Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: civil court

I'm confused. Suing the person who is suing you, that IS a countersuit.

Have you consulted with an attorney?

Re: civil court

That depends -- what do you think you can sue him for? The fact that he sued you is not a basis for a countersuit, even if you think his claim is frivolous. If you win this lawsuit *and* if it is frivolous you will then be able to sue him for bringing it, but until then this option is not available.

If you think you actually have a claim against him based on something other than the fact that he filed a lawsuit, you can go ahead and sue him for it. Whether that lawsuit should be made part of the ongoing case or a new case will depend upon many factors. Because your question doesn't provide much in the way of facts, I can't say which of these options would be proper.

Re: civil court

any suit you would bring in the same case would be a counter claim. It does not have to be related.

Re: civil court

I wouldn't blame you if the three preceding answers left you feeling perplexed and still wondering what the right answer is. I don't know if I can be helpful or if this is just going to add another layer of confusion and mystery, but let me try.

First, let me start out by saying that the rules are slightly different between California state courts and the federal courts. You did not say which the initial complaint against you is pending in.....federal rules of civil procedure are, I would say, a bit tougher on the subject of mandatory counterclaims, suggesting that if this is a federal case, you need to be more careful to bring any claims you have against this plaintiff within the scope of the underlying action as a cross-complaint, or you may unintentionally waive your rights.

The next factor to consider and discuss with your lawyer is whether your prospective suit against this plaintiff arises out of the same incident, transaction, or series of events so that there is a significant nexus between olaintiff's fraud case against you, and your potential charges against him, her or it. If the matters are factually related, the law strongly prefers that the charges and counter-charges be litigated on the same record, either by complaint and cross-complaint or by later joinder, consolidation or coordination of the two cases. The tenchical distinctions between cross-complaint and the other three are very significant but beyond the scope of a bulletin-board answer.

I guess the bottom line is that X can always file a suit against Y, which is to say the short answer to your question is "yes." However, if Y has already sued X, and the charges are related to the same underlying set of facts or to significantly overlapping facts, court procedural rules will prefer that the suits be lumped together to conserve judicial resources and save the parties time and expense. Indeed, especially in Federal court but in state court too, some claims MUST be brought as a cross-complaint in the original suit.

So, I think you are on thin ice trying to bring a second suit and kid yourself that it is separate. At worst, your claims may be tossed out for failure to assert them as a "mandatory cross-complaint." Far less awful, but why take the risk -- the court will order the cases joined, consolidated or coordinated.

Finally, if you have been sued for fraud, you should be hiring a lawyer to represent you and to answer these related questions for you, and not be depending upon bulletin board guys who don't have the facts or even know what court system you're in.