Court Opinion

ID: 9643988
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:46:05.740733+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:07.154376
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting.
I cannot agree with the majority that the counterclaim asserted in this action in equity does not arise “from the same transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences from which the plaintiff’s cause of action arose.” Pa.R.Civ.P. 1510. Appellant’s complaint sought specific performance of an option to purchase real property. Appellees’ counterclaim alleged that appellant had brought a series of vexatious lawsuits against appellees in an effort to force appellees to sell the property to appellant at a depressed price. Thus, both appellant’s complaint and appellees’ counterclaim arise out of the sale of the real property in question. Indeed, the facts asserted in the counterclaim could support the defense of “unclean hands.”
*348Nor can I agree with the majority that the Chancellor is incapable of separating the issues raised in the counterclaim from appellant’s claim. The Chancellor often is expected to sort out the many issues that may arise in complex litigation.
Accordingly, I dissent.