Also known as: third party claim · third-party claims · third party claims
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A claim asserted by a defendant against a person not originally a party to the action. The claim alleges that the new party is or may be liable to the defendant for all or part of the plaintiff's recovery.
Tracy Torres sues Threshold Capital for breach of a loan agreement. Threshold Capital impleads Tidal Energy, claiming Tidal must indemnify it for any liability. Threshold then joins an unrelated breach-of-warranty claim against Tidal arising from a separate equipment sale. The court permits the joinder because Rule 18(a) allows a party asserting a third-party claim to add as many claims as it holds against the opposing party.
Tabitha Taylor sues Thomas Thompson for negligence. Thompson impleads Trinity Pharmaceuticals on an indemnity theory. The court resolves the main claim by summary judgment but leaves the third-party claim pending. It expressly finds no just reason for delay and directs entry of final judgment on the negligence claim alone under Rule 54(b).
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Tessa Takahashi, a taxpayer, sues a federal agency. The agency impleads a private college that received disputed funds, asserting a right to contribution. The college moves to dismiss the third-party claim. The court examines whether the agency has a sufficient interest to maintain the impleader.
Tyler Taylor is acquitted of robbing one victim. The state later charges him with robbing a second victim in the same incident. Taylor's codefendant had previously brought a third-party claim in a related civil suit. The court holds that the acquittal precludes relitigation of the identity issue.
Tara Tran sues Thunderbolt Motors for declaratory relief. Thunderbolt impleads a parts supplier on a contribution theory. The supplier demands a jury trial on the third-party claim. The court refuses to try the impleader action to the bench alone, holding that the right to jury trial attaches.
The defendant must assert that the third-party defendant is or may be liable to the defendant for all or part of the plaintiff's claim against the defendant. The claim is typically one for indemnity or contribution.
Yes. Rule 18(a) expressly authorizes any party asserting a third-party claim to join as many claims as it has against an opposing party, whether related or unrelated.
Under Rule 54(b), the court may direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all claims only if it expressly determines there is no just reason for delay.
Yes. Rule 14(a)(4) permits any party to move to strike the third-party claim, to sever it, or to try it separately. Rule 42(b) also authorizes separate trials for convenience or to avoid prejudice.
No. Rule 41(c) provides that the dismissal rules apply to a third-party claim, but dismissal of the third-party claim does not end the original action.
…this compulsion to third-party defendants. Rule 18 permits very broad joinder of claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party claims. Rules 19, 20, and 24 provide for joinder of parties and intervention by parties having claims related to the subject matter of the action. Rule 23 permits the consolidation of separate…