How to file a counter lawsuit

You can hire a second attorney to handle the countersuit defense separately. Or, you can instruct your original attorney to seek a mutual dismissal of both cases. In this last instance, you must be prepared to defend if the debtor refuses a mutual dismissal. An option you do not have is to ignore the countersuit — a mistake sometimes made to the ultimate regret of the creditor. When you decide to file a suit against a U. The suit fee may be partially or fully contingent upon collection.

These fees relate to handling your claim against the debtor. In the United States, while countersuits are heard by the Court concurrently with the initial lawsuit, they are considered separate actions. Sometimes the cost of defense against a countersuit may be fully or partially covered by your liability insurance and you should immediately alert your insurance broker about the countersuit and find out from them if they have any special instructions for you.

Obviously, if you refrain from lawsuits only on that fear, you stand to lose far greater sums of money over time. Dave Greenberg began his career in commercial collections with Dun and Bradstreet in Seattle, Washington.

DoNotPay helps make the suing process faster and easier. All you have to do is:. DoNotPay will then generate a demand letter or court filing forms for you! Thousands of users have used DoNotPay to small claims suits against individuals and big companies, such as.

Let DoNotPay solve this problem for me. We have helped over , people with their problems. Sit back and relax while we do the work. Want your issue solved now? Hassle Free We have helped over , people with their problems. Top Posts Comcast Lawsuit. Suing Comcast. Suing Verizon. Suing Uber.

Sue These Companies and Win! How to Sue a Health Insurance Company. You should file your counterclaim with the answer to complaint if possible. For instance, you can find instruction for the Southern District of New York Federal Court here and the form for the California state courts here. Ensure you find out how much time you have to file in your state.

Failing to file an answer or counterclaim on time may result in a default judgment hearing and potentially a default judgment against you. A lawyer is your best option for determining the validity of the counterclaims you wish to bring against the person suing you.

File your counterclaim after you have answered the complaint only in situations where the counterclaim arises after the initial filing. Your counterclaim against the opposing party may not arise or become apparent to you until after you have already answered the complaint. In this case, the court may permit you to file a supplemental pleading asserting a counterclaim that matured after serving an earlier pleading.

Part 2. Look up the elements of the action that you wish to use. You should also consider talking to and hiring an attorney. Correctly filing your counterclaim is very important to your case, because the opposing side could attempt to get it thrown out of court. Having an attorney write your counterclaim for you will insure that it appears in the correct format and contains all of the necessary elements.

The opposing side can use statements you make in both your answer and counterclaim against you in ways you might not anticipate. Prepare a counterclaim form. Many states offer a standardized counterclaim form that you can use to file. You can also search online for examples of counterclaims that others have previously filed.

If you are not using a form, make sure you identify the party and what you allege that they did wrong. Put the facts of the occurrence in your counterclaim. Be as specific as possible. Usually, you will number the allegations you have against the opposing party and include your facts that way. File your counterclaim. Give the clerk of courts a copy of your complaint at the same location where the plaintiff filed the original complaint.

You may file the counterclaim at the same time you file your answer. Make sure that you keep a copy of the counterclaim for you records. Pay the filing fee. The filing fee will vary depending on the court where the plaintiff filed the lawsuit. You can call ahead or look online to determine the fee for your specific court. Once you have filed your counterclaim, you need to give a copy of it to the opposing party.

The party will have to file an answer the same way you did. You or your attorney can simply call the attorney for the opposing party and ask them if they will accept service for their client. If they say yes, there is no need to serve the opposing party. Serve an unrepresented opposing party. If the opposing party is unrepresented, you must serve the counterclaim by a different method.

As a party to the lawsuit, you cannot personally serve the opposing party. Options include: Certified or first class mail. Remember, you cannot mail a copy of the counterclaim to the defendant yourself. Personal service. A personal service means that someone will hand a copy of the counterclaim to the opposing party in the suit.