This blog post will outline the issues involved for a plaintiff filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings in California.
California Code of Civil Procedure § 438 states in pertinent part that, “A party may move for judgment on the pleadings on the following grounds, if the moving party is a plaintiff, that the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause or causes of action against the defendant and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint.”
A motion for judgment on the pleadings has the same function as a general demurrer but can be made after the time for demurrer has expired. Except as provided by statute, the rules governing demurrers apply. Note that a motion for judgment on the pleadings may not be made on the grounds of uncertainty or any other ground for special demurrer.
Thus, the rules for pleading that are so commonly used in demurrers to complaints are also applicable to motions for judgment on the pleadings directed to a complaint as well as demurrers to answers. Significantly, a pleading must allege facts and not mere conclusions.
In FPI Development, Inc vs. A1 Nakashima, (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 367, 384, the court held that the affirmative defenses pled in an answer to a complaint must be pled in the same fashion, and with the same specificity, as a cause of action in a complaint.
Therefore if the answer consists, as most do, of “boilerplate” affirmative defenses, then filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings is the correct procedure, if the time to file a demurrer to the answer has expired. Note that the time period for filing a demurrer to an answer is just ten (10) calendar days following service of the answer.
Note that California Code of Civil Procedure § 438(e) states that, ” No motion may be made pursuant to this section if a pretrial conference order has been entered pursuant to Section 575, or within 30 days of the date the action is initially set for trial, whichever is later, unless the court otherwise permits.”
Despite the language in California Code of Civil Procedure § 438 regarding time limits, even though said statute was enacted in 1994, many California Courts have ruled that a motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made at any time prior to the trial, or at the trial itself.
A motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made at any time either prior to the trial or at the trial itself.” Stoops v. Abbassi 100 Cal. App. 4th 644, 650 (2002), see also Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota) N.A. (1995) 11 Cal.4th 138, 145, fn. 2—”common law motion for judgment on the pleadings” upheld despite fact CCP § 438 had been enacted during course of proceedings.
A very persuasive legal argument can be made to support the conclusion that a motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made at any time as the law is clear that the grounds for a general demurrer are never waived. See California Code of Civil Procedure § 430.80. However, in the author’s experience some judges do adhere to a strict interpretation and will deny a motion for judgment on the pleadings that is not filed within the time limits specified in California Code of Civil Procedure § 438(e).
Attorneys or parties in California who would like to view a portion of a sample motion for judgment on the pleadings to be used by a plaintiff can see below a sample motion complete with a memorandum of points and authorities with full citations to case and statutory authority that is sold by the author.
The author of this article, Stan Burman, is a freelance paralegal with over 15 years of experience in civil litigation in California Courts. Mr. Burman may be contacted by e-mail at DivParalgl@yahoo.com for more information.
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