Pleadings Flashcards
Complaint must contain:
Statement of the grounds of SMJ
Short and plain statement of the claim showing P is entitled to relief
Demand for relief sought
P must plead ____ facts to support a ____ claim.
Sufficient; plausible
Special pleading requirements are for ___ cases, and those pleadings must be made with ____.
Fraud, mistake, or special damages;
Particularity or specificity
D can respond by ___ or ___ no later than ___ after being served.
If D waived service, he gets ____ to respond.
Motion; answer
21 days
60 days
Rule 12(f) is a motion to:
Strike redundant or immaterial things from a pleading
Waivable Rule 12(b) defenses: (if not raised in the first Rule 12 motion or answer)
Lack of personal jurisdiction
Improper venue
Improper process
Improper service of process
Non-waived Rule 12(b) defenses:
Failure to state a claim
Failure to join an indispensable party
Lack of SMJ
Non-waived defenses can be raised after trial. T/F
False, only as late as at the trial
Answers do two things:
Respond to allegations in the complaint (admit, deny, or say you have insufficient knowledge to do either)
AND
Raise affirmative defenses
Failure to deny an allegation is _____ except regarding ____.
An admission; the amount of damages
Affirmative defenses not raised in the answer may be treated as ___.
Waived
P must respond to affirmative defenses in D’s answer. T/F
False
P may amend complaint ___ time no later than ___ after D serves her first Rule 12 response.
One; 21 days
D may amend his answer ___ time no later than ___ after serving it.
One; 21 days
Courts may grant leave to amend when ___.
Justice so requires
When evidence at trial does not match what was pleaded, this is called ___. If the other party fails to object, the introducing party may move to ____.
Variance
Move to amend the complaint to conform to the evidence
A claim not originally asserted may avoid a SoL problem if it _____, which requires that the claim concern ____.
Relates back; the same conduct, transaction, or occurrence as the original pleading
An amendment to change the defendant must ____. It will do so if ____ (three factors).
Relate back
Amendment concerns the same conduct, transaction, or occurrence as the original;
D had knowledge of the case such that she will be able to avoid prejudice; and
D knew or should have known that she should have been named originally
🫠 Basically, P sued the wrong defendant and the right defendant knew about it 🫠
Is there a right to file a supplemental pleading for something happening after the pleading was filed?
No. Always in discretion of the court upon P’s motion
Rule 11 certification means that the attorney is certifying that, to the best of her knowledge and belief, after reasonable inquiry, these things are true:
Paper is not presented for improper purpose
Legal contentions are warranted by the law OR a good argument that the law should be changed
Factual contentions and denials have evidentiary support
Before imposing sanctions, court must give the sanctioned party ____.
An opportunity to be heard
If other party violates Rule 11, opposing party must serve motion on other party but not file with court until the violating party has ___ to fix the problem.
This is called the ___.
21 days
Safe harbor provision
