CR 8

General Rules of Pleading

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CR 8
GENERAL RULES OF PLEADING
(a) Claims for Relief. A pleading which sets forth a claim for relief, whether an original
claim, counterclaim, cross claim, or third party claim, shall contain (1) a short and plain
statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief and (2) a demand for
judgment for the relief to which the pleader deems the pleader is entitled. Relief in the alternative
or of several different types may be demanded.
(b) Defenses; Form of Denials. A party shall state in short and plain terms the defenses to
each claim asserted and shall admit or deny the averments upon which the adverse party relies. If
a party is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of an
averment, the party shall so state and this has the effect of a denial. Denials shall fairly meet the
substance of the averments denied. When a pleader intends in good faith to deny only a part or a
qualification of an averment, the pleader shall specify so much of it as is true and material and
shall deny only the remainder. Unless the pleader intends in good faith to controvert all the
averments of the preceding pleading, the pleader may make his denials as specific denials of
designated averments or paragraphs, or the pleader may generally deny all the averments except
such designated averments or paragraphs as the pleader expressly admits; but, when the pleader
does so intend to controvert all its averments, the pleader may do so by general denial subject to
the obligations set forth in rule 11.
(c) Affirmative Defenses. In pleading to a preceding pleading, a party shall set forth
affirmatively accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, assumption of risk, contributory
negligence, discharge in bankruptcy, duress, estoppel, failure of consideration, fault of a
nonparty, fraud, illegality, injury by fellow servant, laches, license, payment, release, res judicata,
statute of frauds, statute of limitation, waiver, and any other matter constituting an avoidance or
affirmative defense. When a party has mistakenly designated a defense as a counterclaim or a
counterclaim as a defense, the court on terms, if justice so requires, shall treat the pleading as if
there had been a proper designation.
(d) Effect of Failure To Deny. Averments in a pleading to which a responsive pleading is
required, other than those as to the amount of damage, are admitted when not denied in the
responsive pleading. Averments in a pleading to which no responsive pleading is required or
permitted shall be taken as denied or avoided.
(e) Pleading To Be Concise and Direct; Consistency.
(1) Each averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise, and direct. No technical forms of
pleadings or motions are required.
(2) A party may set forth two or more statements of a claim or defense alternately or
hypothetically, either in one count or defense or in separate counts or defenses. When two or
more statements are made in the alternative and one of them if made independently would be
sufficient, the pleading is not made insufficient by the insufficiency of one or more of the
alternative statements. A party may also state as many separate claims or defenses as the party
has regardless of consistency and whether based on legal or on equitable grounds or on both. All
statements shall be made subject to the obligations set forth in rule 11.
(f) Construction of Pleadings. All pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial
justice. The adoption of this rule shall not be considered an adoption or approval of the forms of
pleading in the Appendix of Forms approved in rule 84, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
[Adopted effective July 1, 1976.]

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