Short answer. No. Section 10 of Rule 8 requires the defendant to specify each material allegation they do not admit, and generally to set forth the substance of what they rely on to support the denial. A defendant can also partially deny an averment, or plead lack of knowledge sufficient to form a belief, which counts as a denial.
What the law says
A defendant must specify each material allegation of fact the truth of which he or she does not admit and, whenever practicable, shall set forth the substance of the matters upon which he or she relies to support his or her denial.
Rule 8, Section 10 — Specific denial. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Where a defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of a material averment made [to] the complaint, he or she shall so state, and this shall have the effect of a denial.
Rule 8, Section 10 — Specific denial. Read the full provision →
General denials are not the standard
Section 10 sets a specificity requirement for a defendant's denials: a defendant must specify each material allegation of fact the truth of which he or she does not admit and, whenever practicable, shall set forth the substance of the matters relied on to support the denial. A single sweeping statement denying 'each and every allegation' generally does not satisfy this standard — the defendant is expected to engage with the complaint's specific factual allegations one by one.
Partial denials are expressly allowed
The section also addresses averments that are only partly true: where a defendant desires to deny only a part of an averment, he or she shall specify so much of it as is true and material and shall deny only the remainder. This lets a defendant acknowledge the accurate portion of an allegation while contesting the rest, rather than being forced into an all-or-nothing denial that would misrepresent their actual position.
Denial of insufficient knowledge or information
Section 10 recognizes a third scenario: where the defendant genuinely lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of a material averment, they must so state, and this shall have the effect of a denial. This gives defendants an honest way to respond to allegations about facts they simply do not know, without forcing either a false admission or a false denial.
What happens when a denial falls short
A denial that fails to meet these requirements — a blanket denial, or a purported denial of knowledge about facts the defendant plainly should know — does not function as an effective denial at all. Courts have long treated such defective denials as amounting, in substance, to an admission of the allegation supposedly being denied. That consequence is what gives Section 10's specificity requirement real teeth: a defendant cannot simply file a pleading that looks like a denial without actually engaging the complaint's factual allegations one by one.
Related provisions
- Rule 8, Section 10 — Specific denial
- Rule 8, Section 4 — Capacity
- Rule 8, Section 7 — Action or defense based on document