8.01 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) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and (2) a demand for judgment for the relief the pleader seeks. Relief in the alternative or of several different types may be demanded.
Rule 8.General Rules of Pleading
Last verified July 2, 2026
In one sentenceRule 8 requires a short and plain statement of a claim and a demand for judgment, sets how a party must admit or deny an opponent’s allegations, lists the affirmative defenses that must be pleaded, and treats an allegation that goes unanswered as admitted.
Full Text of Rule 8
8.02 Defenses -- Form of Denials. A party shall state in short and plain terms his or her defenses to each claim asserted and shall admit or deny the averments upon which the adverse party relies. If the party is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of an averment, he or she shall so state and this will have 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.
8.03 Affirmative Defenses. In pleading to a preceding pleading, a party shall set forth affirmatively facts in short and plain terms relied upon to constitute accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, express assumption of risk, comparative fault (including the identity or description of any other alleged tortfeasors), discharge in bankruptcy, duress, estoppel, failure of consideration, fraud, illegality, laches, license, payment, release, res judicata, statute of frauds, statute of limitations, statute of repose, waiver, workers' compensation immunity, and any other matter constituting an affirmative defense. When a party has mistakenly designated a defense as a counterclaim or a counterclaim as a defense, the court, if justice so requires, shall treat the pleading as if there had been a proper designation.
8.04 Effect of Failure to Deny. Averments in a pleading to which no responsive pleading is required or permitted shall be taken as denied or avoided. Averments in a pleading to which a responsive pleading is required are admitted when not denied in the responsive pleading, except that the following allegations must be proved:
1 Those against a person under any disability;
2 Those against executors or administrators;
3 Those necessary to sustain an action for divorce or annulment;
4 Those against persons whose names and residences are unknown, where there has been no attachment of property;
5 Those against persons whose parental rights are sought to be terminated.
8.05 Pleading to Be Concise and Direct -- Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations -- Consistency.
1 Each averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise and direct. No technical forms of pleading or motions are required. Every pleading stating a claim or defense relying upon the violation of a statute shall, in a separate count or paragraph, either specifically refer to the statute or state all of the facts necessary to constitute such breach so that the other party can be duly apprised of the statutory violation charged. The substance of any ordinance or regulation relied upon for claim or defense shall be stated in a separate count or paragraph and the ordinance or regulation shall be clearly identified. The manner in which violation of any statute, ordinance or regulation is claimed shall be set forth.
2 A party may set forth two (2) or more statements of a claim or defense alternately or hypothetically. When two (2) or more statements are made in the alternative and one (1) 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 he or she has, regardless of consistency.
8.06 Construction of Pleadings. All pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial justice.
Advisory Commission Comments
Advisory Commission Comments [1993].
"Comparative fault" is substituted for "contributory negligence" in light of McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992). Note that the defendant must identify or describe other alleged tortfeasors who should share fault, or else the defendant normally would be barred from shifting blame to others at trial.
Advisory Commission Comments [1998].
Perez v. McConkey, 872 S.W.2d 897 (Tenn. 1994), transformed implied assumption of risk from an absolute defense to a criterion position within comparative fault analysis. Contractual express assumption remains as a complete defense to liability.
Advisory Commission Comments [2000].
The former defense of injury by fellow servant was abolished by Glass v. City of Chattanooga, 858 S.W.2d 312 (Tenn. 1993).
Advisory Commission Comments [2004].
Because of the prevalence of long arm statutes providing personal jurisdiction over nonresidents, the amendment deletes the requirement of a prima facie case when the nonresident defendant fails to deny an allegation in the complaint.
Advisory Commission Comments [2006].
The affirmative defenses of statute of repose and workers' compensation immunity are added to the list in Rule 8.03.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 8.01 requires a claim for relief — whether an original claim, a counterclaim, a cross-claim, or a third-party claim — to contain a short and plain statement showing the pleader is entitled to relief, plus a demand for judgment, and it permits alternative or inconsistent demands for relief. Tennessee courts have not settled on a single reading of how much detail that "short and plain statement" requires: some early decisions read the rule to demand specific supporting facts, while more recent Tennessee Supreme Court decisions describe pleading requirements as generally undemanding, closer to the federal notice-pleading standard Rule 8.01 was modeled on.
Rule 8.02 requires a party to admit or deny each averment in short, plain terms, and it allows a party who lacks enough knowledge to form a belief about the truth of an allegation to say so, which has the effect of a denial. Rule 8.03 lists affirmative defenses — among them accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, comparative fault, and the statute of limitations — that a party must raise in a responsive pleading or risk losing the defense.
Rule 8.04 treats an allegation as denied when no responsive pleading is required or allowed, and treats an allegation as admitted when a responsive pleading is required but the allegation goes unanswered — except for a short list of situations, such as claims against a person under disability or a claim to terminate parental rights, where the allegation must still be proved regardless of whether it was denied. Rule 8.05 requires pleadings to be simple, concise, and direct, permits pleading in the alternative even when the alternatives are inconsistent, and requires a claim or defense based on a statute, ordinance, or regulation to identify it or state the facts of the violation. Rule 8.06 requires every pleading to be construed to do substantial justice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much detail does a Tennessee complaint need?
Rule 8.01 requires only a short and plain statement showing entitlement to relief. Tennessee courts have gone back and forth on how demanding that standard is, but recent Tennessee Supreme Court decisions describe it as generally undemanding, closer to federal notice pleading than to a strict fact-pleading requirement.
What happens if I do not respond to an allegation in the complaint?
Under Rule 8.04, an allegation that calls for a response is treated as admitted if it goes unanswered, with a short list of exceptions — including allegations against a person under disability and allegations seeking to terminate parental rights — that must be proved regardless of whether they were denied.
What are affirmative defenses under Rule 8.03?
Defenses a party must raise in its own responsive pleading rather than deny outright, including accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, comparative fault, and the statute of limitations, among others listed in the rule.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Commission Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 8). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 16-3-402 to 16-3-407, 16-3-601). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 2, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: notice pleadingaffirmative defensesfailure to denyshort and plain statement
Advisory Commission Comments.
8.01: Rule 8.01 provides that a pleading that sets forth a claim for relief must contain a short and plain statement of the claim and a demand for judgment for the relief sought. The rule also authorizes demands for alternative or different types of relief.
8.02: Rule 8.02 provides for the filing of the answer, which sets forth defenses to each claim asserted and which admits or denies the averments upon which the adverse party relies. If the defendant intends to controvert every averment of the complaint, the defendant may do so by a general denial, but the signature of the defendant's attorney, as required by Rule 11, is the certificate of the attorney that there is good ground to support the pleading; general denials under these circumstances should be rare.
8.03: Rule 8.03 lists affirmative defenses which must be raised in a pleading to a preceding pleading. The rule provides that the party relying upon a matter constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense must set forth the facts constituting such defenses in short and plain terms, just as under Rule 8.02 the party must set forth express denials of claims asserted by the adverse party.
8.04: Rule 8.04 adopts the general principle that averments in a pleading to which a responsive pleading is required are admitted when not denied in the responsive pleading. Four special cases involving subject matter or persons which might make the general rule oppressive are excepted from the operation of the Rule.
8.05: Rule 8.05(1) sets out the requirements for stating a claim or defense based upon a statute, ordinance or regulation. Rule 8.05(2) allows the statement of all the claims or defenses a party has, and expressly permits inconsistent pleading.