Civil procedure
Standing
Standing is the requirement that the person bringing a lawsuit has actually been injured in a way the court can fix.
Three elements: a concrete and particularized injury, a causal link to the defendant's conduct, and a remedy the court can provide that would redress it. Generalized grievances about the law being broken do not qualify, no matter how strongly felt.
Standing is jurisdictional, so it can be raised at any stage and the court must police it on its own. In class actions and data-breach cases it is often the whole fight, because the plaintiff must show real harm rather than an increased risk of it.
It also limits what relief a plaintiff can get. Someone injured in the past may have standing for damages but not for an injunction, because stopping future conduct requires showing a real threat of being harmed again.
How it appears on a docket
ORDER granting 33 Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs lack Article III standing because they allege no concrete injury; the case is dismissed without prejudice.
Governing rule
U.S. Const. art. III; Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1)
Related terms
- Rule 12(b)(1) — Rule 12(b)(1) is the ground for dismissing a case because the federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear it at all.
- Class Certification — Class certification is the court's decision about whether a case may proceed on behalf of an entire class rather than only the named plaintiffs.
More on civil procedure
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where standing actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.