Civil procedure

Crossclaim

A crossclaim is a claim filed by one party against a co-party on the same side of the case, such as one defendant suing another.

It has to arise out of the same transaction as the original action. The most common version is a defendant claiming that if it owes the plaintiff anything, a co-defendant is responsible for some or all of it under a contract or an indemnity agreement.

Crossclaims split what looked like a united defense. Co-defendants who are pointing at each other rarely coordinate, which changes the discovery burden and often the settlement dynamic.

For anyone tracking a case, crossclaims explain otherwise puzzling filings. When two defendants start serving discovery on each other and filing competing briefs, the crossclaim is usually the reason, and it often signals an insurance dispute underneath. Courts will sometimes sever a crossclaim for separate trial when litigating it alongside the plaintiff's claims would confuse a jury or delay the main case.