District court — civil · Pleadings
Answer (with affirmative defenses)
Responds to each allegation of the complaint and raises defenses.
Filed by: Defendant
Not yet verified. Compiled from the national rules and not yet verified by a reviewing attorney. The national rules are amended each December 1, and local rules, standing orders and judges' practices add to them. Confirm with the current rules before filing. This is not legal advice.
What it must include
- Caption: court name, title of the action, file number and document designation (FRCP 10(a))
- Admit or deny each allegation, or state lack of knowledge (FRCP 8(b))
- Affirmative defenses (FRCP 8(c))
- Defenses under FRCP 12(b), if not raised by motion
- Counterclaims or crossclaims, if any (FRCP 13)
- Jury demand, if wanted (FRCP 38(b))
- Signature of attorney of record with address, email and phone (FRCP 11(a))
- Certificate of service, unless served through the court’s electronic-filing system on registered users (FRCP 5(d)(1)(B))
- Disclosure statement (FRCP 7.1), if not already filed
Deadline and length
Deadline: 21 days after service of the summons and complaint; 60 days if service was waived (90 if the waiver request was sent outside the U.S.); 60 days for the United States and its agencies or officers (FRCP 12(a)).
Governing rules
- FRCP 8(b)–(c)
- FRCP 12(a)
- FRCP 12(b)
- FRCP 10
- FRCP 11
Check the local rules for
- Whether each paragraph must be restated before the response
- Font, spacing, margin and page-limit rules
Applies in federal district courts. Find your court for its local requirements.
Other pleadings
Draft this filing in DraftAria.
Court-formatted template with this checklist built in, and brackets where your matter details go.