State Court Answer - General Denial - Arizona

Filing-Control Worksheet

Court and case type

• County: [________________________________]
• Assigned judge, if known: [________________________________]
• Case type: [________________________________]
• ☐ Counsel confirmed that the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure govern this answer.
• ☐ Counsel checked the current local rules, administrative orders, clerk instructions, filing fees, and electronic-filing requirements for this county.

Response deadline under Rule 12(a)

• Summons and complaint served on: [__/__/____]
• Service or waiver route: [________________________________]
• ☐ Ordinary 20-day period after service applies.
• ☐ Timely Rule 4(f) waiver applies: ☐ 60 days ☐ 90 days.
• ☐ A Rule 12 motion or court order changed the response date.
• Calculated response date and authority: [__/__/____]; [________________________________]

Rule 12 preservation screen — complete before filing the answer

Required or conditional companion filings

• Compulsory arbitration / FASTAR:
• Plaintiff's certificate says: ☐ subject ☐ not subject ☐ none found.
• ☐ Defendant agrees; counsel checked whether the county requires an agreement certificate.
• ☐ Defendant disagrees; a Rule 72(e)(2) controverting certificate is attached.
• Third-party litigation funding:
• ☐ No arrangement within Rule 8(j) after reviewing its definitions and exclusions.
• ☐ Rule 8(j) applies; the separate approved-form certificate is being filed with this initial pleading.
• Verification:
• ☐ No rule or statute requiring verification was identified; no verification is included.
• ☐ Verification is required by [AUTHORITY], and a compliant affidavit is attached.
• Other case-specific filing: [________________________________]

Response Map

Complete one row for every allegation, subparagraph, exhibit allegation, and incorporated allegation. Do not leave a responsive allegation unanswered.

Good-faith general-denial gate under Rule 8(c)(3)

• ☐ Defendant in good faith denies every allegation, including every jurisdictional ground. Use the general-denial option below and delete the allegation-by-allegation option.
• ☐ Defendant does not deny every allegation. Delete the general-denial option and answer every allegation individually.

Defense and Counterclaim Worksheet

State only defenses supported after reasonable factual and legal inquiry. A label without supporting facts may be insufficient.

Rule 13(a) counterclaim screen

• Potential claim against an opposing party: [________________________________]
• Transaction or occurrence compared with the opposing claim: [________________________________]
• Additional-party and jurisdiction analysis: [________________________________]
• Rule 13(a)(2) exception, if any: [________________________________]
• ☐ A compulsory counterclaim exists and is pleaded below.
• ☐ No compulsory counterclaim was identified after the documented review.
• Permissive counterclaim decision: [________________________________]

[FILER NAME]
[ARIZONA BAR NUMBER, IF APPLICABLE]
[LAW FIRM AND FIRM ID, IF APPLICABLE]
[ADDRESS]
[TELEPHONE]
[EMAIL]
Attorney for Defendant [DEFENDANT NAME] / Self-Represented Defendant

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA

IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

Case No.: [CASE NUMBER]

Assigned Judge: [JUDGE, IF KNOWN]

DEFENDANT'S ANSWER [AND COUNTERCLAIM]

Defendant [DEFENDANT NAME] answers the [COMPLAINT TITLE] as follows.

1. Responses to Allegations

Option A — Allegation-by-Allegation Responses

1. In response to paragraph [____], Defendant [admits / denies] [EXACT ALLEGATION OR QUALIFICATION].

2. In response to paragraph [____], Defendant admits [TRUE PORTION] and denies [REMAINDER].

3. In response to paragraph [____], Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of [IDENTIFY ALLEGATION], and therefore the allegation is denied.

4. In response to paragraph [____], Defendant [admits / denies] [EXACT ALLEGATION OR QUALIFICATION].

Option B — Good-Faith General Denial Only

1. Defendant, in good faith, denies all allegations of the Complaint, including its jurisdictional grounds.

2. Affirmative Defenses

1. [DEFENSE NAME]. [PLEAD THE SUPPORTING FACTS IN SHORT AND PLAIN TERMS]. [CITE CURRENT AUTHORITY IF NEEDED].

