On 27 November 2001, the Prosecution filed a motion for joinder pursuant to Rule 49, in which it sought to join the three indictments against Milošević into a single trial (Prosecutor v. Milošević, Milutinović, Šainović, Ojdanić, and Stojiljković 27 November 2001; Motion for Joinder 10 December 2001).
The Prosecution asserted that the following considerations supported its motion for joinder.
According to the bill, fee shifting and joinder would be on the table only when a lawsuit is deemed not to be "reasonably justified in law and fact," and suits filed by a university wouldn't fall into that category, Petricone says.
Without joinder, Milošević would be litigating one trial, while simultaneously confronting two pre-trial phases (Prosecutor v. Milošević 27 November 2001, p. 15).
The bill isn't clear enough about when fee shifting and joinder would apply, they argue, and it places excessive burden on the parties asserting their patents to prove they are not bad actors.
But these so-called mass joinder lawsuits being advertised in mailings are fraudulent — sent out by companies purporting to be law firms, according to a consumer alert posted on the Federal Trade Commission's Web site.
The rules make provision for the joinder of other parties whose participation is considered necessary by the court.
The F.T.C. last month filed a lawsuit against one operation based in Santa Ana, Calif., asserting that it had persuaded more than 1,000 homeowners nationwide to pay $6,000 to $10,000 each to join "mass joinder" suits, which are akin to class-action suits.
