united-states contract-law civil-law new-jersey
Counter suing in the same lawsuit?
<p>Party A sues Party B in court for $10,000 due to breach of contract. Party B denies the claim and holds that Party A owes them $5,000 due to breach of the same contract.</p>
<p>Can Party B counter sue Party A during the same court case or is Party B required to file a separate lawsuit against Party A for the counter suit?</p>
<p>Assuming not, would it matter if Party B agrees that it owes Party A $10,000 but because of the breach by Party A (of a different provision of the contract) it holds that the amount should be reduced by $5,000?</p>

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<p>Can Party B counter sue Party A during the same court case or is Party B required to file a separate lawsuit against Party A for the counter suit?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Party B should countersue. In fact, filing a separate suit is most likely to get consolidated with the court proceedings that party A initiated via his complaint.</p>
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<p>would it if Party B agrees that it owes Party A $10,000 but because of the breach by Party A (of a different provision of the contract) it holds that the amount should be reduced by $5,000?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes, it would matter. This tells the court that it only needs to decide B's claim, since A's claim is undisputed.</p>
<p>If B has lawful reasons for disputing A's claim, it is in B's best interests not to concede liability. By contrast, if the court considers B's position vexatious, B is at risk of sanctions on B and/or being ordered to compensate A for more than the damages from B's breach of contract.</p>
