Part VII The Answer The Answer

• Jurisdiction: New York

Part VII — The Answer

The Legal Writer continues its series on drafting litigation documents. Because the bulk of the answer is contained in the Response to Allegations section of the answer, the Legal Writer will now discuss that section in depth. The Legal Writer will continue in the next issue with techniques for asserting affirmative defenses, counterclaims, and cross-claims.

Response to Allegations

Once you’ve admitted an allegation in the complaint, that admission stands. If you, the defendant, amend your answer to deny that allegation, the plaintiff may use the original admission as evidence of a fact you’ve admitted.²¹⁵ You may introduce evidence to explain or minimize the admission.

Address every allegation in the plaintiff’s complaint, including those allegations in the introduction and the summary of the case, as well as any statement about jurisdiction and venue.

General denials are blanket statements in which you deny the entire complaint. Although the CPLR doesn’t authorize or prohibit general denials, the courts disfavor them.²¹⁶ A court might determine that your general denial was made in bad faith and sanction you. That consequence depends on whether the complaint is detailed and well-pleaded. If it’s a bare bones complaint, a general denial may be appropriate. As the Legal Writer will discuss in the upcoming months in its article on motions, a better option might be to move to dismiss the complaint.

General denials are prohibited in the following cases: (1) a contractual condition precedent;²¹⁷ (2) the validity of a signature on an instrument;²¹⁸ and (3) schedule of goods.²¹⁹

As discussed in part VI of this series, under CPLR 3018(a) you have three ways to deny an allegation contained in the plaintiff’s complaint. First, based on your personal knowledge, you may unconditionally deny an allegation. Second, you may deny an allegation that you allege is false based on second-hand knowledge, even if you have no personal, first-hand knowledge that it’s false. Third, you may state that you have insufficient information about whether an allegation is true. Don’t speculate or make an educated guess about whether the allegation is true. Examples of the three ways to deny an allegation:

1. Defendant denies the allegation in paragraph 1 of the complaint.

2. On information and belief, defendant denies each allegation in paragraph 2 of the complaint.

3. Defendant denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of each allegation in paragraph 3 of the complaint.

Depending on which numbering technique you use to draft the answer (see part VI of this series), you may also deny substantial portions of the complaint at the same time.

1. Defendant denies each allegation in paragraphs 1, 4, 5–10, 20–30.

2. On information and belief, defendant denies each allegation in paragraphs, 2, 11–19, 31, 32.

3. Defendant denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of each allegation in paragraph 3, 33–40.

If the plaintiff’s complaint contains multiple allegations in a single paragraph, you may respond differently to each allegation. If any allegation lets you deny it unconditionally, deny the entire paragraph and explain the exceptions to the other allegations you aren’t denying. Example:

1. Defendant denies the allegations in paragraph 12 of the complaint, except admits that defendant sold the lawnmower to plaintiff. Based on information and belief, defendant denies the allegation in paragraph 7 that the lawnmower failed to perform as guaranteed.²²⁰

It’s best not to answer an allegation by admitting it and then following with an exception. This method might inadvertently result in your making admissions. Example: “10. Defendant admits the allegations in paragraph 10 of the complaint, except denies the allegation that defendant made fraudulent representation to plaintiff.”

Don’t deny an allegation by affirmatively alleging contrary facts. Doing so might lead to a court deeming your allegation admitted. If a complaint contains an allegation that has some truth to it even though it’s misleading or inaccurate, deny the allegation and then admit only those facts that are true according to your client’s version of what happened. Assume that the allegation in the complaint is as follows in paragraph 4: “4. Defendants’ audit department told management to institute new audit procedures in 1994 and 1996.”²²¹ Your answer might look like this: “4. Deny the allegations contained in paragraph 4 of the complaint, except admit that defendants, during the...