Ferguson v. Hawkins

DIETZ, Judge.

Defendants Michael Hawkins and Green Techniques, LLC, appeal from the trial court's order denying their motions, made shortly before trial, to amend their pleadings to assert new counterclaims. Defendants acknowledge that their appeal is interlocutory but contend that their new claims are compulsory under Rule 13 and therefore the denial of their motion is immediately appealable under this Court's precedent.

To be compulsory under Rule 13, a counterclaim must exist at the time of the initial pleading; new claims that arise during litigation are not compulsory. Here, Defendants…