nominal party

A nominal party is a plaintiff or defendant named in a lawsuit who has no genuine interest in the outcome and no control over the subject matter of the litigation. Such a party is included solely because procedural or statutory rules require their participation.

For example, under Illinois law, every wrongful death action must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin. In this situation, the personal representative serves as a nominal party, while the surviving family members are the real parties in interest who hold the substantive right to recovery.

In Navarro Savings Ass’n v. Lee, 446 U.S. 458 (1980), the U.S. Supreme Court held that, for purposes of determining diversity jurisdiction, courts must “disregard nominal or formal parties and rest jurisdiction only upon the citizenship of real parties to the controversy.” This principle ensures that federal jurisdiction depends on the actual stakeholders in the dispute rather than those included for procedural formality.

[Last reviewed in November of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team] 

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