NRCP 8

General Rules of Pleading

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Rule 8. General Rules of Pleading

 (a) Claim for Relief. A
pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:

 (1) a short and plain statement of the
grounds for the court’s jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction
and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;

 (2) a short and plain statement of the
claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief;

 (3) a demand for the relief sought, which
may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief; and

 (4) if the pleader seeks more than $15,000
in monetary damages, the demand for relief may request damages “in excess of
$15,000” without further specification of the amount.

 (b) Defenses; Admissions and Denials.

 (1) In General. In
responding to a pleading, a party must:

 (A) state in short and plain terms
its defenses to each claim asserted against it; and

 (B) admit or deny the allegations
asserted against it by an opposing party.

 (2) Denials—Responding to the
Substance. A denial must fairly respond to the substance of
the allegation.

 (3) General and Specific Denials. A
party that intends in good faith to deny all the allegations of a
pleading—including the jurisdictional grounds—may do so by a general denial. A
party that does not intend to deny all the allegations must either specifically
deny designated allegations or generally deny all except those specifically
admitted.

 (4) Denying Part of an Allegation. A
party that intends in good faith to deny only part of an allegation must admit
the part that is true and deny the rest.

 (5) Lacking Knowledge or Information. A
party that lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the
truth of an allegation must so state, and the statement has the effect of a
denial.

 (6) Effect of Failing to Deny. An
allegation—other than one relating to the amount of damages—is admitted if a
responsive pleading is required and the allegation is not denied. If a
responsive pleading is not required, an allegation is considered denied or
avoided.

 (c) Affirmative Defenses.

 (1) In General. In
responding to a pleading, a party must affirmatively state any avoidance or
affirmative defense, including:

 (A) accord and satisfaction;

 (B) arbitration and award;

 (C) assumption of risk;

 (D) contributory negligence;

 (E) discharge in bankruptcy;

 (F) duress;

 (G) estoppel;

 (H) failure of consideration;

 (I) fraud;

 (J) illegality;

 (K) injury by fellow servant;

 (L) laches;

 (M) license;

 (N) payment;

 (O) release;

 (P) res judicata;

 (Q) statute of frauds;

 (R) statute of limitations; and

 (S) waiver.

 (2) Mistaken Designation. If
a party mistakenly designates a defense as a counterclaim, or a counterclaim as
a defense, the court must, if justice requires, treat the pleading as though it
were correctly designated, and may impose terms for doing so.

 (d) Pleading to Be Concise and Direct;
Alternative Statements; Inconsistency.

 (1) In General. Each
allegation must be simple, concise, and direct. No technical form is required.

 (2) Alternative Statements of a Claim
or Defense. A party may set out two or more statements of a
claim or defense alternatively or hypothetically, either in a single count or
defense or in separate ones. If a party makes alternative statements, the
pleading is sufficient if any one of them is sufficient.

 (3) Inconsistent Claims or Defenses. A
party may state as many separate claims or defenses as it has, regardless of
consistency.

 (e) Construing Pleadings. Pleadings
must be construed so as to do justice.

 [Amended; effective March 1, 2019.]

Verbatim from the official publication; the only normalization is removal of the publisher's page headers. Verify against the official source for filing-critical use — court publications change without notice.