united-states civil-procedure
Impleaded by plaintiff
<p>I'm currently a 1L and asked my civ pro professor, but have yet to get a response.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_14" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14</a>(a)(2)(C,D), an impleaded party may assert claims against the plaintiff. Suppose the defendant makes a counterclaim and the plaintiff impleads a third party. Can that third party assert claims against the defendant?</p>
<p>Looking at the language of 14(a)(2), it doesn't seem so, and 14(b) doesn't say that the 14(a) applies to it.</p>
<p>(b) When a Plaintiff May Bring in a Third Party. When a claim is asserted against a plaintiff, the plaintiff may bring in a third party if this rule would allow a defendant to do so.</p>

<p>The Plaintiff can't implead a third party. If the Plaintiff amends its complaint to join a new party to the case, that new party is a defendant, and as such, may assert counterclaims against the Plaintiff and crossclaims against any co-defendant in the case.</p>
<p>Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14 applies to third-party complaints brought by defendants who sue third-parties, not to first party complaints brought by plaintiffs against newly joined parties.</p>
<p>FRCP 14(a)(2)(B) provides that the Third-Party Defendant may bring counterclaims against the defendant who filed the Third-Party Complaint.</p>
<p>FRCP 14(a)(2)(C) and(D) provides that the Third-Party Defendant may bring claims against and assert affirmative defenses against the Plaintiff who sued the Third-Party Defendant, even though the Plaintiff didn't itself sue the Third-Party Defendant.</p>
<p>There is a question upon which FRCP 14 is silent, however. Can a third-party defendant in a case brought by a defendant/third-party plaintiff bring claims against co-defendants of the defendant/third-party plaintiff that sued the third-party defendant?</p>
<p>The rule does not expressly authorize such a quasi-cross-claim. But, in practice, by hook or by crook, most federal court judges would allow a third-party defendant to do so by some means, although without so prolonged research I couldn't tell you exactly how that would be justified.</p>
<p>Perhaps, the third-party defendant would bring a (second order) third-party complaint against other defendants in the case. Likewise, an existing co-defendant in the case could probably bring a third-party complaint against the third-party defendant already sued by their co-defendant.</p>
