Also known as: transactions or occurrences · same transaction or occurrence · transaction-or-occurrence test · compulsory counterclaim test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A logical relationship among facts giving rise to multiple claims or charges, such that those claims or charges form part of a single dispute that courts treat as one unit for procedural handling.
Tessa Takahashi sues Twin Rivers Bank in federal court for breach of a loan agreement arising from a disputed vehicle repossession. Twin Rivers holds a claim against Tessa for damage to the same vehicle that occurred during the repossession. Because the damage claim arises out of the same events as the loan dispute, Twin Rivers must assert it as a compulsory counterclaim or lose it.
Tori Taylor files a federal claim against Trailblazer Airlines for violating federal aviation safety rules after a flight incident. She joins state-law claims for emotional distress and property damage from the same incident. The state claims share the common nucleus of operative fact with the federal claim, allowing the district court to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over them.
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Tanya Tang and Tobias Thomas are codefendants in a suit brought by Tundra Resources for breach of a supply contract. Tobias asserts a crossclaim against Tanya seeking contribution for any liability, alleging that Tanya's separate but related delivery failure contributed to the breach. The crossclaim arises out of the same contract performance events that form the subject matter of the original action.
Tanner Thompson sues True North Logistics alleging both a wage violation from a denied overtime request and a separate breach of a relocation reimbursement agreement. The two claims rest on entirely different workplace events occurring months apart. The complaint must place each claim in a separate count because they arise from distinct transactions or occurrences.
Tracy Torres is acquitted in state court of robbing a convenience store. The state later charges her with assault arising from the same struggle with the store clerk during that robbery. Because the assault charge grows out of the identical criminal episode, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars the second prosecution.
Tessa Takahashi signs an employment agreement with Trailblazer Airlines containing an arbitration clause covering claims arising from her employment. After termination she sues for both wrongful discharge and unpaid commissions from the same period of work. The court compels arbitration of both claims because they arise from the same employment relationship and transaction.
A counterclaim is compulsory if it arises out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing party's claim. Failure to assert it results in waiver of the claim in later litigation.
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When state and federal claims derive from a common nucleus of operative fact, they arise from the same transaction or occurrence. A federal court may then exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims.
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Each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence must be stated in a separate count when doing so promotes clarity. Claims resting on distinct factual events cannot be lumped together in a single narrative count.
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Yes. The Double Jeopardy Clause bars successive prosecutions for charges that grow out of a single criminal act, occurrence, episode, or transaction.
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…of related claims in a single lawsuit. Rule 13 makes compulsory (upon pain of a bar) all counterclaims arising out of the same transaction or occurrence from which the plaintiff's claim arose. Rule 14 extends this compulsion to third-party defendants. Rule 18 permits very broad joinder of claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party…