Drafting legal documents can be a hassle.
Moreover, if you choose to hire an attorney to create a commercial agreement, papers for ownership transfer, prenuptial contract, separation documents, or the Suffolk Separate Reply and Affirmative Defenses to Crossclaim, it could be quite expensive.
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A defense based on facts other than those that support the plaintiff's or government's claim. A successful affirmative defense excuses the defendant from civil or criminal liability, wholly or partly, even if all the allegations in the complaint are true.
So, unlike a negative defense, an affirmative defense is one that admits the allegations in the complaint, but seeks to avoid liability, in whole or in part, by new allegations of excuse, justification, or other negating matter.
Answer. An Answer is the most common way to respond to a lawsuit. The Answer is the defendant's opportunity to admit or deny the specific allegations brought against them in the complaint. Any statements in the complaint that are not denied will be taken as true for the purposes of this case.
While the availability of an affirmative defense will depend on the state, there are generally two categories of affirmative defenses, justifications and excuses.
A California Court of Appeal has stated that the affirmative defenses alleged (in an answer to a complaint filed by the plaintiff) must be pled in the same fashion and with the same specificity as a cause of action in a complaint (i.e. quite detailed), and that conclusory and boilerplate affirmative defenses are
CPLR 3018(b) contains the following, non-exhaustive list of defenses that should be affirmatively pleaded in an answer:Arbitration and award.Collateral Estoppel.Culpable conduct of the plaintiff under CPLR Article 14-A.Discharge in bankruptcy.Illegality.Fraud.Infancy or other disability of the defendant.Payment.More items...?
An affirmative defense operates to prevent conviction even when the prosecutor has proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to every element of the crime. Some jurisdictions place the burden on the defendant to prove the defense, while others require that the prosecution disprove the defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Following the admissions and denials, the answer outlines any affirmative defenses available to the defendant. Affirmative defenses, which are grounded in SUBSTANTIVE LAW, state that an allegation may or may not be true, but that even if it is true, the law provides a legal defense that defeats the plaintiff's claim.
Affirmative defenses are pleadings and, therefore, subject to all pleading requirements under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including that they must set forth a short and plain statement of the defense, and they must give the opposing party fair notice of the nature of the defense. Fed. R. Civ.