Rule 2301.Definitions.

Interpleader under this chapter lets a party facing competing demands bring the rival claimants into the case. The definitions decide who counts as whom. A “defendant” is any party originally named as a defendant, any party added to the record as a defendant, and any plaintiff against whom a counterclaim or setoff is asserted. A “plaintiff” is any party prosecuting the action, and any defendant to the extent it asserts a counterclaim or setoff against a plaintiff.

Those definitions matter because Rule 2302 lets the court interplead claimants on its own motion or on the petition of a defendant. A plaintiff facing a counterclaim is a defendant for that purpose and may petition too. “Action” means any civil action or proceeding brought in or appealed to any court subject to these rules.

The chapter then sets the petition’s contents (Rule 2303), the order and service on claimants (Rules 2304 and 2308), and the claimants’ statements, answers and judgment (Rules 2309 to 2316). Rule 2318 makes this procedure the exclusive method of interpleader in any action, while preserving a separate civil action for interpleader.