Does a plaintiff have the power to discontinue a personal injury action?

The case of Atlas Bank v. Nahant Bank, 23 Pick. 480, does not appear to be in point, but it must be conceded that the clause appearing in the opinion to the effect that the plaintiffs, having once instituted the proceeding as a statute remedy for themselves and others, they go on afterwards for the benefit of all parties concerned, and the original complainants have no power to discontinue, is in apparent conflict with the cases to which we have alluded. We think, [157 N.Y. 184]however, that in this state there is no escape from the claim made by the appellants that where an action is brought by a plaintiff on behalf of himself and others similarly situated who come in and share in the expenses, he has the right to control the action, and may continue, compromise, abandon, or discontinue it at pleasure until a creditor similarly situated has procured an order to be made a party to the action, or has served a notice of motion to be brought in, or until interlocutory judgment is entered.