A motion to strike is a legal request made to a court to remove certain parts of the opposing party's pleadings. This can include irrelevant, redundant, or legally insufficient material from a complaint, answer, or other legal documents.
A motion to strike may be brought against complaints, cross-complaints, answers and demurrers. A motion to strike can be brought against an entire pleading, or any part of a pleading.
Motion to strike. n. a request for a judge's order to eliminate all or a portion of the legal pleading (complaint, answer) of the opposition on any one of several grounds. It is often used in an attempt to have an entire cause of action removed ("stricken") from the court record.
Primary tabs. A motion to strike is a request to a judge that part of a party's pleading or a piece of evidence be removed from the record.
During a jury trial, if a motion to strike witness testimony is granted, the jury is typically instructed to disregard the stricken statements.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that "The court may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter." Similarly, for example, the California Code of Civil Procedure provides that a motion to strike may be made to strike out any "irrelevant, ...
PRACTICE TIP: Courts consider striking a party's pleading to be an extreme measure, and motions to strike are viewed with disfavor and infrequently granted. POL. Many courts consider filing this motion as a dilatory tactic.