Grounds for a motion to strike include the following: The pleading is false; that is, untrue. The pleading is filed without the required leave of court. The form of pleading is in violation of a court order. The pleading is filed late. The pleading is barred by the statute of limitations. The pleading must be verified.
A motion to dismiss asks the court to dismiss either whole or part of a complaint, counterclaim, or crossclaim. Motion to strike or "Demurrer": In some jurisdictions, a motion to strike or a "demurrer" is the equivalent to a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
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.
As with all motions, a motion to strike must state with particularity the grounds for seeking the order to strike, as well as the relief sought. FRCP 7(b); Smart Code®. Under FRCP 12(f), the court may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.
Attorneys, however, often use “motion to strike” as shorthand for “I am marking the transcript and preserving my objection, and intend to move the court after this deposition that your answer continues not to respond to the questions I am asking.” See Court Opinions.
The primary purpose of a motion to strike is to clean up the pleadings by eliminating irrelevant, redundant, or legally insufficient parts. This helps in focusing the litigation on the substantive issues, thereby streamlining the legal process.
A notice of motion to strike must be given within the time allowed to plead, and if a demurrer is interposed, concurrently therewith, and must be noticed for hearing and heard at the same time as the demurrer.
A Motion to Strike is similar to a Demurrer, in that it challenges defects in the complaint. However, the two pleadings challenge different types of defects. A Demurrer is used to challenge the legal sufficiency or clarity of the claims.
C.C.P. § 436 allows for a motion to strike “any irrelevant, false, or improper matter asserted in any pleading” or portion of a pleading “not drawn of filed in conformity with the laws of this state.” A motion to strike is proper “when a substantive defect is clear from the face of a complaint.” (PH II, Inc.
What happens next? If we filed the motion to strike in a trial court, then we will set the motion to be heard by a judge or magistrate, and be ruled upon. If we filed it in an appeals court, the appeals court will read the motion and offending document and will rule on it without hearing.