(a) 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 be sued in a representative capacity, he 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
Group 3: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended April 28, 2015 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 9 sets special pleading requirements for particular kinds of claims and issues — fraud and mistake must be pled with particularity, capacity and judgments can be pled generally, and a party relying on the law of another state or country must give notice of it.
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) Condition 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.
(h) Pleading existence of city or town. In pleading the existence of any city or town in this state, it shall be sufficient to state in such pleading that the same is an existing city or town, incorporated or organized under the laws of Washington.
(i) Pleading ordinance. In pleading any ordinance of a county, city or town in this state it shall be sufficient to state the title of such ordinance and the date of its passage, whereupon the court shall take judicial notice of the existence of such ordinance and the tenor and effect thereof.
(j) Pleading private statutes. In pleading a private statute, or a right derived therefrom, it shall be sufficient to refer to such statute by its title, and the day of its passage, and the court shall thereupon take judicial notice thereof.
(k) Foreign law.
(1) United States jurisdictions. A party who intends to raise an issue concerning the law of a state, territory, or other jurisdiction of the United States shall set forth in the party’s pleading facts which show that the law of another United States jurisdiction may be applicable, or shall state in the party’s pleading or serve other reasonable written notice that the law of another United States jurisdiction may be relied upon.
(2) Other jurisdictions. A party who intends to raise an issue concerning the law of a jurisdiction other than a state, territory or other jurisdiction of the United States shall give notice in the pleading of the foreign jurisdiction whose law the party contends may be applicable to the facts of the case. The following matters need not be pleaded, but may be discovered pursuant to rule 26:
(i) the party’s contentions as to which issues of law are governed by the foreign law;
(ii) the substance of such foreign law;
(iii) the expected effect of such foreign law on the legal issues and on the outcome of the case being tried;
(iv) the specific foreign statutes, regulations, judicial and administrative decisions, documents and other nonprivileged written materials and translations thereof upon which the party intends to rely.
(3) Application of foreign law. Issues of foreign law may be simplified pursuant to rule 16 and determined in advance of trial pursuant to rule 56.
(4) Failure to plead foreign law. If no party has requested in pleadings application of the law of a jurisdiction other than a state, territory or other jurisdiction of the United States, the court at time of trial shall apply the law of the State of Washington unless such application would result in manifest injustice.
(l) Burden of proof. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to shift or alter the burden of proof.
Amendment History
Prior: RPPP Rule 9. Adopted May 5, 1967, effective July 1, 1967; amended, adopted June 14, 1983, effective Sept. 1, 1983; amended, adopted June 5, 1985, effective Sept. 1, 1985; amended, effective April 28, 2015.
Plain-English Summary
Most of a pleading only needs to be short and plain, but a handful of subjects call for more, or less, detail. Rule 9 handles those exceptions. A party doesn't need to allege that another party has the legal capacity or authority to sue or be sued, or that an association exists at all — those are assumed unless someone specifically challenges them, and a challenge has to include the supporting particulars behind it. Fraud and mistake sit at the opposite end: the circumstances behind them must be stated with particularity, though the state of mind involved — malice, intent, knowledge — can be pled generally.
Several other shortcuts appear throughout the rule. Conditions precedent can be pled with a general averment that all of them occurred, though a denial of that has to be specific. Official documents and acts can be pled by averring compliance with law, without more. Judgments and decisions of another court or tribunal can be pled without laying out that tribunal's jurisdiction. Pleading the existence of a city, town, ordinance, or private statute takes only a brief reference — the date of passage and, for an ordinance or private statute, its title — after which the court takes judicial notice of the rest. Special damages, by contrast, must be specifically stated, and time and place are treated as material averments whenever the sufficiency of a pleading is tested.
Rule 9(k) covers foreign law. A party relying on the law of another U.S. state or territory must plead facts showing that law may apply, or otherwise give reasonable written notice of it. Relying on the law of a foreign country calls for notice of the jurisdiction involved, though the party doesn't have to plead the substance of that law, its expected effect, or the specific materials it will rely on — those can instead be developed through discovery under Rule 26. Foreign law issues can be simplified under Rule 16 and decided in advance of trial under Rule 56. If nobody pleads that foreign law governs, the court applies Washington law at trial unless doing so would work a manifest injustice. None of this shifts or alters which party carries the burden of proof.
Frequently Asked Questions
How specifically must fraud be pled?
The circumstances constituting the fraud or mistake must be stated with particularity. The state of mind behind it — malice, intent, knowledge — may be averred generally.
Do I have to plead that a corporation or association legally exists?
No. It is not necessary to aver a party's capacity to sue or be sued, or the legal existence of an organized association. A party challenging capacity or existence must raise it by specific negative averment with supporting particulars.
How do I plead that another state's law applies?
Set forth facts in the pleading showing that jurisdiction's law may apply, or otherwise give reasonable written notice that it may be relied upon.
How do I plead that a foreign country's law applies?
Give notice in the pleading of the foreign jurisdiction whose law you contend may apply. You do not need to plead the substance of that law, its expected effect, or the specific materials supporting it — those can be developed through discovery.
What happens if nobody pleads that foreign law governs?
The court applies Washington law at trial, unless doing so would result in manifest injustice.
How do I plead special damages?
Items of special damage must be specifically stated in the pleading, unlike ordinary averments, which need only be short and plain.
Do I need to plead the jurisdiction of a court that entered a judgment?
No. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, tribunal, board, or officer, it is enough to aver the judgment or decision without showing that jurisdiction to render it existed.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Washington Superior Court Civil Rules, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Washington. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: pleading fraud with particularity Washingtonnotice of foreign law Washington civil rulesspecial damages pleading requirementscapacity to sue Washington CR 9pleading conditions precedentpleading another state's law applies