Group III: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended March 1, 2024 · Last verified July 15, 2026
(1) In general. Every pleading, written motion, and other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney's name or by a party personally if the party is self-represented. The paper must state the signer's address, electronic mail address for electronic service, and telephone number. If the signer is an attorney, the paper must contain the attorney's State Board of Law Examiners identification number. Unless a rule or statute specifically states otherwise, a pleading need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. The court must strike an unsigned paper unless the omission is promptly corrected after being called to the attorney's or party's attention.
(2) Notarization not required. Unless specifically required by court rule, a document filed with the court in a civil action is not required to be notarized. When any matter is required or permitted to be supported, evidenced, established, or proved by the sworn declaration, verification, certificate, statement, oath, or affidavit, in writing of the person making the same (other than a deposition, or an oath of office, or an oath required to be taken before a specified official other than a notary public), such matter may, with like force and effect, be supported, evidenced, established, or proved by the unsworn declaration, certificate, verification, or statement, subscribed by the maker as true under penalty of perjury, and dated, in substantially the form set out at N.D.C.C. § 31-15-05.
(b) Representations to the court. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper, whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it, an attorney or self-represented party certifies that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:
(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;
(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;
(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and
(4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.
(1) In general. If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that Rule 11(b) has been violated, the court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsible for the violation. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm must be held jointly responsible for a violation committed by its partner, associate, or employee.
(2) Motion for sanctions. A motion for sanctions must be made separately from any other motion and must describe the specific conduct that allegedly violates Rule 11(b). The motion, brief, and other supporting papers must be served under Rule 5, but must not be filed or be presented to the court if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets. The respondent must have 10 days after a motion for sanctions is filed to serve and file an answer brief and other supporting papers. If warranted, the court may award to the prevailing party the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred for the motion.
(3) On the court's initiative. On its own, the court may order an attorney, law firm, or party to show cause why conduct specifically described in the order has not violated Rule 11(b).
(4) Nature of a sanction. A sanction imposed under this rule must be limited to what suffices to deter repetition of the conduct or comparable conduct by others similarly situated. The sanction may include nonmonetary directives; an order to pay a penalty into court; or, if imposed on motion and warranted for effective deterrence, an order directing payment to the movant of part or all of the reasonable attorney's fees and other expenses directly resulting from the violation.
(5) Limitations on monetary sanctions. The court must not impose a monetary sanction:
(A) against a represented party for violating Rule 11(b)(2); or
(B) on its own, unless it issued the show-cause order under Rule 11(c)(3) before voluntary dismissal or settlement of the claims made by or against the party that is, or whose attorneys are, to be sanctioned.
(d) Inapplicability to discovery. This rule does not apply to disclosures and discovery requests, responses, objections, and motions under Rules 26 through 37.
Rule 11 was amended, effective March 1, 1986; March 1, 1990; March 1, 1996; March 1, 1997; August 1, 2001; March 1, 2009; March 1, 2011; March 1, 2014; August 1, 2016; March 1, 2018; September 15, 2019; March 1, 2024.
Rule 11 governs to the extent Rule 11 and N.D.R.Ct. 3.2, conflict. Rule 11 was revised, effective March 1, 1996, in response to the 1993 revision of Fed.R.Civ.P. 11. North Dakota's rule differs from the federal rule in the following respects: 1) North Dakota's rule requires attorneys to cite their State
Board of Law Examiners identification number when signing papers; and 2) North Dakota's rule does not require allegations or denials to be specifically identified when immediate evidentiary support is lacking.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 2014, to specify that the e-mail address required in documents signed by an attorney or party is the signer's e-mail address for electronic service.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 2018, to state that notarization is not generally required for documents filed in civil actions and to provide a method for using unsworn statements made under a penalty or perjury.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective September 15, 2019, to remove language specifying the form of an unsworn declaration. N.D.C.C. § 31-15-05 provides the required form for an unsworn declaration.
Former subdivision (e), which dealt with limited representation, was transferred to N.D.R.Ct. 11.9, effective March 1, 2024.
Rule 11 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Rule 11 starts with the signature line. Every pleading, written motion, or other paper must carry the signature of an attorney of record or, if there is no attorney, the self-represented party — and the signature block must include an address, an email address for electronic service, and a phone number. Attorneys must also list their State Board of Law Examiners identification number. A pleading generally does not need to be verified or backed by an affidavit unless some other rule or statute demands it, and North Dakota does not require notarization of court filings unless a specific rule calls for it; a person can instead use an unsworn declaration made under penalty of perjury in the form set out at N.D.C.C. § 31-15-05. If a paper comes in unsigned, the court must strike it — unless the signer promptly fixes the omission once it is brought to their attention.
The signature means something beyond identifying who filed the paper. By presenting a pleading, motion, or other paper — whether by signing it, filing it, or later arguing for it — the attorney or self-represented party certifies four things after a reasonable inquiry: that the filing is not made to harass, delay, or run up costs; that its legal positions are supported by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument for changing it; that its factual claims have evidentiary support, or are likely to after further investigation; and that any denials of fact are supported by the evidence or a reasonable belief.
When that certification proves false, Rule 11(c) gives the court a structured way to respond. A party seeking sanctions must file a separate motion describing the specific conduct at issue, and it can serve that motion but cannot file it with the court if the other side withdraws or corrects the problem within 21 days — a safe harbor meant to encourage early correction over litigation. The court can also raise the issue on its own by ordering a party or attorney to show cause. Whatever sanction follows must be limited to what deters repetition, and the rule places real limits on money sanctions: a represented party cannot be sanctioned monetarily for a violation of the legal-contentions certification, and the court cannot impose a sanction on its own initiative unless it issued the show-cause order before any voluntary dismissal or settlement.
Rule 11 does not reach into discovery — disclosures, discovery requests, responses, objections, and motions under Rules 26 through 37 are governed by those rules instead. North Dakota's version also departs from the federal rule in two ways worth knowing: it requires the Board of Law Examiners number on every attorney signature, and it does not require a party to specifically flag which allegations or denials lack immediate evidentiary support.