As a plaintiff, it is a good rule of thumb to expect a defendant to file a counter-lawsuit. Strategically, defendants employ counterclaims to put a plaintiff on the defensive and create risk for the plaintiff. Substantively, a counterclaim sometimes must be asserted or else it is lost/waived. Rule 55.32(a) requires a defendant to assert, as…
Legal Articles
Credit and Offset Affirmative Defense
“Credits and offsets are affirmative defenses” to a lawsuit asking for damages. Echols v. City of Riverside, 332 S.W.3d 207, 210 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). In other words, it is a request by a defendant to minimize the amount of damages being requested by a plaintiff. By way of example, if a plaintiff stands to…
Counterclaims, Countersuits
Being served with a lawsuit can be a jarring experience. The initial petition will often have big requests for these like “damages in excess of $25,000” “damages in excess of $75,000,” or even punitive damages or attorney fees. Without having any prior experience or knowledge of legal verbiage, the Petition can also be very confusing….