Responding to a Utah complaint: 21 days in state, 30 days out of state

Utah tracks the federal timetable at 21 days, with one addition worth knowing: where you were standing when you were served changes the deadline. Serve a defendant inside Utah and the period is 21 days. Serve the same defendant across the state line and it is 30.

The deadline

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

Unless otherwise provided by statute or order of the court, a defendant must file and serve an answer within 21 days after the service of the summons and complaint within the state and within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint outside the state. A party served with a cross-claim must file and serve an answer to the crossclaim within 21 days after service. The plaintiff must file and serve an answer to a counterclaim within 21 days after service of the counterclaim, unless the court orders otherwise. The service of a motion under this rule alters these periods of time as follows, unless a different time is ordered by the court, but a motion directed to fewer than all of the claims in a pleading does not affect the time for responding to the remaining claims: (A) If the court denies the motion or postpones its disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive pleading must be served within 14 days after notice of the court's action; (B) If the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, the responsive pleading must be served within 14 days after the service of the more definite statement.

Four things.

Twenty-one or thirty, depending on where you were served. Not where you live, and not where the case is — where service happened.

The obligation is to file and serve, both. Utah says so expressly, which removes an ambiguity that trips people up in the states that require only one.

Fourteen days after a denied motion, running from notice of the court's action.

And the partial-motion rule is the one to plan around. A motion aimed at fewer than all the claims does not suspend your deadline on the claims it did not challenge. Most states leave this unsaid and courts have divided over it; Utah answers it in the rule, and the answer is the demanding one. If you move to dismiss two of five causes of action, you still owe an answer to the other three on the original schedule.

That last point is worth restating because it is expensive to learn the hard way: a partial motion buys you partial time.

Default

Utah R. Civ. P. 55(a):

When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules and that fact is made to appear the clerk shall enter the default of that party.

Clerical entry, no notice required. Note that Utah says only "made to appear" — not "by affidavit or otherwise" as the federal rule and most states do.

Rule 55(b)(1) — the clerk's judgment, available only on a narrow set of conditions:

When the plaintiff's claim against a defendant is for a sum certain, upon request of the plaintiff the clerk shall enter judgment for the amount claimed and costs against the defendant if: (A) the default of the defendant is for failure to appear; (B) the defendant is not an infant or incompetent person; (C) the defendant has been personally served pursuant to Rule 4(d)(1); and (D) the plaintiff, through a verified complaint, an affidavit, or an unsworn declaration as described in Title 78B, Chapter 18a, Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act, submitted in support of the default judgment, sets forth facts necessary to establish the amount of the claim, after deducting all credits to which the defendant is entitled, and verifies the amount is warranted by information in the plaintiff's possession.

Four conditions, and (C) and (D) are the ones to check if a clerk's judgment has been entered against you. Personal service under Rule 4(d)(1) is required — a judgment entered by the clerk after service by mail or publication is outside the rule. And the plaintiff must have deducted all credits to which you are entitled, and verified the figure. A sworn amount that ignores your payments does not satisfy (D).

Everything else goes to the court under Rule 55(b)(2).

One more protection, in Rule 55(e):

No judgment by default shall be entered against the state of Utah or against an officer or agency thereof unless the claimant establishes his claim or right to relief by evidence satisfactory to the court.

Answering, or moving

Rule 12 carries the pre-answer defences on the federal model, and Rule 12(b)(6) converts to summary judgment where outside matter is presented and not excluded.

Two Utah-specific points for the choice.

The partial-motion rule cuts against splitting your response. If you plan to move against some claims and answer the rest, you are on two clocks at once and only one of them stops.

And Rule 55(c) routes relief through Rule 60(b) once judgment has entered, while an entry of default alone may be set aside "for good cause shown." The gap between those standards is the reason to move early.

How Utah compares

A short checklist

1. Ask where you were served. Inside Utah is 21 days; outside Utah is 30.
2. File and serve. Utah requires both, not one or the other.
3. If you are moving against only some claims, answer the others on time. A partial motion does not suspend the deadline for the claims it leaves alone.
4. A denied motion gives you 14 days from notice of the court's action.
5. Watch for conversion if outside evidence is presented on a failure-to-state-a-claim motion.
6. If a clerk entered judgment against you, check Rule 55(b)(1). It requires personal service under Rule 4(d)(1) and a verified amount with all credits deducted.
7. Move before judgment if you can. Good cause sets aside an entry of default; Rule 60(b) governs afterward, and it is narrower.

Where these rules live

• Utah R. Civ. P. 4 — Process
• Utah R. Civ. P. 5 — Service and filing of pleadings and other documents
• Utah R. Civ. P. 6 — Time
• Utah R. Civ. P. 8 — General rules of pleadings
• Utah R. Civ. P. 12 — Defenses and objections
• Utah R. Civ. P. 15 — Amended and supplemental pleadings
• Utah R. Civ. P. 55 — Default
• Utah R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from judgment or order

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the good-cause standard for setting aside an entry of default is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.