Answer to Complaint Drafter

Best for: a defendant’s Answer or Rule 12(b) motion with paragraph-by-paragraph responses, every affirmative defense preserved, and an optional counterclaim. Produces admissions and denials paragraph by paragraph, affirmative defenses, an optional counterclaim, and the prayer for dismissal.


Category	Litigation
Jurisdiction	US
Practice areas	Litigation, civil
Runtime	6-15 minutes

Screenshot of the Answer to Complaint Drafter launcher showing its document slots and input form — The Answer to Complaint Drafter launcher: document slots, inputs, and what you get

What you need

Slot	Required	Count	What goes in it
Complaint to respond to	No	0-500	Effectively required in Answer mode, since the paragraph-by-paragraph response is built from it. Optional for a Rule 12 motion.
Your supporting documents	No	0-500	Contracts, correspondence, business records supporting the defense.

Inputs

Mode and court

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Matter name	Text	No	File name and internal handle. Not in the caption.
Output mode	Select	Yes	Answer with affirmative defenses · Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss · Answer plus counterclaim · Answer plus 12(b) motion combined. Drives the entire document structure. Answering versus moving is the strategic first decision in defense practice.
Court tier	Select	Yes	Federal district · federal bankruptcy · state trial · state appellate. Federal applies FRCP 8(b) and the Twombly/Iqbal standard; state practice and timing vary.
Court name	Text	Yes	Must match the court named in the served complaint exactly.
Case number	Text	No	The docket number. A missing case number triggers clerk rejection on most CM/ECF systems.
Plaintiff(s)	Party name	Yes	Copy the name exactly as captioned in the complaint to avoid clerk objections.
Defendant(s), your client	Party name	Yes	Include capacity where it matters to defenses such as veil-piercing or qualified immunity.

Timing

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Service date	Date	No	Drives the FRCP 12(a) deadline: 21 days from service.
Was service waived (FRCP 4(d))?	Yes/No	No	Yes extends the deadline to 60 days from the waiver request.

Defenses and responses

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Affirmative defenses to assert	Multi-select	No	20 options from statute of limitations through failure to mitigate. FRCP 8(c) requires affirmative defenses to be pleaded in the Answer or they are waived. Pick every defense you might rely on.
Rule 12(b) defenses	Multi-select	No	12(b)(1) through 12(b)(7). 12(b)(2) to (5) and (7) are waived if omitted from a pre-answer motion. 12(b)(1) and (6) can be raised at any time.
Paragraph-by-paragraph response	Long text	No	Per complaint paragraph: admit, deny, or lack knowledge. If left blank in Answer mode, the drafter applies FRCP 8(b)(5) per paragraph and flags each guess with `[VERIFY]` for your review.
Defense theory	Long text	No	One paragraph anchoring the narrative.
Counterclaim allegations	Long text	No	FRCP 13 governs.
Crossclaim against a co-defendant?	Yes/No	No	Adds an FRCP 13(g) section. Use when a co-defendant is liable to your client for all or part of the claim.
Third-party complaint / impleader?	Yes/No	No	Adds a Rule 14 third-party complaint. Common for indemnification, contribution, or insurer pass-through.
Demand jury trial in the answer?	Yes/No	No	FRCP 38. The demand must be in the Answer or is waived within 14 days of the last pleading.

Leaving the paragraph-by-paragraph field blank does not skip the responses. It produces a full draft with a [VERIFY] flag on every inferred response, which you must then work through. That is faster than typing them all, but it is not a shortcut you can skip reviewing.

How it runs

A drafting pipeline: prepare → generate → export. Prepare reads the served complaint and your supporting documents. Generate builds the document in the structure your output mode dictates, applying the preserved defenses. Export writes the DOCX.

What you get

Artifact	Format	Contents
Answer / Motion	DOCX	Whichever structure your output mode selected, with defenses, optional counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party complaint.

What this will not do

File the Answer or serve it on plaintiff’s counsel.
Replace counsel for the final review, attorney signature, and Rule 11 sign-off.
Calculate your Rule 12 response deadline from the service date, or warn you if you are out of time. Verify with counsel.
Investigate facts beyond what you provide, including discovery, witness statements, or admissions in the complaint exhibits.
Decide whether to file a Rule 12(b) motion instead of an Answer. That strategic call belongs with counsel.

Complaint Drafter

The pleading this responds to.

US Motion Drafter

For a standalone, fully developed Rule 12(b) motion with a proposed order.

Overview

Built-in Workflows

Workflow Builder

Answer to Complaint Drafter

What you need

Inputs

Mode and court

Timing

Defenses and responses

How it runs

What you get

What this will not do

Complaint Drafter

US Motion Drafter

​What you need

​Inputs

​Mode and court

​Timing

​Defenses and responses

​How it runs

​What you get

​What this will not do

​Related

Complaint Drafter

US Motion Drafter

What you need

Inputs

Mode and court

Timing

Defenses and responses

How it runs

What you get

What this will not do

Related