Neb. Sup. Ct. R. 6-1109

As amended through November 11, 2024

Section 6-1109 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Pleading special matters

(a) Capacity or authority to sue; legal existence.

(1) In General. Except when required to show that the court has jurisdiction, a pleading need not allege:

(A) a party's capacity to sue or be sued;

(B) a party's authority to sue or be sued in a representative capacity; or

(C) the legal existence of an organized association of persons that is made a party.

(2) Raising Those Issues. To raise any of those issues, a party must do so by a specific denial, which must state any supporting facts that are peculiarly within the party's knowledge.

(b) Fraud or Mistake; Conditions of Mind. In alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting the fraud or mistake. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person's mind may be alleged generally.

(c) Conditions Precedent. In pleading conditions precedent, it suffices to allege generally that all conditions precedent have occurred or been performed. But when denying that a condition precedent has occurred or been performed, a party must do so with particularity.

(d) Official Document or Act. In pleading an official document or official act, it suffices to allege that the document was legally issued or the act legally done.

(e) Judgment. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, a judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or a board or officer, it suffices to plead the judgment or decision without showing jurisdiction to render it.

(f) Time and Place. An allegation of time or place is material when testing the sufficiency of a pleading.

Neb. Sup. Ct. R. 6-1109

§ 6-1109(h) and (i) adopted September 3, 2008; Comment amended September 3, 2008; amended November 13, 2024, effective 1/1/2025.

COMMENTS TO § 6-1109

[1] In addition to making stylistic changes to the rule, the 2024 Amendments deleted three matters: undue influence, special damages, and limited representation.

[2] First, the 2024 Amendments deleted undue influence from the list of matters that subpart (b) requires a party to plead with particularity. The requirement of pleading with particularity is not aimed at factual details in general. It is instead aimed at specific pieces of information. For example, pleading the circumstances of fraud "with particularity means the who, what, when, where, and how: the first paragraph of any newspaper story." Chaney v. Evnen, 307 Neb. 512, 525 (2022).

[3] While the circumstances of fraud may involve specific pieces of information, the circumstances of undue influence do not. They involve a bundle of facts that, taken together, support an inference of undue influence. The contents of that bundle will vary from case to case. Therefore, undue influence does not belong in subpart (b). It should be noted, however, that a party pleading undue influence must still plead the bundle of facts that support the inference of undue influence rather than simply plead the conclusion that undue influence was present.

[4] Second, the 2024 Amendments deleted subpart (g). That subpart required a party to state special damages with specificity. The requirement is now included in § 6-1108(a)(3)(B).

[5] Third, the 2024 Amendments deleted subparts (h)-(i). Those subparts reproduced the text of § 3-501.2(d)-(e) of the Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct as a way of reminding lawyers about limited appearances. Section 6-1111 is a better place for such a reminder. Therefore, the subparts on limited representation were deleted and a cross-reference to § 3-501.2 was added in § 6-1111(b).