Responding to a Massachusetts complaint: 20 days, and 10 after a motion is decided

Massachusetts sits at the short end of both numbers that matter after being sued. Twenty days to answer is common enough; ten days after a motion is decided is not.

Twenty days

Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1):

After service upon him of any pleading requiring a responsive pleading, a party shall serve such responsive pleading within 20 days unless otherwise directed by order of the court.

The rule is written generally — it applies to any pleading requiring a response, not just a complaint, so an answer to a counterclaim or crossclaim runs on the same 20 days.

Ten days after a Rule 12 motion

Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(2): service of a motion permitted under the rule alters the period, unless the court fixes a different time:

(i) if the court denies the motion or postpones its disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive pleading shall be served within 10 days after notice of the court's action; (ii) if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, the responsive pleading shall be served within 10 days after the service of the more definite statement.

Ten days. The federal rule gives 14, Georgia 15, North Carolina 20, Ohio ties it to the ruling, and Illinois leaves it to the court. Carrying the federal number into a Massachusetts case costs four days on a deadline that already carries default exposure.

The Rule 12(b) defences

Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b) follows the federal pattern: every defence must be asserted in the responsive pleading if one is required, except that the enumerated defences may at the pleader's option be made by motion — lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, lack of jurisdiction over the person, improper venue, insufficiency of process, insufficiency of service of process, failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, failure to join a necessary party, and — a Massachusetts addition — misnomer of a party.

A motion making any of these must be made before pleading if a further pleading is permitted, and no defence or objection is waived by being joined with others.

Consolidation and waiver. Rule 12(g) requires a party making a Rule 12 motion to join all then- available motions the rule permits, and Rule 12(h) waives the personal-jurisdiction, venue, process and service defences if they are omitted from that motion or neither made by motion nor included in a responsive pleading or an amendment permitted as of course. Failure to state a claim, failure to join an indispensable party and failure to state a legal defence survive longer, as under the federal rule.

Computing the time — Rule 6

Mass. R. Civ. P. 6(a) uses the familiar structure: exclude the day of the act or event; include the last day unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which case the period runs to the end of the next day that isn't one. When the period is less than 7 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays are excluded — which matters directly to the 10-day post-motion period, since 10 is not less than 7 and weekends therefore count.

Rule 6(b) is the two-track extension rule: enlargement on request made before the period expires, with or without motion or notice; or, after expiry, on motion where the failure was the result of excusable neglect — with the usual exclusions for post-judgment motions.

Rule 6(d) sets the notice period for motions generally, and Rule 6(e) adds time after service by mail.

Default — Rule 55

Rule 55(a): when a party has failed to plead or otherwise defend as the rules provide and that fact is made to appear by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk shall enter that party's default.

Rule 55(b)(1) allows the clerk to enter judgment where the claim is for a sum certain or a sum that can by computation be made certain, on the plaintiff's request with an affidavit of the amount due, against a defendant defaulted for failure to appear who is not a minor or incompetent person.

Rule 55(b)(2) — court judgment — carries a notice requirement Massachusetts states unusually broadly:

The court shall not conduct a hearing unless the party entitled to a judgment by default has provided notice to all other parties, including the party against whom a judgment by default is sought, of the date, time, and location of the hearing. Such notice must include a statement setting forth the nature and type of all damages requested and the amount of any damages that are [ascertainable].

Two features worth separating. The notice runs to all other parties, not only to a party who has appeared — which is broader than the federal Rule 55(b)(2) trigger. And the notice must describe the damages being sought, which most default-notice provisions don't require.

No judgment by default may be entered against a minor, an incompetent person or an incapacitated person unless represented by a guardian, conservator or other representative who has appeared.

Rule 55(c): for good cause shown the court may set aside an entry of default, and if a judgment by default has been entered, may set it aside in accordance with Rule 60(b) — the same two-tier structure as the federal rule.

Amending

Mass. R. Civ. P. 15(a) gives a party one amendment as of course before a responsive pleading is served, or — if the pleading is one to which no responsive pleading is permitted and the action has not been placed on the trial calendar — within a set period after service. Otherwise a party may amend by leave of court or written consent of the adverse party, and "leave shall be freely given when justice so requires."

How Massachusetts compares

A short checklist

1. Calendar 20 days from service, excluding the day of service.
2. If you file a Rule 12 motion, calendar 10 days from notice of the ruling — not 14, and not 20.
3. Raise every Rule 12(b) ground in one motion — Rule 12(g) forfeits what you omit, and Rule 12(h) kills the four waivable defences.
4. If a default is looming, Rule 55(b)(2) entitles all parties to notice of the hearing, including a statement of the damages sought.
5. If the deadline has passed, Rule 6(b) requires excusable neglect, and Rule 55(c) routes an entered judgment to Rule 60(b).

Where these rules live

• Mass. R. Civ. P. 4 — Process
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 6 — Time
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 — Defenses and Objections
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 15 — Amended and Supplemental Pleadings
• Mass. R. Civ. P. 55 — Default

The Massachusetts courts publish self-help material at mass.gov/courts. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.