Affirmative Defenses

Imagine a basketball team possessing only defensive skills, without the ability to grab the ball from opposing players and shoot for points at their own goal!

What chance would they have?

If you’re on the defense in a lawsuit, you need to defend affirmatively!

Here's how!

Take the ball from the other side and drive toward your own goal. Allege the facts you need to prove your Affirmative Defenses, then prove those facts using your 5 discovery tools.

Defend affirmatively!

This tutorial shows you how ... explaining tactics most lawyers fail to understand.

When a plaintiff sues a defendant, the plaintiff files a paper called a Complaint in which he states the basis for his lawsuit by affirmatively alleging ultimate facts he claims he can prove (facts he must prove to win his case).

The plaintiff’s Complaint is an affirmative action … i.e., it has teeth!

If the defendant cannot successfully move the court to have the case dismissed or stricken, he must file an Answer to the plaintiff’s Complaint – however, an answer by itself (i.e., without affirmative defenses) has no teeth ... leaving the defendant to try to disprove what the plaintiff alleged, rather than taking the affirmative position of proving what his defenses allege.

An answer, by itself, merely “answers” the complaint one paragraph at a time.

An answer, by itself, either admits, denies, or states defendant has insufficient knowledge to respond to what the complaint alleges.

An answer, by itself, provides no mechanism for a defendant to affirmatively plead his case.

An answer, by itself, is non-aggressive.

An answer, by itself, provides the defendant with no mechanism to affirmatively state the defendant’s position in response to the complaint.

Therefore, a defendant who merely “answers” the plaintiff’s Complaint, without also filing affirmative defenses along with his answer, straps himself with a legal burden that can kill his case even before he’s begun to fight.

It’s like playing basketball purely from a defensive posture.

Affirmative defenses should always be filed along with defendant’s answer.

Affirmative defenses give defendants an affirmative position from which to argue why defendant is not responsible for the damages sought by the plaintiff and what the defendant intends to prove so the court can see the flaws in the plaintiff’s case.

Without affirmative defenses, the defendant is always on the defense.

Not a good way to win the game!

This simplified tutorial shows how and why defendants should file affirmative defenses every time the filing of an answer is required.