2. [DEFENSE NAME]. [PLEAD THE SUPPORTING FACTS IN SHORT AND PLAIN TERMS]. [CITE CURRENT AUTHORITY IF NEEDED].

3. [DEFENSE NAME]. [PLEAD THE SUPPORTING FACTS IN SHORT AND PLAIN TERMS]. [CITE CURRENT AUTHORITY IF NEEDED].

3. Counterclaims

Counterclaim Count 1 — [CLAIM]

1. Counterclaimant [NAME] is [STATUS AND RELEVANT FACTS].

2. Counterdefendant [NAME] is [STATUS AND RELEVANT FACTS].

3. Jurisdiction and venue for this counterclaim are supported by [FACTS AND AUTHORITY].

4. [ULTIMATE FACT ALLEGATION].

5. [ULTIMATE FACT ALLEGATION].

6. Counterclaimant is entitled to [RELIEF] under [CURRENT AUTHORITY].

4. Jury-Trial Record

Arizona Rule 38(a) does not require a written demand to preserve an existing right to jury trial. Defendant states:

• ☐ Defendant contends that one or more issues are triable of right by a jury.
• ☐ Defendant does not contend that any issue is triable of right by a jury.
• ☐ A separate Rule 38(b) waiver stipulation exists or is proposed; it is not combined with this pleading.

5. Request for Relief

Defendant requests that the Court:

1. deny relief on Plaintiff's claims to the extent established by the pleadings, evidence, and law;
2. enter the relief requested on any counterclaim pleaded above;
3. award recoverable costs and attorney fees only to the extent supported by authority identified here: [________________________________]; and
4. grant any other relief the Court may lawfully award.

Signature

DATED: [__/__/____]

[LAW FIRM NAME, IF APPLICABLE]

By: ________________________________

[ATTORNEY OR SELF-REPRESENTED PARTY NAME]

[ARIZONA BAR NUMBER, IF APPLICABLE]

Attorney for Defendant [DEFENDANT NAME] / Self-Represented Defendant

Certificate of Service

I certify that on [__/__/____], a copy of this Answer and every filed attachment was served on the following counsel or self-represented party:

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL, IF APPLICABLE]

Method actually used:

• ☐ Hand delivery
• ☐ Delivery or leaving under Rule 5(c)(2)(B): [DETAILS]
• ☐ U.S. mail to the last-known address
• ☐ Other means, including email, authorized by written consent or court order: [AUTHORITY AND DETAILS]
• ☐ Approved electronic filing service provider under ACJA § 1-901: [PROVIDER / TRANSACTION DETAILS]

_______________________________

[SIGNER NAME]

Final Filing Checklist

• ☐ Every complaint allegation has a response that fairly addresses its substance.
• ☐ Option A or Option B was selected; the unused option and all drafting notes were deleted.
• ☐ Every affirmative defense has supporting facts and any needed authority.
• ☐ Rule 12(g)-(h) waiver and preservation were reviewed before the answer was filed.
• ☐ The Rule 13(a) compulsory-counterclaim screen was completed.
• ☐ Rule 72(e), Rule 8(j), verification, and county-specific companion filings were checked.
• ☐ The caption, font, spacing, margins, page numbering, sensitive-data treatment, and signature comply with current Rule 5.2 and local requirements.
• ☐ The certificate states the date and method actually used and serves counsel when a party is represented.
• ☐ All bracketed fields, unused choices, and HTML drafting comments were removed.

Sources and References

• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 5
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 5.2
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 8
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 12
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 13
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 15
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 38
• Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure — Rule 72
• Administrative Directive 2025-10 — Certificate Regarding Third-Party Litigation Funding