Even if the ceiling of those who can be joined are those defendants residing in the judicial district in which the action is filed because of personal jurisdiction, judges can limit joinder even further via Rule 20(b).165 Thus, judges should use a “smell test” when ruling on such motions. Part of this “smell test” should include looking to dockets across the country to see if the plaintiff or their counsel is a repeat filer, and if so, determining how many defendants have actually been served with a complaint for purposes of litigating the claim. Additionally, if the plaintiff before the judge cannot formulate a bona fide discovery plan that will enable the lawsuit to proceed, the judge should err on the side of severance. Under such circumstances, plaintiffs should be required to file individually
against each defendant and not be allowed to skip out on the $350 filing fee they would otherwise pay. Judges must be wary of plaintiffs who do not have a good faith interest in using the federal courts as a forum to fairly litigate a dispute and who instead view the courts and the rules of civil procedure as devices to be manipulated in an extortive manner.