MOTION TO DISMISS HOW TO
MOTION TO DISMISS TRIAL

In essence, filing a motion to dismiss alleges there is some sort of critical deficiency with the Complaint, the claims alleged in the Complaint, or the actual procedure of how the lawsuit was initiated and, correspondingly, requests that specific claims alleged or the entire lawsuit be dismissed. Generally speaking, the defendant can either answer those claims in an appropriately labeled pleading called an Answer, whereby the defendant responds to each paragraph of the Complaint either admitting or denying the allegations or the defendant can attack the Complaint for insufficiency, usually by a motion to dismiss.

MOTION TO DISMISS HOW TO

In Denver and Colorado courts, once a lawsuit has been initiated by the filing of the Complaint, which alleges claims against a defendant, that defendant has certain options in how to respond to those claims. For more information, go to our Personal Jurisdiction page.Responding to a Motion to Dismiss Alleging Failure to State a Claim upon Which Relief Can Be Granted To defend against a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, you should be prepared to show the judge that the other party has had “contact” with the state where you have filed the case, s/he was served in the state, or there is some other reason why the court has jurisdiction. This means that the state where you filed might not have jurisdiction (power) over the other party. If the other party lives in a different state from where you filed your initial court petition, then s/he might file a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. A question of fact means that there is a real dispute as to what actually took place between the parties. If the motion to dismiss is convincing, you might have to present your own affidavits and documents to prove that the allegations did occur as you have described, or at least there is a question about the facts of the case as to whether or not what you have alleged actually happened.

MOTION TO DISMISS TRIAL

If the defendant makes this motion, it might include affidavits from witnesses or other documents that would be admissible at trial to show his/her side of the story. You might also be able to ask the court to grant you permission (“leave”) to amend your petition so that you can add additional details that might be necessary to strengthen your defense to the motion to dismiss.Īnother possible reason that the other party could move to dismiss your petition is because s/he argues that the events you allege in your petition did not happen at all. So, you should be prepared to argue that your petition is has enough information to support your cause of action. Maybe you did not allege a change of circumstances to modify a custody order or you failed to include enough information about domestic violence when seeking a restraining order. the issue has resolved and there is no longer an existing controversy (moot).Ī motion to dismiss could be because the petition that you filed is not sufficient to support the relief that you are asking for.the statute of limitations has passed or.there is something wrong with the paperwork.the facts alleged do not support the cause of action.

There are many reasons why a case could be dismissed before trial. Either way, how you respond to a motion to dismiss will depend on the reason why the other party or his/her attorney is making the motion. A motion to dismiss might be in writing or it could be made verbally in court.

Motion to dismiss