Rule 22.Counterclaims, Cross-Claims, and Third-Party Claims

Section A covers counterclaims — claims a defendant brings back against the plaintiff in the same case. A defendant may set forth as many counterclaims as it has, legal or equitable, and nothing in section A requires a counterclaim to arise from the same transaction as the plaintiff’s claim the way a cross-claim does. A counterclaim can chip away at what the plaintiff is trying to recover, or it can seek relief that exceeds the plaintiff’s claim in amount or is entirely different in kind.

Section B covers cross-claims, which run sideways between co-defendants rather than back at the plaintiff. Unlike a counterclaim, a cross-claim must arise out of the same occurrence or transaction set out in the complaint, or relate to property that is the subject of the action, and it must be a claim that could support its own separate judgment between the two defendants. A cross-claim can also be a reimbursement-style claim — that the codefendant is or may be liable to the cross-claimant for all or part of what the plaintiff is seeking from the cross-claimant — and it has to be served on the codefendant it targets and on everyone else who has appeared in the case.

Section C covers third-party practice, sometimes called impleader: a defendant who believes someone outside the case may owe reimbursement for the plaintiff’s claim can serve that person with a summons and third party complaint, becoming a third-party plaintiff. Within 90 days of being served with the plaintiff’s summons and complaint, a defendant can do this as a matter of right; after that, it takes agreement from the parties who have appeared plus the court’s permission. The third-party defendant then has to raise its own defenses the same way any defendant does under Rule 21, may counterclaim against the third-party plaintiff or cross-claim against other third-party defendants, may raise the third-party plaintiff’s own defenses against the original plaintiff, and may even bring its own claim against the plaintiff if it arises from the same transaction. The chain can extend further still, since a third-party defendant can implead its own third party under the same section, any party can bring a claim against a third-party defendant arising from the same transaction, and a plaintiff hit with a counterclaim gets the same right to bring in a third-party defendant that an original defendant has. Any party may also move to strike a third-party claim, or ask for it to be severed or tried separately.

Section D lets a party join additional people to a counterclaim or cross-claim under Rules 28 and 29, and separately lets a contract defendant sued by an assignee join everyone who may be liable for attorney fees under ORS 20.097; anyone joined this way is treated like a defendant for purposes of being served and given time to answer. Under section E, the court may order any counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim tried separately — on a party’s motion or on its own initiative — when doing so is more convenient, avoids prejudice, or saves everyone time and expense.