the case was not moot because the class members remained adequately represented by counsel who continued to press the claims vigorously on their behalf.
Female employees sought to represent a nationwide class alleging gender discrimination at Wal-Mart. The Supreme Court held that the proposed representatives could not adequately represent the class because store-level managers exercised discretion differently and some class members held managerial positions themselves.
The plaintiff must have been a shareholder at the time of the challenged act or acquired shares by operation of law from such a shareholder. The plaintiff must also fairly and adequately represent the corporation's interests in enforcing the corporate claim.
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A conflict arises when the plaintiff's personal business interests diverge from the corporation's, such as when the plaintiff operates a competing firm that would benefit from unwinding the challenged transaction. Hostility from unrelated family or estate disputes can also create doubts about loyalty to the corporation as a whole.
…denied the motion to intervene as of right on the basis that the intervenors failed to show that their interests would not be adequately represented by the University. The district court also denied the proposed intervenors' alternative motion for permissive intervention. Discussion The proposed intervenors in each of these cases…
…by the arbitration. For a class-action money judgment to bind absentees in litigation, class representatives must at all times
…to those claims. The absent class members were provided with notice, an opportunity to be heard and to opt out of the class, and adequate representation
…a conception of the class action that substantially dissipates the case-or-controversy requirement as well as the necessity for adequate representation under Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 23 (a) (4). In the Court's view, the litigation before us is saved from mootness only by the fact that class certification occurred prior to appellant's change in…
…to which Rule 23(e) refers is one qualified for certification under Rule 23(a) and (b). Cf. Eisen , 417 U. S., at 176-177 (adequate representation
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Yes. The contemporaneous-ownership rule requires ownership at the time of the act or omission or acquisition by operation of law from someone who held shares then. Post-transaction purchases are designed to prevent entrepreneurial litigation over past decisions.
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If existing parties already assert the same interest and have every incentive to protect it vigorously, a potential intervenor cannot show that its ability to protect its interest will be impaired. The motion to intervene is therefore denied.
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Absent class members are bound when the named plaintiffs share identical interests, face no conflicts, and prosecute the action vigorously. Notice and an opportunity to opt out further support the conclusion that representation was adequate.
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