Responsive Pleadings in New York State Supreme Court: Answering the Complaint
A Practice Note providing guidance on answering a complaint in New York State Supreme Court under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). This Practice Note outlines the key procedural steps for preparing and serving a responsive pleading to avoid a default. It discusses how to compute and extend the time to answer, the requirements for drafting an answer, and the proper methods for responding to a complaint's allegations through admissions and denials. The guidance also explains how to plead affirmative defenses under CPLR 3018 and CPLR 3211, highlighting the critical risk of waiving certain defenses if they are not timely raised in a pre-answer motion or the answer itself. This Note addresses the specific rules for asserting jurisdictional defenses and details the procedures for verification, signature, service, and filing, including special considerations for actions in the Commercial Division.
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