Group III: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended 2017 · Last verified July 14, 2026
This rule is identical to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7, as amended in 2007.
Civil Rule 7 has been amended to clarify that the Court may impose sanctions against litigants who engage in improper motions practice. A new provision has been added to this rule to make explicit that the certification requirements and sanctions set forth in new Civil Rule 11 apply as well to motions filed with the Court.
Rule 7(a) closes the list of pleadings a case can generate: a complaint, an answer, an answer to a counterclaim designated as such, an answer to a crossclaim, a third-party complaint, an answer to a third-party complaint, and — only if the court orders one — a reply to an answer. Nothing outside that list qualifies as a pleading as a matter of right, which keeps the paperwork of a lawsuit within a defined structure rather than letting it expand indefinitely.
Rule 7(b) turns to motions, the vehicle for asking the court to do anything beyond what a pleading covers. A request for a court order must be made by motion, and unless it is made during a hearing or trial, that motion must be in writing. The rule requires more than a bare request: the motion must state with particularity the grounds for the order sought and must state the relief being requested, so the other side and the court can evaluate exactly what is being asked and why.
Rule 7(b)(2) ties the whole rule together by applying the same rules governing captions and other matters of form for pleadings to motions and other papers as well. A motion is not exempt from the formatting and captioning requirements that apply to a complaint or answer just because it is not itself a pleading.
Rule 7(a) allows a complaint, an answer to a complaint, an answer to a counterclaim designated as a counterclaim, an answer to a crossclaim, a third-party complaint, an answer to a third-party complaint, and a reply to an answer if the court orders one.
No. Rule 7(a)(7) allows a reply to an answer only if the court orders one — it is not available to a party as a matter of right the way a complaint or answer is.
Generally yes. Rule 7(b)(1) requires a motion to be in writing unless it is made during a hearing or trial, and it must state with particularity the grounds for the request along with the relief sought.
Rule 7(b)(1)(B) requires more than a general request — the motion needs to identify specifically why the requested order is warranted, giving the court and the other side enough detail to evaluate and respond to the request.
Yes. Rule 7(b)(2) applies the rules governing captions and other matters of form in pleadings to motions and other papers as well.