Dan Ryan Builders, Inc. v. Crystal Ridge Development, Inc.

Justice Ketchum:

In, these consolidated, appeals from the Circuit Court of Harrison County, we examine the res judicata effect of a federal court judgment on a state court third-party complaint. The circuit court found that the federal court case involved the same parties as those in the third-party complaint; the third-party complaint was based on the same evidence as the action litigated in federal court; and the final federal court judgment resolved the merits of the parties’ disputes. The circuit court therefore dismissed the third-party complaint on res judicata grounds.

As we discuss…