A crossclaim is a claim asserted between codefendants or coplaintiffs in a case and that relates to the subject of the original claim or

counterclaim In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...

according to ''

Black's Law Dictionary ''Black's Law Dictionary'' is the most frequently used legal dictionary in the United States. Henry Campbell Black (1860–1927) was the author of the first two editions of the dictionary. History The first edition was published in 1891 by West ...

''. A cross claim is filed against someone who is a co-defendant or co-plaintiff to the party who originates the crossclaim. In

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

, a crossclaim is a demand made in a

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adju ...

that is filed against a party which is on the "same side" of the lawsuit.

U.S. federal courts

In the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enablin ...

this is codified i
Rule 13(g)
In the federal rules, a crossclaim is proper if it relates to a matter of the original jurisdiction. Proper jurisdiction is determined by a finding of whether the suit that is being initiated arises from the same transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the suit. Crossclaims, like

joinder In law, a joinder is the joining of two or more legal issues together. Procedurally, a joinder allows multiple issues to be heard in one hearing or trial and occurs if the issues or parties involved overlap sufficiently to make the process more e ...

generally, can promote efficient, consistent resolutions of disputes by permitting all claims arising from the same set of facts to be resolved in a single legal proceeding. This conserves the resources of the parties and the courts, by requiring fewer cases to be filed and litigated. It also reduces the risk of inconsistent results that can arise when multiple actions are based on the same or similar facts.Arthur F. Greenbaum, ''Jacks or Better to Open: Procedural Limitations on Co-Party and Third-Party Claims'', 74 Minn. L. Rev. 507, 543 (1990); Wright, Miller, & Kane, ''Federal Practice and Procedure'', Sec. 1431 Nevertheless, crossclaims in U.S. federal courts are always ''permissive''; that is, they may be raised if they are proper, but they do not have to be, and the failure to assert a crossclaim in a given action will not bar that claim from being litigated in the future.3 Moore's Federal Practice - Civil § 13.70 (2021) This is different from counterclaims, which are between parties that are already on opposing sides of the lawsuit. Under some circumstances, counterclaims are ''compulsory'' and must be brought in the initial action or else will be forfeited.Arthur F. Greenbaum, ''Jacks or Better to Open: Procedural Limitations on Co-Party and Third-Party Claims'', 74 Minn. L. Rev. 507, 543 (1990); Wright, Miller, & Kane, ''Federal Practice and Procedure'', Sec. 1431

References

Civil procedure Civil law (common law) American legal terminology Civil procedure legal terminology Common law legal terminology {{Law-term-stub