Also known as: more definite statements · motion for a more definite statement · Rule 12(e) motion · motion for definite statement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A procedural device available to a party who receives a pleading to which a response is required but that is so vague or ambiguous that a meaningful response cannot reasonably be prepared. The motion must identify the defects and the details sought and must be filed before any responsive pleading. If the court orders a more definite statement and the order is not obeyed within 14 days after notice of the order or within the time the court sets, the court may strike the pleading or issue any other appropriate order.
Northern Move sued Noon Dispatch for repeated delivery failures but listed no specific shipments, dates, or customers. Noon Dispatch could not admit or deny the claims in any meaningful way. It therefore moved for a more definite statement before answering, pointing out the missing details needed to frame a response.
Malcolm McKinley sued his former employer alleging discriminatory termination but supplied no facts about comparators or the decision-makers involved. The employer moved for a more definite statement, arguing it could not prepare an answer without knowing which conduct supported the claim. The motion preserved the employer's ability to respond once the pleading was clarified.
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Mosaic Retail sued Millennium Media alleging an agreement to restrain trade but stated only parallel pricing without facts showing an actual conspiracy. Millennium Media moved for a more definite statement, contending the complaint left it unable to identify which communications or meetings it must admit or deny. The motion forced the plaintiff to supply the factual detail needed for a response.
Michelle Murphy sued her union alleging failure to process grievances but gave no dates, grievance numbers, or descriptions of the underlying disputes. The union moved for a more definite statement before answering, explaining that the complaint prevented it from determining which grievances were at issue. The motion ensured the union could prepare a targeted response once the facts were supplied.
The motion must be made before filing a responsive pleading. It is unavailable once an answer has been served.
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The court may strike the pleading or issue any other appropriate order. The fourteen-day period for compliance begins after notice of the order.
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Yes. Service of the motion starts a twenty-one-day period during which the plaintiff may amend once as a matter of course, measured from the earlier of the motion or a responsive pleading.
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A motion for a more definite statement addresses vagueness that prevents any response at all. A motion to dismiss tests legal sufficiency assuming the facts alleged are true.
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Yes. When allegations from distinct transactions are lumped together without numbered paragraphs or separate counts, the court may order a more definite statement to promote clarity.
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…69 F.2d 326, 329 (8th Cir. 1934)). The Leimer court viewed the Federal Rules — specifically Rules 8(a)(2), 12(b)(6), 12(e) (motion for a more definite statement), and 56 (motion for summary judgment) — as reinforcing the notion that “there is no justification for dismissing a complaint for insufficiency of statement, except where it appears to a…