Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:05-CV-0818.
October 5, 2007
ORDER
AND NOW, this 5th day of October, 2007, upon consideration of plaintiff's motion (Doc. 231) to strike defendant's answer dated September 14, 2007 (Doc. 230) because the answer does not contain a signed verification by defendant General James L. Jones, Jr. or his counsel, and it appearing that plaintiff does not cite any rule or statute requiring verification of the answer in the above-captioned action, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(a) ("Except when otherwise specifically provided by rule or statute, pleadings need not be verified or accompanied by affidavit."), it is hereby ORDERED that the motion to strike (Doc. 231) is DENIED.
Plaintiff avers that defendant's "failure to provide a signed Verification or similar document leaves others to question the veracity of the information contained in the [answer]." (Doc. 233 at 3.) This argument is without merit. Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that "[b]y presenting to the court . . . a pleading, written motion, or other paper, an attorney or unrepresented party is certifying that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, . . . (4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on a lack of information or belief." FED. R. CIV. P. 11(b).