Opinion
89-R-99001-SCT
11-26-2024
IN RE: THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
EN BANC ORDER
JOSIAH DENNIS COLEMAN, JUSTICE
Before the en banc Court is the Supreme Court of Mississippi's Advisory Committee on Rules' Motion to Amend M.R.C.P. 10.
The motion was posted for comment, and two were received: one from Winn Davis Brown Jr. and Winn Davis Brown III, and another from Lance L. Stevens.
After due consideration, we find that the motion should be granted.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the motion is granted, and M.R.C.P. 10 is amended as set forth in the attached Exhibit A. The amendments shall be effective on December 26, 2024.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of this Court must spread this order upon the minutes of the Court and send a certified copy to West Publishing Company for publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter, Third Series (Mississippi Edition), and in the next edition of the Mississippi Rules of Court.
SO ORDERED.
ALL JUSTICES AGREE.
EXHIBIT A
RULE 10. FORM OF PLEADINGS
(a) Caption; Names of Parties. Every pleading shall contain a caption setting forth the name of the court, the title of the action, the file number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a). In the complaint the title of the action shall include the names of all the parties, but in other pleadings it is sufficient to state the name of the first party on each side with an appropriate indication of other parties.
(b) Paragraphs; Separate Statement. The first paragraph of a claim for relief shall contain the names and, if known, the addresses of all the parties. All averments of claim or defense shall be made in numbered paragraphs, the contents of each of which shall be limited as far as practicable to a statement of a single set of circumstances; and the paragraph may be referred to by number in all succeeding pleadings. Each claim founded upon a separate transaction or occurrence and each defense other than denials shall be stated in a separate count or defense whenever a separation facilitates the clear presentation of the matters set forth.
(c) Adoption by Reference; Exhibits. Statements in a pleading may be adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading or in another pleading or in any motion. A copy of any written instrument which is an exhibit to a pleading is a part thereof for all purposes.
(d) Copy Must De Attached. When any claim or defense is founded on an account or other written instrument.-a copy thereof should be attached to or filed with the pleading unless sufficient justification for its omission is stated in the pleading.
[Amended effective April 13, 2000; amended effective,____. ]
Advisory Committee Historical Note
Effective ______ Rule 10 was amended by deleting M.R.C.P. 10.
Effective April 13,2000, Rule 10(d) was amended to suggest, rather than require that documents on which a claim or defense is based be attached to a pleading. 753-745 So.2d XVII (West Miss. Cas. 2000.)
Advisory Committee
Failure to comply with the requirements of Rule 10(b) is not ground for dismissal of the complaint or striking the answer. Instead, the court, upon a motion or on its own, may order a party to amend the pleading so as to comply with the provisions of Rule 10(b). See, e.g., 3M Co. v. Glass, 917 So.2d 90, 92-94 (Miss. 2005); Harold's Auto Parts, Inc. v. Mangialardi, 889 So.2d 493, 494-95 (Miss. 2004).
[Advisory Committee Note adopted effective July 1, 2014.]