9.01 Capacity. It is not necessary to aver the capacity of a party to sue or be sued or the authority 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 to be sued in a representative capacity, he or she 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
Last verified July 2, 2026
In one sentenceRule 9 sets special pleading standards for particular kinds of allegations — capacity to sue or be sued need not be pleaded at all, fraud and mistake must be stated with particularity, and conditions precedent, official documents, and judgments may be pleaded generally — while requiring items of special damage to be specifically stated.
Full Text of Rule 9
9.02 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.
9.03 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.
9.04 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.
9.05 Judgment. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or of a board of officers, it is sufficient to aver the judgment or decision without setting forth matters showing jurisdiction to render it.
9.06 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.
9.07 Special Damage. When items of special damage are claimed, they shall be specifically stated.
Advisory Commission Comments
Plain-English Summary
Rule 9.01 relieves a pleader of any need to allege that a party has the capacity to sue or be sued, has authority to sue in a representative capacity, or that an association named as a party legally exists. A party who wants to contest capacity must raise the issue by a specific negative averment that includes whatever supporting detail is peculiarly within that party’s own knowledge — otherwise the defense is generally treated as waived.
Rule 9.02 requires the opposite approach for fraud and mistake: the circumstances making up the fraud or mistake must be stated with particularity, though a person’s state of mind — malice, intent, knowledge — may still be alleged generally. The particularity requirement is meant to protect a party against loosely made charges of dishonesty, not to demand an exhaustive factual recitation.
Rules 9.03 through 9.06 relax the pleading burden for several other categories: a party may generally aver that all conditions precedent to a claim have occurred, though a denial of that averment must be specific and particular; an official document or act may be pleaded by averring only that it was issued or done in compliance with law; a judgment or decision of a court, tribunal, or board may be pleaded without setting out the facts that establish jurisdiction to render it; and averments of time and place, for purposes of testing a pleading’s sufficiency, are treated like any other averment of material matter. Rule 9.07 requires items of special damage to be specifically stated rather than left to inference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to prove the other party has legal capacity to be sued?
No. Rule 9.01 does not require capacity to be pleaded at all. A party who wants to contest another party’s capacity to sue or be sued must raise it by a specific negative averment.
How specific do I have to be when alleging fraud?
Rule 9.02 requires the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake to be pleaded with particularity, though a person’s state of mind — malice, intent, or knowledge — may still be alleged generally.
Do I need to prove jurisdiction when pleading a prior judgment?
No. Rule 9.05 lets a party plead a judgment or decision of a court, tribunal, or board by averring the judgment or decision, without setting out facts that show the rendering body had jurisdiction.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Commission Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 9). 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: pleading fraud with particularitycapacity to suespecial damagesconditions precedent
Advisory Commission Comments.
Rule 9 sets forth rules governing the pleading of several specific matters about which questions might arise. The Rule is not intended to create exceptions to the principles set out in Rule 8, but is rather an exemplification of those principles in specific situations. The requirement in Rule 9.02 -- in averments of fraud or mistake the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake must be set forth with particularity -- is not intended to require lengthy recital of detail. Rather, the Rule means only that general allegations of fraud and mistake are insufficient; the pleader is required to particularize, but by the "short and plain" statement required by Rule 8.01.