The Connecticut motion to strike: file it out of order and you have waived it
Connecticut procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Connecticut has no motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. That work is done by the motion to strike, and the rule governing it is straightforward.
What is not straightforward — and what quietly forfeits the motion — is that Connecticut pleads in a fixed order, and filing anything out of turn waives everything that came before it.
The order of pleading, and the sentence that enforces it
Practice Book § 10-6 sets the sequence:
The order of pleading shall be as follows:
(1) The plaintiff's complaint. (2) The defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint. (3) The defendant's request to revise the complaint. (4) The defendant's motion to strike the complaint. (5) The defendant's answer (including any special defenses) to the complaint. (6) The plaintiff's request to revise the defendant's answer. (7) The plaintiff's motion to strike the defendant's answer. (8) The plaintiff's reply to any special defenses.
Then § 10-7 does the damage:
In all cases, when the judicial authority does not otherwise order, the filing of any pleading provided for by the preceding section will waive the right to file any pleading which might have been filed in due order and which precedes it in the order of pleading provided in that section.
Read that against the list. A defendant who files an answer has waived the motion to dismiss, the request to revise and the motion to strike — all three sit earlier in the order. A defendant who files a motion to strike has waived the motion to dismiss and the request to revise.
No ruling is needed and no one has to object. The waiver happens on filing.
| If you file… | You have waived… |
|---|---|
| Motion to dismiss (2) | nothing |
| Request to revise (3) | the motion to dismiss |
| Motion to strike (4) | the motion to dismiss and the request to revise |
| Answer (5) | all three |
The practical rule: decide everything you want to raise before you file anything, and take them in the order § 10-6 sets.
What a motion to strike is for
§ 10-39(a) lists five uses, and they run in both directions — a plaintiff can strike an answer:
A motion to strike shall be used whenever any party wishes to contest: (1) the legal sufficiency of the allegations of any complaint, counterclaim or cross claim, or of any one or more counts thereof, to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (2) the legal sufficiency of any prayer for relief in any such complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint; or (3) the legal sufficiency of any such complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or any count thereof, because of the absence of any necessary party or, pursuant to Section 17-56 (b), the failure to join or give notice to any interested person; or (4) the joining of two or more causes of action which cannot properly be united in one complaint, whether the same be stated in one or more counts; or (5) the legal sufficiency of any answer to any complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or any part of that answer including any special defense contained therein.
Two of these have no obvious federal counterpart. (2) lets you attack a prayer for relief on its own — a claim can survive while the remedy sought does not. And (5) is the tool for knocking out a special defense, which in Connecticut is where affirmative defenses live.
Three formal requirements
§ 10-39(b)–(d) are short and each is a real condition:
(b) Each claim of legal insufficiency enumerated in this section shall be separately set forth and shall specify the reason or reasons for such claimed insufficiency.
(c) Each motion to strike must be accompanied by a memorandum of law citing the legal authorities upon which the motion relies.
(d) A motion to strike on the ground of the nonjoinder of a necessary party or noncompliance with Section 17-56 (b) must give the name and residence of the missing party or interested person or such information as the moving party has as to the identity and residence of the missing party or interested person and must state the missing party's or interested person's interest in the cause of action.
A single omnibus paragraph asserting that the complaint is legally insufficient does not satisfy (b). Each claim goes separately, with its reasons. And the memorandum of law under (c) is mandatory, not a courtesy.
The calendar
§ 10-40 sets both sides of it:
(a) Any adverse party shall have thirty days from the filing of the motion to strike to respond to a motion to strike filed pursuant to Section 10-39 by filing and serving in accordance with Sections 10-12 through 10-17 a memorandum of law in opposition.
(b) Except in summary process matters, the motion to strike shall be placed on the short calendar to be held not less than forty-five days following the filing of the motion, unless the judicial authority otherwise orders.
Thirty days to oppose, and the hearing sits at least forty-five days out — so there is real breathing room, except in summary process (eviction) matters, which are expressly carved out of the forty-five-day rule.
The opposition is also a memorandum of law, mirroring the requirement on the moving side.
If the motion is granted
§ 10-44 gives fifteen days and attaches a consequence to missing them:
Within fifteen days after the granting of any motion to strike, the party whose pleading has been stricken may file a new pleading; provided that in those instances where an entire complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or any count in a complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint has been stricken, and the party whose pleading or a count thereof has been so stricken fails to file a new pleading within that fifteen day period, the judicial authority may, upon motion, enter judgment against said party on said stricken complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or count thereof. Any new pleading filed pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a separate document which shows the differences between the previous pleading and the new pleading by using underlining to indicate new language and by using either brackets or strikethrough to indicate deleted language.
Two things to take from that. Judgment can follow a missed fifteen-day window — losing a motion to strike and then doing nothing is how a case ends. And the replacement pleading must come with a redline: underlining for new language, brackets or strikethrough for deleted language, in a separate document.
Partial strikes do less than people assume
§ 10-45 limits the effect:
Whenever the judicial authority grants a motion to strike the whole or any portion of any pleading or count which purports to state an entire cause of action or defense, and such pleading or portion thereof states or constitutes a part of another cause of action or defense, the granting of that motion shall remove from the case only the cause of action or defense which was the subject of the granting of that motion, and it shall not remove such pleading or count or any portion thereof so far as the same is applicable to any other cause of action or defense.
So striking a count does not delete the facts inside it. Where the same allegations also support a surviving count, they stay in the case for that purpose.
How Connecticut compares
| Connecticut | Pennsylvania | New York | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | motion to strike | preliminary objections | motion to dismiss | motion to dismiss |
| Fixed order of pleading with automatic waiver | yes, §§ 10-6 and 10-7 | no | no | no |
| Can attack a prayer for relief alone | yes | no | no | no |
| Can attack a special defense | yes, § 10-39(a)(5) | yes | yes | Rule 12(f) |
| Memorandum of law required | yes, both sides | — | yes | by local rule |
| Time to oppose | 30 days | — | varies | by local rule |
| Time to replead after losing | 15 days, or judgment may enter | 20 days | varies | by court order |
| Replacement pleading must be redlined | yes | no | no | by local rule |
A short checklist
- Work out every objection you have before filing anything. Section 10-7 waives whatever you skip past.
- Take them in § 10-6 order — dismiss, revise, strike, then answer.
- Set out each claim of insufficiency separately, with its reasons. One combined paragraph does not comply with § 10-39(b).
- File the memorandum of law with the motion. It is required, not optional.
- If you are striking for nonjoinder, name the missing party, give their residence, and state their interest.
- Calendar thirty days to oppose, and expect the short calendar no sooner than forty-five days out — except in summary process.
- If you lose, diarise fifteen days. Judgment can be entered against you if an entire complaint or count was stricken and you file nothing.
- Redline the substitute pleading in a separate document — underlining for additions, brackets or strikethrough for deletions.
- Do not assume a granted motion removes the facts. Section 10-45 keeps them in the case for any other cause of action they support.
Where these rules live
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-6 — Pleadings Allowed and Their Order
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-7 — Waiving Right To Plead
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-39 — Motion To Strike; Grounds
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-40 — Opposition; Date for Hearing Motion To Strike
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-44 — Substitute Pleading; Judgment
- Conn. Practice Book § 10-45 — Stricken Pleading Part of Another Cause or Defense
This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what makes a pleading legally insufficient under § 10-39 is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.