Opinion
No. 02 C 121
February 11, 2002
MEMORANDUM ORDER
All three defendants in this diversity of citizenship action brought against them by Mountain Funding-Z, Inc. have filed their Answer to the complaint, coupled with a counterclaim and a number of affirmative defenses ("ADS"). This memorandum order is issued sua sponte to require defense counsel to cure some patent flaws in that responsive pleading.
To begin with, Answer ¶¶ 13, 14, 17-20 and 25 decline to respond to corresponding allegations in the Complaint — all of which relate to the subordinate loan guaranty on which suit is brought — "because the document speaks for itself." But Fed.R.Civ.P. ("Rule") 8(b) does not confer such a right of self-determination on a responding party — and even less so on such a flawed notion of personification (see App. ¶ 3 to State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Riley, 199 F.R.D. 276, 279 (N.D. Ill. 2001)). All of those nonresponsive paragraphs are therefore stricken.
As for defendants' ADs, they generally echo a number of the labels set out in Rule 8(c) — but here the problem is one of excessive generality. Every AD, even in the federal regime of notice pleading, has to conform to a concept equivalent to that set out in Rule 8(a): It must be stated in a manner that is sufficient to apprise opposing counsel and the court of the basis for the defense. That function is not satisfied by simply parroting "doctrine of waiver," "doctrine of estoppel" or any of the other conclusory terms employed by defense counsel. Accordingly all eight ADs are stricken as well.
Because the matters identified here should be readily curable, defense counsel is granted until February 22, 2002 to file a suitable amendment to the Answer in this Court's chambers (with a copy of course served upon opposing counsel). Absent such a timely filing, all allegations of the Complaint that correspond to the stricken paragraphs in the Answer will be deemed admitted and all potential ADs will be deemed to have been waived (or more accurately, forfeited) by defendants.