Standard Of Review Can Make All The Difference With A Necessary Party.

The trial court dismissed a real property action for failure to join an indispensible party, the entity that performed all the allegedly defective engineering services, the Natural Resource Conservation Service [NRCS], a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The trial court observed that the NRCS cannot be joined to the action because it is a Federal agency not amenable to being sued in state court. On appeal, plaintiffs argued the NRCS is a joint tortfeasor and hence not a necessary party as a matter of law. The appellate court affirmed, stating: “We need not decide whether the NRCS is a joint tortfeasor. Assuming for purposes of discussion, that it is a joint tortfeasor, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the NRCS is a necessary party.” (Dreamweaver Andalusians, LLC v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 6; March 3, 2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1168 [184 Cal.Rptr.3d 735].)