Filing a motion to strike the affirmative defenses contained in an answer in United States District Court pursuant to Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is the topic of this article.
A motion to strike affirmative defenses is generally made on the grounds that none of the affirmative defenses in the answer state a sufficient defense, and that the allegations are not relevant to the causes of action in the complaint and constitute immaterial allegations which should be stricken.
Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states in pertinent part that a district court "may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.
" The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has stated that the function of a 12(f) motion to strike is to avoid the expenditure of time and money that will arise from litigating spurious issues by dispensing with those issues before the trial.
The Ninth Circuit also defined immaterial matter as "hat which has no essential or important relationship to the claim for relief or the defenses being pleaded, and defined impertinent matter as statements that do not pertain, and are not necessary, to the issues in question.
While the law is settled in the Ninth Circuit that motions to strike under Rule 12(f) are disfavored, a very good argument can be made that any answer that contains affirmative defenses that are insufficient, or contain immaterial or impertinent allegations should be stricken to avoid having to litigate spurious issues.
In fact the use of Rule 12(f) motions to strike affirmative defenses is on the rise.
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California involved a case where a Rule 12(f) motion to strike defenses was filed by a plaintiff and was granted.
The Judge applied a heightened pleading standard to the affirmative defenses in that case.
Any plaintiff who has been served with an answer by a defendant that contains affirmative defenses that do not state a sufficient defense, contains allegations that are not relevant to the causes of action in the complaint such as immaterial or impertinent allegations should consider filing a motion to strike the defective defenses under Rule 12(f).
To view the entire text of the Rules of Civil Procedure cited in this article, as well as many other Federal Rules and Statutes, click the following link: http://www.
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edu/rules/frcp The author sincerely hopes you have enjoyed this article and found it informative.
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Yours Truly, Stan Burman