How much time does a third-party defendant get to file an answer?

No special, shortened, or extended period

Section 5 keeps things simple by cross-referencing rather than creating a separate timeline: the time to answer a third (fourth, etc)-party complaint shall be governed by the same rule as the answer to the complaint. A third-party defendant — someone brought into the case through a third-party complaint under Rule 6 — is not given a special truncated or extended period simply because of how they entered the litigation.

Consistency across different ways of entering a case

This approach treats a third-party defendant's answer period the same way as an original defendant's, regardless of whether they were named in the initial complaint or brought in later through a third-party complaint. It avoids creating a patchwork of different answer deadlines depending on a party's procedural role, keeping the framework predictable for anyone who finds themselves defending against a complaint, original or third-party. Counsel newly retained to defend a third-party complaint should confirm the actual date of service on their own client rather than assuming it matches the date the original complaint was served on anyone else in the case, since each defending party's own answer period runs from their own service date.

Why this matters for someone newly impleaded

A person served with a third-party complaint should not assume they have some different, possibly shorter, deadline simply because their involvement in the case began differently from the original defendant's. Section 5 makes clear that the ordinary answer-period rule — the same one that governs responses to the plaintiff's original complaint — applies equally to them, giving a third-party defendant the same baseline timeframe to prepare and file a response.

How the clock actually starts running

Nothing in Section 5 changes when the answer period begins — it still starts upon proper service of the third-party complaint on the third-party defendant, the same triggering event that starts the clock for an original defendant served with the plaintiff's complaint. What Section 5 fixes is only the length and computation of that period once it starts, borrowing wholesale from the rule that already governs an original defendant's answer, rather than writing out a fresh set of timing rules specific to third-party practice. A third-party defendant who fails to answer within that same period faces the same consequence an original defendant would face for a similar lapse, since Section 5 borrows not just the length of the period but the underlying rule governing what happens when a defending party misses it.

Related provisions

• Rule 11, Section 5 — Answer to third (fourth, etc.)
• Rule 11, Section 7 — Answer to supplemental complaint
• Rule 6, Section 13 — Answer to third (fourth, etc.)