Cross-claim vs Impleader: Cross-claim is by a defendant against a co-defendant; Impleader brings a nonparty into the action.

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A cross-claim is a claim that a defendant asserts against a co-defendant in the same lawsuit. It sits inside the case between parties who are on opposite sides of the plaintiff’s claim, and it typically arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the plaintiff’s claim. In contrast, impleader is the mechanism by which a defendant brings in a nonparty—someone not originally a party to the action—into the case because that nonparty may be liable to the defendant for all or part of the plaintiff’s claim. The nonparty becomes part of the action, and the original plaintiff still pursues the claim against the defendant, who can then seek relief from the nonparty.

So this framing correctly states that cross-claims are about a defendant going after a fellow defendant, while impleader brings in a new, nonparty into the action to allocate or shift liability. The other options misdescribe who can sue whom (a plaintiff against a nonparty isn’t a cross-claim), assert that cross-claim and impleader are the same, or claim that impleader eliminates parties (it adds a party, not remove one).