The act which was requested was illegal, or the reason the Defendant did not perform the act was because it was illegal. Illegality – Plaintiff’s complain fails due to illegality.When the action was the result of misrepresentation of facts on the part of the Plaintiff. Fraud – Plaintiff’s complaint failed because plaintiff engaged in fraud.Failure of consideration – In contract cases, there was no contract formed because the Plaintiff did not give consideration to the Defendant.Statement of word or deed prevents the Plaintiff from asserting a certain claim or right. Estoppel – Plaintiff’s complaint fails because plaintiff is estopped from suing.Defendant was under the threat of serious injury or bodily harm and committed the injurious act as a result (more specific elements required). Duress – Plaintiff’s complaint fails because defendant acted under duress.Contributory negligence – Plaintiff’s actions were negligent in some way, which negates ability to recover damages for any negligence on the part of Defendant.Assumption of risk – Plaintiff knew of a certain danger and chose to act anyway, so that harm that occurred is Plaintiff’s own fault.Arbitration and award – The present matter has already been settled via arbitration.Accord and satisfaction – Defendant purchased/contracted the right to be free from the debt or obligation from Plaintiff.Any allegations not addressed by the defendant in its response are considered as admitted for purposes of the trial.įRCP 8(c) provides an illustrative (not exhaustive) list of 18 affirmative defenses. Included in the answer is also a response to the prayer for relief, and a catchall denial at the bottom that says the defendant denies all allegations not admitted above, just in case one of the paragraphs from the complaint has not been responded to by accident. The defendant must also state at this time any affirmative defenses to be raised.īecause generally there is at least some part of the complaint which is true, it is rare for a defendant to answer with a general denial of the complaint, which denies all of the allegations. In the case of partially true paragraphs, the defendant can admit the part that is true and deny or state lack of knowledge as to the rest. The defendant can admit, deny, or state a lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of an allegation for each paragraph. In its answer, the defendant needs to address each of the paragraphs specifically from the complaint.