A collusive action is an action between two parties that are not true adversaries and have no true controversy between them. The two parties are nominal adversaries merely for the goal of obtaining an answer to a legal question or a favorable precedential decision to a related litigation. For example, in the 1943 Supreme Court case of U.S. v. Johnson, the Court held that the plaintiff who had no active participation in the litigation, was never seen, and was nominally represented by counsel, was not a true adverse party to the litigation. The action was deemed collusive and accordingly dismissed without entering judgment.
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]