A Defendant's Answer to the Complaint is a legal document in which a defendant formally responds to the allegations of a plaintiff's complaint in a civil lawsuit. The answer typically includes admissions, denials, and/or affirmative defenses. Depending on the jurisdiction, the answer may also include a counterclaim. The answer is typically drafted by the defendant's attorney and must be filed with the court, along with a filing fee. If the answer does not respond to each allegation in the complaint, the court may deem the defendant to have admitted the allegations in the complaint by default. The answer typically contains three parts: admissions, denials, and affirmative defenses. Admissions are statements of fact that the defendant admits being true. Denials are statements denying the truth of the allegations made by the plaintiff in the complaint. Affirmative defenses are explanations offered by the defendant to excuse or mitigate his or her liability for the plaintiff's claims. Common types of affirmative defenses include: statute of limitations, assumption of risk, contributory negligence, and comparative negligence. In some jurisdictions, the defendant may also file a counterclaim against the plaintiff in the answer. A counterclaim is a claim by the defendant against the plaintiff for damages.
Defendant's Answer to the Complaint
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FAQ
Answer To a Complaint In Civil Law, an ?answer? is the first formal response given by the defense to a complaint filed with the court by the plaintiff. This opening written statement will admit or deny the allegations, or demand more information about the claims of wrongdoing.
The prayer for relief is the part of complaint where a plaintiff states the damages or other remedies it is seeking from the court in a lawsuit. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a)(3) requires that a plaintiff's pleadings contains a prayer for relief. The prayer is often located at the end of the complaint.
The defendant's response to a complaint is called the answer. The answer contains the defendant's version of the events leading to the lawsuit and may be based on the contents of the complaint. The filing of the answer is one option that the defendant has in deciding how to respond to the complaint.
Pleadings - Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
The complaint and answer (and other legal documents, taken together, are known as the pleadings.
A Response or Reply to the Opposing Party's Pleadings is your answer to the opposing party's document filed with the Court. A Response is the initial answering document to a motion while a Reply is the Response filed to a Response.
Plea: a defendant's formal answer in court to the charge that he has committed a crime. Some possible pleas include: guilty, not guilty, no contest, or not guilty by reason of insanity.
What is an Answer? An answer is a response to a complaint that has been filed against you. These forms allow you to file a document telling the Judge which parts of the Plaintiff's complaint that you agree and disagree with. YOU MUST FILE THESE DOCUMENTS WITHIN 30 DAYS OF BEING SERVED WITH THE PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT.