P.R. Laws Ap. tit. 32A, § III, Rule 12.1
At any time after commencement of the action, the defendant may, as a third-party plaintiff, serve a summons and a complaint upon a person not a party to the action and (1) who is or may be liable to him for all or part of the plaintiff’s claim, or (2) who is or may be liable to the plaintiff exclusively.
The person so served, hereinafter called the third-party defendant, shall make his defenses to the third-party plaintiff’s claim as provided in Rule 10, and shall assert his counterclaims against the third-party plaintiff’s claim and his cross-claims against any other third-party defendants, as provided in Rule 11.
The third-party defendant may assert against the plaintiff any defenses which the third-party plaintiff has to the plaintiff’s claim. The third-party defendant may also assert any claim arising out of the action, omission or event that is the subject of the original claim in the action against the plaintiff. The plaintiff may assert any claim against the third-party defendant arising out of the action, omission or event that is the subject of the plaintiff’s original claim in the action, and the third-party defendant shall then assert his defenses as provided in Rule 10 and his counterclaims and cross-claims as provided in Rule 11.
A party may move for severance, for a separate trial or for the dismissal of the third-party claim and the court may render judgment on the original claim or on the third-party claim only in accordance with the terms of Rule 43.5. A third-party defendant may proceed under this Rule 12 against any person not a party to the action who is or may be liable to him, to the plaintiff, or the third-party plaintiff for all or part of the claim made in the action against the third-party defendant.
History —Amended Aug. 4, 1979, No. 197, p. 575, § 1, eff. Aug. 20, 1979.