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Rule 9 – Pleading Special Matters

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Mississippi

(a) Capacity. The capacity in which one sues or is sued must be stated in one’s initial pleading.
(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 conditions 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: Ordinance or Special Statute. In pleading an official document or official act it is sufficient to aver that the document was issued or the act was done in compliance with the law. In pleading an ordinance of a municipality or a county, or a special, local, or private statute or any right derived therefrom, it is sufficient to identify specifically the ordinance or statute by its title or by the date of its approval, or otherwise.
(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) Fictitious Parties. When a party is ignorant of the name of an opposing party and so alleges in his pleading, the opposing party may be designated by any name, and when his true name is discovered the process and all pleadings and proceedings in the action may beamended by substituting the true name and giving proper notice to the opposing party.
(i) Unknown Parties in Interest. In an action where unknown proper parties are interested in the subject matter of the action, they may be designated as unknown parties in interest.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 9

Advisory Committee Notes

A party desiring to raise an issue as to the legal existence, capacity, or authority of a party must assert such in the answer. If lack of capacity appears affirmatively on the face of the complaint, the defense may be raised by a motion pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) or Rule 12(c).

“Circumstances” in Rule 9(b) refers to matters such as the time, place and contents of the false representations, in addition to the identity of the person who made them and what the person obtained as a result.

Rule 9(g) requires a detailed pleading of special damages and only a general pleading of general damages. General damages are damages that are typically caused by, and flow naturally from, the injuries alleged. Special damages are damages that are unusual or atypical for the type of claim asserted. Special damages are required to be pled with specificity so as to give the defendant notice of the nature of the alleged damages. Special damages include, but are not limited to, consequential damages, damages for lost business profit, and punitive damages. See Puckett Machinery Co. v. Edwards, 641 So. 2d 29, 37-38 (Miss. 1994) (consequential damages must be plead with specificity); Lynn v. Soterra, Inc., 802 So. 2d 162, 169 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001) (damages for lost business profit caused by defendant’s blocking of a road are likely special damages). If claimant fails to plead special damages with specificity, an award for such damages may be reversed. The requirement that special damages must be stated with specificity will be waived if special damages are tried by the express or implied consent of the parties pursuant to Rule 15(b).

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