The legal requirements for filing a counterclaim will vary from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The proper procedure will also be contingent on which court you will be filing the counterclaim. Some jurisdictions require that a defendant respond to the initial claim before they can file a counterclaim. In other jurisdictions, you may file a counterclaim in the same manner you would a regular claim. You may want to consider taking on the services of an attorney before filing a counterclaim although you are not legally obligated to do so. You will need to file your counterclaim within a certain time period from when you are initially served with the original claim. Failure to adhere to this timeline could result in the dismissal of your counterclaim.