The Defendants applied to add Third Party Defendants to an existing Claim. The Application was brought long after the six month deadline imposed by Rule 3.45(c). The Defendants sought to extend the deadline pursuant to Rule 13.5. The Court stated that the usual reasons to oppose the late filing of a Third Party Claim are delay and consequential prejudice. There was no evidence that the proposed Third Parties in this case had suffered prejudice as a result of the delay. Further, the proposed Third Parties were already litigants in existing lawsuits arising from the same incident. The Court, held that:

The failure to give a satisfactory explanation for the delay is only fatal if the delay causes serious prejudice to the third party of the kind that cannot be compensated by costs …

The Court did not find such prejudice in this case. After considering the proposed Third Parties’ arguments under the Limitations Act, RSA 2000, c L-12, and the Tort-feasors Act, RSA 2000, c T-5, the Court allowed the Defendants’ Application to file Third Party Claims against the proposed Third Parties.