Also known as: replies · replied · replying · reply pleading
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A pleading filed by the plaintiff in response to a defendant's counterclaim or to an answer when ordered by the court.
A response to an offer that purports to accept it but conditions acceptance on the offeror's assent to additional or different terms.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A pleading filed by the plaintiff in response to a defendant's counterclaim or to an answer when ordered by the court.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A response to an offer that purports to accept it but conditions acceptance on the offeror's assent to additional or different terms.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Regina Robinson sued a supplier for breach. The supplier answered and added a counterclaim. The court then ordered Robinson to reply. She served the reply exactly twenty days after receiving the order, satisfying the deadline.
Royal Crest Hotels answered a guest's complaint and asserted a counterclaim for unpaid charges. The guest served a reply denying the counterclaim allegations within the required period, allowing the case to proceed to discovery on both claims.
Rina Rahman filed suit after an injury. The defendant answered with a statutory-employer defense. Rahman served a reply presenting additional facts on the employment relationship, framing the issue for trial.
Robert Rivera challenged termination of benefits. The agency answered and raised a procedural defense. Rivera filed a reply detailing the inadequate hearing process, sharpening the constitutional question before the court.
Riverstone Manufacturing responded to a complaint with affirmative defenses. The plaintiff served a reply contesting the court's jurisdiction over out-of-state assets, prompting further briefing on minimum contacts.
A plaintiff must serve a reply to an answer within twenty-one days after being served with a court order directing the reply, unless the order sets a different time.
Supporting sources
A plaintiff must serve a reply when the court orders one under the Federal Rules.
Supporting sources
No. A reply brief is a written argument filed after briefing. The pleading reply is the response to a counterclaim or ordered answer.
Supporting sources
Ravi Reddy offered to sell equipment for $50,000. Rowan Russell replied that he accepted but only if Reddy also included free delivery. The reply did not form a contract and instead operated as a new offer.
A reply that purports to accept an offer but conditions acceptance on new or different terms does not create a contract and instead constitutes a counteroffer.
Supporting sources
…Shoe governs jurisdiction here makes unnecessary any consideration of the existence of such contacts. Brief for Appellants 27; Reply Brief for Appellants 9. They point out that they were never personally served with a summons, that Delaware has no long-arm statute which would authorize such service, and that the Delaware…