INDISPENSABLE PARTY: THE HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF A PROCEDURAL PHANTOMf

In spite of the vast number of cases that have arisen concerning who are necessary and who are indispensable parties, the governing prin-ciples have remained comparatively simple and constant...... "Per-sons who not only have an interest in the controversy, but an interest of such a nature that a final decree cannot be made without either affecting that interest, or leaving the controversy in such a condition that its final termination may be wholly inconsistent with equity and in good conscience " are indispensable.... Unless the absence of an indispensable party can be and is cured by his joinder, dismissal must be granted.1 Conventional procedural terminology divides parties to litigation into four general categories: "improper " parties, "proper " parties, "necessary" parties, and "indispensable " parties.2 Application of the rule embodied in the first three categories is today rarely the subject of practical or analytical difficulty. An improper party is one whose relation to the controversy is s