Responding to a West Virginia complaint: 30 days, and your answer needs a cover sheet

West Virginia gives a defendant 30 days, a comfortable period. It also attaches a filing requirement to the answer itself that no other state on this site imposes: a civil case information statement has to go with it.

That is an easy thing to miss and an easy thing to fix, provided you know about it before you file.

The deadline

W. Va. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1):

Unless another time is specified by this rule or a statute, the time for serving a responsive pleading is as follows: (A) A defendant shall serve an answer within 30 days after being served with the summons and complaint. Every answer shall be accompanied by a completed civil case information statement in the form prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals as required by Rule 3(b). (B) A party shall serve an answer to a counterclaim or crossclaim within 30 days after being served with the pleading that states the counterclaim or crossclaim. (C) A party shall serve a reply to an answer or third-party answer within 30 days after being served with an order to reply, unless the order specifies a different time.

Three things.

Thirty days throughout, and the obligation is to serve.

Every answer needs the case information statement. The requirement sits inside the deadline provision rather than in a separate administrative rule, which tells you how seriously it is meant. The form is prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals under Rule 3(b); get the current version from the court rather than recycling an old one.

And note that a reply covers a third-party answer too — the rule says "an answer or third-party answer," which several states leave ambiguous.

After a motion, Rule 12(a)(2):

Unless the court sets a different time, serving a motion under this rule alters these periods as follows: (A) if the court denies the motion or postpones its disposition until the trial, the responsive pleading shall be served within 14 days after notice of the court's action or (B) if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, the responsive pleading shall be served within 14 days after the service of the more definite statement.

Default

W. Va. R. Civ. P. 55(a):

When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend, and that failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk shall enter the party's default.

Clerical entry on an affidavit or other showing, with no notice required beforehand.

Rule 55(b)(1) — the clerk's judgment:

If the plaintiff's claim is for a sum certain or for a sum that can be made certain by computation, the clerk—on the plaintiff's request, with an affidavit showing the amount due— shall enter judgment for that amount and costs against a defendant who has been defaulted for appearing [sic] and who is neither a minor nor an incompetent person.

The bracketed note is deliberate. West Virginia's restyled rule reads "defaulted for appearing," where every comparable rule in the country reads "defaulted for not appearing." The text is reproduced here as the rule has it; the sense plainly intended is the federal one — the clerical shortcut is for defendants who never showed up.

Rule 55(b)(2) — everything else:

In all other cases, the party shall apply to the court for a default judgment. … If the party against whom a default judgment is sought has appeared personally or by a representative, that party or its representative shall be served with written notice of the application at least 7 days before the hearing.

Seven days, matching the federal period, and turning on whether you appeared. The subdivision also protects minors and incompetent persons, requiring representation by a general guardian, conservator or other like fiduciary who has appeared.

The court may conduct hearings or make referrals — preserving any right to a jury trial — where it needs to conduct an accounting, determine damages, establish the truth of an allegation by evidence, or investigate any other matter.

Answering, or moving

Rule 12(b) carries the pre-answer defences on the restyled model: lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, insufficient service of process, failure to state a claim, and failure to join a party. Serving one suspends the answer obligation under Rule 12(a)(2).

Two points for the choice.

Consolidation and waiver track the federal structure. An available defence omitted from your first motion is generally gone, except for those the rule preserves.

And conversion applies where outside material is presented on a failure-to-state-a-claim motion and the court does not exclude it — the motion becomes one for summary judgment under Rule 56.

Note that a motion is not an answer, so the case information statement requirement attaches when you eventually file the answer, not when you file the motion.

How West Virginia compares

A short checklist

1. Calendar 30 days from service, and note the obligation is to serve your answer.
2. Get the civil case information statement. Every answer must be accompanied by a completed one, in the form the Supreme Court of Appeals prescribes — use the current version.
3. A Rule 12 motion suspends the answer deadline, and a denial leaves 14 days from notice.
4. Raise your Rule 12 defences together. An available defence omitted from the first motion is generally foreclosed.
5. Watch for conversion if outside evidence is presented on a failure-to-state-a-claim motion.
6. Appear. Seven days' written notice before a court's default judgment depends on it; there is no notice before entry of default and none before a clerk's judgment.
7. If a clerk entered judgment, check the affidavit and confirm the claim really was a sum certain or one made certain by computation.
8. Move before judgment if you can — the standard tightens once Rule 60(b) applies.

Where these rules live

• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 3 — Commencing an action
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 4 — Summons
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 5 — Serving and filing pleadings and other documents
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 6 — Computing and extending time
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 8 — General rules of pleading
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 12 — Defenses and objections
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 15 — Amended and supplemental pleadings
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 55 — Default
• W. Va. R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from judgment or order

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the content and current form of the civil case information statement are prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals rather than by the rules reproduced here.