There are few subjects in civil procedure more basic than pleading, a topic covered in every first-year law school curriculum. An error in this realm can prove deadly, however, and render the most meritorious of claims and defenses irrelevant. Quite simply, if a pleading is defective, it may prevent the party from ultimately proving the strengths of her claims or defenses.

In our previous column appearing in this space on Jan. 20, titled “Courts Reconsider Rule Permitting Use of Affidavits on CPLR 3211(a)(7) Motion,” we stressed that the careful plaintiff's lawyer will always have some checklist at the ready to ensure that every complaint generated by her office contains all of the elements of any alleged cause of action. In our continued commitment to being fair and balanced, the primary focus in this column will be on the defendant's drafting of the answer so as to properly plead all relevant affirmative defenses.

Pleading Under the CPLR

New York's pleading rules were liberalized with the enactment of the CPLR in 1963. Over the last 50 years, the New York courts have consistently cooperated with the Legislature's design in CPLR Article 30 to eliminate rigidity in the field and to measure the validity of a pleading solely by whether it states a cause of action or defense. See Siegel, New York Practice §208 (5th ed. West 2011). CPLR 3013 sets the tone by pronouncing that “[s]tatements in a pleading shall be sufficiently particular to give the court and parties notice of the transactions [or] occurrences…intended to be proved and the material elements of each cause of action or defense.”