Art. 1040 Words "plaintiff" and "defendant" include plaintiff and defendant in an incidental action

When court rules use the words "plaintiff" and "defendant," those terms cover more than just the people in the main lawsuit. They also include anyone who is a plaintiff or defendant in a related claim that gets added to the case, like a counterclaim or a third-party claim.

This means the same legal protections and requirements that apply to the original parties also apply to people involved in these added claims. So if a rule talks about what a "defendant" must do, that rule applies just as much to someone being sued in a counterclaim as it does to the original defendant in the lawsuit.

The only exception is when the situation makes it obvious that the rule is only talking about the original parties and not anyone brought into the case through a related claim. In most cases, though, you should assume these terms apply broadly to everyone playing that role in the case, no matter which part of the lawsuit they entered through.