Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 3 P27 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 248 COUNTERCLAIMS AND SETOFFS AGAINST SOVEREIGNS injury and some property damage after their cars collided. Under the rules governing pleading in most courts the woman would be required to assert a demand for money damages for the same accident in her answer to the man s complaint or she would lose the right to sue on that claim. If the man also happens to be a neighbor who borrowed the woman s chain saw and never returned it the woman could demand return of the saw as a counterclaim or she could wait and sue the man for that at some other time. She might decide to wait in order to sue in a different court or because she does not want to argue the different circumstances of both claims before the same jury. A defendant usually cannot make a counterclaim if it is not possible to make the same claim by starting a lawsuit. For example a lawsuit to collect on a claim cannot be started after the period of time allowed by a statute of limitations has run out. In certain situations however a defendant may assert an expired cause of action as a counterclaim. This procedure allowed for reasons of fairness and justice is called equitable recoupment. The court may reduce the plaintiff s money damages up to the amount of the defendant s counterclaim but the defendant will not be allowed an affirmative recovery of money over and above the amount to which the plaintiff may be entitled. CROSS REFERENCE Set-off. COUNTERCLAIMS AND SETOFFS AGAINST SOVEREIGNS A comprehensive term for the vulnerability of a foreign government to retaliatory suits against it arising out of a lawsuit that it commences against a party. The Federal Foreign Sovereign immunities Act 28 . 1602 et seq. 1976 provides that in any action initiated by a foreign state or in which a foreign state intervenes such a state is not afforded immunity regarding any counterclaim for which no immunity would have been granted if such aclaim had been brought in a separate action against the foreign state. In addition a
