Another defendant serves a cross-claim against your business
Respond to a separately served co-defendant cross-claim as its own procedural demand, distinguishing it from the original claimant case and avoiding reliance on an existing defence alone.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The case now includes a claim between defendants
You are defending a claim alongside the builder and engineer when one of them serves a cross-claim against your business. Send it to your lawyer immediately. Do not treat it as ordinary correspondence between parties on the same side. It may ask for separate relief and require a response that is not answered merely by the defence already prepared to the original claim.
Keep the complete filed or served document, attachments and delivery details. Note who brings the cross-claim, who it names and what relief it seeks. Ask the lawyer to confirm the procedural position and requirements in the actual court. Do not calculate a deadline from the original claim or assume an existing appearance covers every required step.
NSW Courts explains that a defence and a cross-claim are distinct procedural documents and recommends legal advice about their contents. Give the lawyer the new allegations and the relevant agreements. This article does not prescribe a response form, deadline or defence, and the process may differ in another jurisdiction or type of proceeding.
Imagine the engineer disputes the owner's claim but also alleges that the contractor should bear part of any liability found against the engineer. The contractor's answer to the owner may not address the engineer's contractual allegation. Have the lawyer identify what additional factual and legal work is needed without assuming either claim will succeed.
Tell any insurer or relevant adviser about the new document through the advised process, without assuming existing funding or representation automatically covers it. Keep the original claim and cross-claim clearly labelled in the working file. Do not send a shared factual response to other defendants before your lawyer has considered the changed position.
Record the confirmed response tasks, responsible adviser and relevant dates. Preserve supporting evidence and explain gaps promptly. Cooperation on common issues can continue where appropriate, but it should not obscure a direct claim against your business. The useful outcome is a deliberate response to the new procedural demand, with no assumption that answering the original claimant has already answered everybody.
