RULE 10. FORM OF PLEADINGS
Effective Date: 3/1/2018
Obsolete Date: 3/1/2021
(a) Caption; Names of Parties. Every pleading must have a caption with the court's name and the county in which the action is brought, a title that names the parties, and a Rule 7(a) designation. The title of the complaint must name all the parties; the title of other pleadings may name the first party on each side and refer generally to other parties. If the State of North Dakota is a real party in interest in an action and was not named as a party in the original title, its name must be added to the title.
(b) Paragraphs; Separate Statements. A party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances. A later pleading may refer by number to a paragraph in an earlier pleading. If doing so would promote clarity, each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence—and each defense other than a denial—must be stated in a separate count or defense.
(c) Adoption by Reference. A statement in a pleading may be adopted by reference elsewhere in the same pleading or in any other pleading or motion. A document filed in conjunction with a pleading is a part of the pleading for all purposes.
Rule 10 was amended, effective July 1, 1980; March 1, 2007; March 1, 2011; March 1, 2018; March1, 2021.
Rule 10 is adapted from Fed.R.Civ.P. 10.
Rule 10 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 2007, to specify that, if the State of North Dakota is a real party in interest to an action, or if it becomes a real party in interest, it must be named as a party in the title, regardless of whether it was named as a party originally. In some cases, the state may become a real party in interest by action of law. See, e.g., N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.26.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 2021, to clarify that the responsibility of adding the State to the title belongs to the first party filing a pleading after the State becomes a party in interest.
Subdivision (c) was amended, effective March 1, 2018, to allow a document filed in conjunction with a pleading to become part of the pleading.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of September 26, 2019, pages 2-6; September 28, 2017, page 12; November 29-30, 1979, page 4;September 20-21, 1979, pages 7 and 19; Fed.R.Civ.P. 10.
STATUTES AFFECTED:
Considered: N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.26
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 7 (Pleadings Allowed-Form of Motions), N.D.R.Civ.P. 8 (General Rules of Pleading), and N.D.R.Civ.P. 25 (Substitution of Parties); N.D.R.Ct. 3.1 (Pleadings).