Complaint and Answer Flashcards
What is the federal pleading standard for complaints?
Complaints must contain sufficient facts to state a claim plausible on its face, possible is insufficient.
What are the different ways to answer a complaint?
The answer in a case is the defendant’s response to the allegations in the complaint. It is another form of pleading, and so must follow the same format as the complaint. There are two types of responses in an answer: The first is responsive to the facts alleged and the second raises other defenses to the allegations. A responsive paragraph in an answer is an admission or a denial of a given allegation in the complaint. Every allegation in the complaint has to be admitted, denied, or the answer can deny sufficient information upon which to form a belief as to its truth.
Averments in a complaint, other than those concerning the amount of damage, are deemed admitted if not denied in the answer. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(6). There are five kinds of denials in federal practice, four of which are set out in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 8(b), and the fifth is a judge-made extrapolation from Rule 11: (i) The defendant may say that he denies all of the allegations in the plaintiff’s complaint. This is a “general denial.” (ii) A denial may be made of all the allegations of a specific paragraph or averment of the complaint, called a “specific denial.” (iii) A denial may be made of a particular portion of a particular allegation, called a “qualified denial.” (iv) The defendant may deny knowledge or information if he does not have knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the plaintiff’s complaint. This has the effect of a full denial and is subject to the good faith requirement. (v) A denial based on information and belief, which is not specifically set forth in Rule 8(b), but that allows a defendant without first-hand knowledge, but with enough information to believe in good faith that the complaint is false, to deny it on that ground. This kind of denial is generally used by large corporate defendants, on whom the burden of obtaining information may be great.
Rule 11 ensures that when the defendant’s lawyer signs the answer, any denials are “warranted on the evidence, or if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.” The “reasonable inquiry” requirement aims to prevent the defendant’s attorney from denying allegations that he KNOWS to be truthful, and from denying knowledge or information about the allegation if he knows it to be truthful.
D is correct. The corporation may properly deny the allegation IF the seamstress’ supervisor reports that she was fired because of incompetence, as this is the proper form of a denial under FRCP 8(b)(6) and gives a basis for the termination not based on her sex.
A is incorrect. The corporation may NOT properly deny knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegation simply because it would impose an unreasonable burden on it. This type of denial requires that the defendant, in good faith, only deny a claim that it believes is false based on information and belief. Although this type of denial is often invoked by corporations who would, in fact, be otherwise burdened by obtaining information, the burden itself may not be the basis for the denial. The good faith requirement ensures that the corporation only make such a denial based on the evidence that it either lacks or has to support the denial. Moreover, in this case, it is highly unlikely that the corporation would not have sufficient information regarding the reasons why the seamstress was fired. Assuming the corporation has access to documentation of the basis for the termination, it should not claim lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief of the truth of the allegation, because such a denial would not be in good faith.
B is incorrect. The corporation may NOT deny the allegation simply because admitting it would make it liable. Rule 11 requires that any denials a defendant makes be “warranted on the evidence, or if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.” As such, denying an allegation simply to dodge liability would be a bad-faith denial, and the corporation’s lawyer has the duty to admit an allegation if true, even if that admission could lead to liability.
C is incorrect. The corporation is not required to admit the allegation if the person who fired the seamstress is no longer an employee and the records are unclear. Such an admission would not be mandatory because it is quite possible that the allegation is nevertheless false, but that the corporation just lacks sufficient information. A defendant’s uncertainty about the truth of an allegation does not require admission to it.
What are notice pleadings and how to plead fraud?
The guiding principle of pleading under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) is known as “notice pleading.” Notice pleading refers to a system of pleading requirements that only emphasizes pleadings as a way to notify parties of general issues in a case. This allows parties drafting pleadings to state their claims in general terms without alleging detailed facts to support each claim. Under the FRCP, a complaint must contain a short and plain statement of the court’s jurisdiction, sufficient factual allegations to allow a district court to find that the claim is plausible, and identification of the relief sought. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a).
Certain “special matters” must be pleaded with particularity. For these “special matters,” notice is necessary for the opponent to be able to prepare for trial. They are typically claims that the adversary will not be expecting unless his attention is specifically called to them. These special matters, listed in FRCP 9, include the circumstances giving rise to any allegation of fraud or mistake. A plaintiff’s failure to specially plead one of the items listed in Rule 9 may prevent him from recovering at all, or from recovering particular items of damage.
B is correct. The court should grant the pharmacy’s motion to dismiss because the insurance company’s complaint failed to meet the pleading requirements for a fraud action. Generally, a complaint is only required to include a jurisdictional statement, the relief sought, and sufficient factual allegations for a court to find the claim is merely plausible. However, certain matters are considered special and require more particular pleadings. Fraud is considered a special matter that requires a heightened level of notice, including a statement of the circumstances giving rise to the allegation of fraud. Here, the insurance company’s complaint did not allege the pharmacy’s state of mind in submitting allegedly false claims or the particulars of the false claim submissions, which is not enough to constitute the circumstances giving rise to the fraud claim. As such, the complaint should be dismissed.
A is incorrect. This is a misstatement of the requirements for this type of pleading. Typically, a plaintiff must include sufficient facts for the claim to be plausible, as well as a jurisdictional statement and the relief sought. Beyond those basic pleading requirements, fraud is considered a special matter that necessitates more particularity in the complaint. In this case, the complaint failed to identify the circumstances giving rise to the fraud claim, and as such, should be dismissed.
C is incorrect. As explained above, notice pleading typically requires a short and plain statement of the court’s jurisdiction, sufficient factual allegations to make the claim plausible, and the relief sought. However, fraud is a special matter that demands a higher level of particularity in pleading the claim, which the complaint failed to do here.
D is incorrect. This answer reaches the correct answer with the wrong reasoning. Although the court should grant the motion to dismiss, it is not because complaints of fraud require specific allegations detailing malice. What is required is particular circumstances giving rise to the fraud claim, and the mental state allegation may be pleaded generally. Nevertheless, the complaint should be dismissed for the reasons explained above.
