III. PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS
RULE 12. DEFENSES AND OBJECTIONS--WHEN AND HOW PRESENTED--BY
PLEADING OR MOTION--MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE
PLEADINGS
(a) When Presented.
(1) A defendant shall serve an answer within 20 days after the
service of the summons, unless before the expiration of that period
the defendant files with the court and serves on the plaintiff a
notice that the defendant has a bona fide defense, and then an
answer shall be served within 30 days after the defendant was
served; except that when service of the summons is made on or
accepted on behalf of a defendant through or by an agent or
attorney in fact authorized by appointment or by statute to receive
or accept service on behalf of such defendant or when service of
process is made upon a defendant in the manner provided in Rule
4(e) or (f), the answer shall be served within 30 days after
service of the summons or not later than the day specified in the
order of publication. Every answer shall be accompanied by a
completed civil case information statement in the form prescribed
by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
(2) A party served with a pleading stating a cross-claim
against that party shall serve an answer thereto within 20 days
after being served. The plaintiff shall serve a reply to a
counterclaim in the answer within 20 days after service of the
answer or, if a reply is ordered by the court, within 20 days after service of the order, unless the order otherwise directs.
(3) Unless a different time is fixed by court order, the
service of a motion permitted under this rule alters these periods
of time as follows:
(A) if the court denies the motion or postpones its
disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive pleading
shall be served within 10 days after notice of the court's action;
or
(B) if the court grants a motion for a more definite
statement, the responsive pleading shall be served within 10 days
after the service of the more definite statement.
(b) How Presented. Every defense, in law or fact, to a claim
for relief in any pleading, whether a claim, counterclaim,
cross-claim, or third-party claim, shall be asserted in the
responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the
following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by
motion: (1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, (2) lack
of jurisdiction over the person, (3) improper venue, (4)
insufficiency of process, (5) insufficiency of service of process,
(6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, (7)
failure to join a party under Rule 19. A motion making any of
these defenses shall be made before pleading if a further pleading
is permitted. No defense or objection is waived by being joined
with one or more other defenses or objections in a responsive
pleading or motion. If a pleading sets forth a claim for relief to which the adverse party is not required to serve a responsive
pleading, the adverse party may assert at the trial any defense in
law or fact to that claim for relief. If, on a motion asserting
the defense numbered (6) to dismiss for failure of the pleading to
state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the
pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion
shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as
provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable
opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion
by Rule 56.
(c) Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. After the pleadings
are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any
party may move for judgment on the pleadings. If, on a motion for
judgment on the pleadings, matters outside the pleadings are
presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be
treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in
Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to
present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
(d) Preliminary Hearings. The defenses specifically
enumerated (1)-(7) in subdivision (b) of this rule, whether made in
a pleading or by motion, and the motion for judgment mentioned in
subdivision (c) of this rule shall be heard and determined before
trial on application of any party, unless the court orders that the
hearing and determination thereof be deferred until the trial.
(e) Motion for More Definite Statement. If a pleading to which a responsive pleading is permitted is so vague or ambiguous
that a party cannot reasonably be required to frame a responsive
pleading, the party may move for a more definite statement before
interposing a responsive pleading. The motion shall point out the
defects complained of and the details desired. If the motion is
granted and the order of the court is not obeyed within 10 days
after notice of the order or within such other time as the court
may fix, the court may strike the pleading to which the motion was
directed or make such order as it deems just.
(f) Motion to Strike. Upon motion made by a party before
responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is permitted
by these rules, upon motion made by a party within 20 days after
the service of the pleading upon the party or upon the court's own
initiative at any time, the court may order stricken from any
pleading any insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial,
impertinent, or scandalous matter.
(g) Consolidation of Defenses in Motion. A party who makes a
motion under this rule may join with it any other motions herein
provided for and then available to the party. If a party makes a
motion under this rule but omits therefrom any defense or objection
then available to the party which this rule permits to be raised by
motion, the party shall not thereafter make a motion based on the
defense or objection so omitted, except a motion as provided in
subdivision (h)(2) hereof on any of the grounds there stated.
(h) Waiver or Preservation of Certain Defenses.
(1) A defense of lack of jurisdiction over the person,
improper venue, insufficiency of process, or insufficiency of
service of process is waived (A) if omitted from a motion in the
circumstances described in subdivision (g), or (B) if it is neither
made by motion under this rule nor included in a responsive
pleading or an amendment thereof permitted by Rule 15(a) to be made
as a matter of course.
(2) A defense of failure to state a claim upon which relief
can be granted, a defense of failure to join a party indispensable
under Rule 19, and an objection of failure to state a legal defense
to a claim may be made in any pleading permitted or ordered under
Rule 7(a), or by motion for judgment on the pleadings, or at the
trial on the merits.
(3) Whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or
otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter,
the court shall dismiss the action.
[Effective July 1, 1960; amended effective July 1, 1978; July 1,
1992; September 1, 1994; April 6, 1998.]