General information
When you are served with a lawsuit, your answer or response is your written response to the complaint or petition that you received. This is your opportunity to admit or deny each allegation made, and raise any defenses you have. If you ignore the summons and do not respond to the lawsuit, the person who started the lawsuit can win and get a default judgment against you.
Superior Court Civil Court Rules CR 8 and CR 12 and District Court Civil Court Rules CRLJ 8 and CRLJ 12 specify the time period for serving an answer and talk about defenses including affirmative defenses.
Some defenses are waived if they are not made in a timely manner.
Affirmative defenses need to be proven by the person who is claiming them. A successful affirmative defense can mean that the defendant has no liability, even if all of the allegations in the complaint are true.
- Respond to a court case from Washington LawHelp
- How to Respond to a Lawsuit video from CountyOffice.org
- Understanding Motion to Dismiss in Civil Litigation from Law Office of Erin Bradley McAleer
- What are Affirmative Defenses in Civil Cases video from CountyOffice.org
Forms and instructions
Washington LawHelp has guides with instructions to help you respond to a debt collection lawsuit. The material may be customized to use in many other types of cases. There is also an interactive interview to help you fill out the forms:
If you are served with a lawsuit, Washington LawHelp has a Notice of Appearance that you can use to say that you want to defend yourself and get notice of anything else that happens in the case:
- File a Notice of Appearance - instructions and a form that you can fill out by hand or an online interview to help you fill out the form before printing
More information about responding to default is on the default judgment page. More information and forms about responding to a lawsuit are available at the Law Library.
Self-help kit from the law library
The law library sells a Respond to a Civil Lawsuit in Superior Court kit with forms and instructions to respond to a civil lawsuit in Superior Court filed against a person. It includes affirmative defenses and counterclaims, but does not include cross claims. Kits can be purchased at the library or online and mailed out.
Counterclaims
Counterclaims can be included when responding to a lawsuit. These are claims by the defendant against the plaintiff. In addition to responding to the plaintiff's lawsuit, the defendant may also raise these counterclaims. This is basically suing the plaintiff, and will require a filing fee.
Civil Court Rule CR 13 for Superior Court and CRLJ 13 for District Court discuss counterclaims
Washington LawHelp's Getting sued in Small Claims Court has a section about counterclaims
Free eBook about representing yourself in court
How to find the eBook about representing yourself in court
Pages 74-80 pertain to responding to a lawsuit
Additional resources
Washington LawHelp has:
- Tips for trying to resolve your dispute and what to do if you need to appear Getting sued in Small Claims Court
- Information about responding to a Washington court case when you live out of state and were served with a complaint or petition filed in Washington State courts