Rule 1-008.General rules of pleading

Last amended December 31, 2025 · Last verified June 26, 2026

In one sentenceRule 1-008 sets the basics of pleading in New Mexico: a short and plain claim for relief, a demand for judgment, rules for denials, and the affirmative defenses that must be raised.

Full Text of Rule 1-008

Text sizeJump to: (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

A. Claims for relief. A pleading which sets forth a claim for relief, whether an original claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim shall contain:

(1) proper allegations of venue, provided the name of the county stated in the complaint shall be taken to be the venue intended by the plaintiff and it shall not be necessary to state a venue in the body of the complaint or in any subsequent pleading;

(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and

(3) a demand for judgment for the relief to which the pleader claims to be entitled to receive. Relief in the alternative or of several different types may be demanded. Unless it is a necessary allegation of the complaint, the complaint shall not contain an allegation for damages in any specific monetary amount.

B. Defenses; form of denials. A party shall state in short and plain terms the party's defenses to each claim asserted and shall admit or deny the averments on which the adverse party relies. If the party is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of an averment, the party shall so state and this has the effect of a denial. Denials shall fairly meet the substance of the averments denied. When a pleader intends in good faith to deny only a part or a qualification of an averment, the pleader shall specify so much of it as is true and material and shall deny only the remainder. Unless the pleader intends in good faith to controvert all the averments of the preceding pleading, the pleader may make the pleader's denials as specific denials of designated averments or paragraphs, or the pleader may generally deny all the averments except the designated averments or paragraphs as the pleader expressly admits; but, when the pleader does so intend to controvert all its averments, including averments of the grounds on which the court's jurisdiction depends, the pleader may do so by general denial subject to the obligations set forth in Rule 1-011 NMRA.

C. Affirmative defenses. In pleading to a preceding pleading, a party shall set forth affirmatively accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, comparative negligence, discharge in bankruptcy, duress, estoppel, failure of consideration, fraud, illegality, laches, license, payment, release, res judicata, statute of frauds, statute of limitations, waiver and any other matter constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense. When a party has mistakenly designated a defense as a counterclaim or a counterclaim as a defense, the court on terms, if justice so requires, shall treat the pleading as if there had been a proper designation.

D. Effect of failure to deny. Averments in a pleading to which a responsive pleading is required, other than those about the amount of damage, are admitted when not denied in the responsive pleading. Averments in a pleading to which no responsive pleading is required or permitted shall be taken as denied or avoided.

E. Pleading to be concise and direct; consistency.

(1) Each averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise and direct. No technical forms of pleading or motions are required.

(2) A party may set forth two or more statements of a claim or defense alternatively or hypothetically, either in one count or defense or in separate counts or defenses. When two or more statements are made in the alternative and one of them if made independently would be sufficient, the pleading is not made insufficient by the insufficiency of one or more of the alternative statements. A party may also state as many separate claims or defenses as the party has regardless of consistency and whether based on legal or on equitable grounds or on both. All statements shall be made subject to the obligations set forth in Rule 1-011 NMRA.

F. Construction of pleadings. All pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial justice.

End

Rule History

[Approved, effective August 1, 1942; as amended, June 13, 1973; as amended by Supreme Court Order No. 07-8300-016, effective August 1, 2007; as amended by Supreme Court Order No. S-1-RCR-2024-00076, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2025.]

Plain-English Summary

This rule is the backbone of pleading. A claim for relief must contain proper allegations of venue, a short and plain statement showing the pleader is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment; relief may be sought in the alternative, but the complaint must not state a specific dollar amount of damages unless that is a necessary allegation. A responding party must state defenses in short and plain terms and admit or deny each averment, with a statement of insufficient knowledge counting as a denial and denials meeting the substance of what is denied.

The rule lists the affirmative defenses a party must raise—among them accord and satisfaction, res judicata, statute of limitations, fraud, and waiver—and lets the court treat a mislabeled defense or counterclaim as properly designated when justice requires. Averments needing a response are admitted if not denied. Finally, the rule favors plain, direct pleading: each averment should be simple and concise, claims and defenses may be stated alternatively or inconsistently, and all pleadings are construed to do substantial justice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What must a claim for relief contain?

Proper allegations of venue, a short and plain statement showing the pleader is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment. The complaint generally must not state a specific dollar amount of damages.

What happens if I do not deny an averment?

Averments needing a responsive pleading—other than the amount of damages—are admitted if not denied.

Which defenses must be pleaded affirmatively?

Matters such as accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, comparative negligence, discharge in bankruptcy, estoppel, fraud, illegality, laches, payment, release, res judicata, statute of frauds, statute of limitations, and waiver, among others.

Source & verification. Rule text and Committee commentary reproduced verbatim from the New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts (Rule 1-008 NMRA), published by the New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource). Promulgated by the Supreme Court of New Mexico. The plain-English summary is original and draws on the official annotations. Last verified June 26, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: general rules of pleadingshort and plain statementaffirmative defensesdenialsnotice pleading