• Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows defendants to join third parties who are partially or fully liable for the plaintiff's claims.US Supreme Court image by dwight9592 from Fotolia.com
  
  Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure sets the rules for third-party impleader. It allows defendants in a civil suit to join a third party who may be liable in full or in part for the damages claimed by the plaintiff in the lawsuit. The defendant may use Rule 14 in order to seek contribution to or indemnity from the other responsible parties, even if the plaintiff cannot (or chooses not) to sue those parties.
  
  

Applicability

• Rule 14(a) allows for a defendant to implead a third-party defendant when there is some likelihood that the third party bears some or all responsibility for the original damages claimed by the plaintiff. For example, if the original defendant rear-ended the plaintiff's car causing injury and damage, the defendant may implead the car manufacturer if the accident happened as a result of faulty brakes in the defendant's car.
  
  

Example: Price v. CTB, Inc.

• Price v. CTB, Inc. involved a lawsuit for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligence and wantonness in construction filed by Price against Latco, which constructed a defective chicken house. Latco moved to file a third-party complaint against ITW, a nail manufacturer that designed the nails used to construct the chicken house. Latco claimed that ITW's design was negligent and it sought indemnity for the claims against it. ITW moved to dismiss the third-party complaint for improper impleader. The court decided that ITW was properly impleaded because impleader is proper when a defendant shows that the liability for the original action is properly placed upon the third party.
  
  

Timing of Third-Party Complaint

• Under Rule 14(a)(1), the defendant may implead a third-party by filing a complaint. If she files this complaint within 14 days of filing her response to the original claim, she does not need the court's permission. Otherwise, court permission is required.
  
  

Third-Party Defenses

• Rule 14(a)(2) provides for defenses made by third-party defendants. The third-party defendant may use the same defenses to the plaintiff's claims as provided in Rule 12. He may, for example, motion under 12(b)(6) that the facts in the plaintiff’s complaint do not adequately show a claim against him. The third-party defendant may also file a counterclaim against the plaintiff or a cross-claim against any other defendant, just as any other defendant under Rule 13. Under 14(a)(2)(d), the third-party defendant may also assert any claim against the plaintiff that rises out of the "same transaction or occurrence" as the original incident that led to the plaintiff's complaint.
  
  

Plaintiff's Claims, Defenses and Impleader

• Once a third-party defendant is impleaded, the plaintiff may assert additional claims against that defendant as long as those claims arise out of the same incident as the original complaint. She may also utilize the same defenses against any counterclaims made by the third-party defendant or implead a "third-party plaintiff" to contribute to or indemnify her from the third-party defendant's claims.