Legal Definitions - intervention

Intervention is a legal procedure that allows a person or entity who was not originally named as a plaintiff or defendant to join an existing lawsuit. This typically occurs when the non-party has a significant interest in the subject matter of the case and believes that the outcome could directly affect their rights or obligations. By intervening, they become a formal party to the lawsuit, enabling them to present arguments, introduce evidence, and protect their interests directly.

There are two primary types of intervention:

• Intervention of Right: This occurs when a non-party has a strong legal interest in the lawsuit, and their ability to protect that interest might be significantly impaired if they are not allowed to join. This is especially true if the existing parties do not adequately represent their specific concerns. In such cases, the court generally must allow them to intervene.
• Permissive Intervention: This is when a non-party has a claim or defense that shares a common question of law or fact with the main lawsuit. The court may allow them to intervene at its discretion, considering whether their participation would unduly delay or complicate the original case.

Here are some examples illustrating how intervention works:

• Environmental Lawsuit: Imagine a large manufacturing company is sued by a national environmental organization for polluting a local river. A group of local residents who own property downstream and rely on the river for irrigation and drinking water might seek to intervene.

  How it illustrates intervention: The residents are not original parties to the lawsuit, but their health, property values, and livelihoods are directly impacted by the river's pollution. While the environmental organization might focus on broader ecological damage, the residents have specific, direct interests related to their personal well-being and property that might not be fully represented. They would likely seek intervention of right to ensure their unique concerns are heard and protected.

• Business Contract Dispute: Consider a lawsuit between two major software companies over the breach of a licensing agreement for a complex operating system. A smaller tech startup that developed a critical component of that operating system, and whose own licensing terms with one of the major companies are tied to the primary agreement, might seek to intervene.

  How it illustrates intervention: The startup is not directly accused of breach, but the court's interpretation of certain contract clauses in the main lawsuit could directly affect the validity or terms of their own licensing agreements. The court might grant them permissive intervention because there is a common question of contract interpretation, and their input could be valuable without overly complicating the existing case.

• Consumer Protection Case: Suppose a state government agency is sued by a large telecommunications company challenging the legality of a new regulation designed to protect consumer data privacy. A prominent consumer advocacy group, representing millions of affected individuals, might seek to intervene.

  How it illustrates intervention: The advocacy group is not the government agency, but it represents the direct interests of consumers whose data privacy is at stake. They might argue that while the government agency is defending the regulation, its legal strategy focuses too heavily on administrative procedure and not enough on the direct harm to individual consumers, thereby inadequately representing the consumers' specific interests. They would likely seek intervention of right to ensure the consumer perspective is fully and robustly presented in court.