(a) Capacity. It is not necessary to aver the capacity of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity or the legal existence of an organized association of persons that is made a party. When a party desires to raise an issue as to the legal existence of any party or the capacity of any party to sue or be sued or the authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, the party shall do so by specific negative averment, which shall include such supporting particulars as are peculiarly within the pleader's knowledge.
Rule 9.Pleading Special Matters.
Current through February 2024 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 9 sets sharper pleading requirements for a short list of special subjects — a party's capacity to sue, fraud or mistake, conditions precedent, official acts, judgments, time and place, and special damages — that need more than the ordinary short-and-plain statement.
Full Text of Rule 9
(b) Fraud, Mistake, Condition of the Mind. In all averments of fraud or mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with particularity. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other condition of mind of a person may be averred generally.
(c) Conditions Precedent. In pleading the performance or occurrence of conditions precedent, it is sufficient to aver generally that all conditions precedent have been performed or have occurred. A denial of performance or occurrence shall be made specifically and with particularity.
(d) Official Document or Act. In pleading an official document or official act it is sufficient to aver that the document was issued or the act done in compliance with law.
(e) Judgment. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, judicial, or quasi-judicial tribunal, or of a board or officer, it is sufficient to aver the judgment or decision without setting forth matter showing jurisdiction to render it.
(f) Time and Place. For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of a pleading, averments of time and place are material and shall be considered like all other averments of material matter.
(g) Special Damage. When items of special damage are claimed, they shall be specifically stated.
Amendment History
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Plain-English Summary
Normally a pleading doesn’t need to address a party’s capacity to sue or be sued, or the legal existence of an organized association named as a party — those are assumed. Anyone who wants to contest capacity, legal existence, or a party’s authority to sue or be sued in a representative role has to raise it through a specific negative averment, backed by the particular facts behind the challenge, so far as those facts are known to the party raising it.
Fraud and mistake get a stricter standard: the circumstances behind either one have to be laid out with particularity, not just alleged in general terms. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other states of mind, by contrast, can still be averred generally.
Conditions precedent can be pled with a general averment that all of them were performed or occurred — there’s no need to prove up each one in the pleading itself. But a party who wants to deny that a condition precedent was met has to do so specifically and with particularity, not with a blanket denial. Official documents or acts can be pled by averring that the document was issued, or the act done, in compliance with law, and a judgment or decision from a court, tribunal, board, or officer can be pled without showing that the body had jurisdiction to issue it.
Averments of time and place count as material facts for testing whether a pleading is sufficient, just like any other material averment. And when a party claims special damages, those items have to be spelled out specifically rather than folded into a general damages claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
How specifically do I need to plead fraud?
More specifically than an ordinary claim. Rule 9 requires the circumstances constituting the fraud or mistake to be stated with particularity, rather than alleged in general terms. A person’s state of mind — malice, intent, or knowledge — can still be pled generally.
Do I have to prove every condition precedent was satisfied before filing?
No. It’s enough to aver generally that all conditions precedent have been performed or have occurred. The burden shifts to whoever wants to dispute that: a denial that a condition precedent was met has to be specific and particular, not a general denial.
What counts as "special damages" that I need to spell out?
Rule 9 doesn’t define the term itself, but it requires that whenever special damages are claimed, the specific items have to be stated rather than lumped into a general damages allegation, so the other side knows exactly what’s being claimed.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Rhode Island Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure (R.I. Super. Ct. R. Civ. P. 9). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-6-2). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: pleading fraud with particularityhow to plead special damagespleading a prior judgmentcapacity to sue or be suedconditions precedent pleading requirementchallenging legal existence of a party