Responding to a civil lawsuit

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. 

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:

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 - printable packet with instructions and a form that you can fill out by hand or an online interview to help you fill out the form

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

self-help form kits

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 for District Court discuss counterclaims. 

Washington LawHelp's If Someone Sues You in Small Claims Court has a section about counterclaims.

Free eBook about representing yourself in court

 
Represent Yourself in Court book cover

How to find the eBook about representing yourself in court

Pages 74-80 pertain to responding to a lawsuit

Log in to Nolo

Additional resources

Washington LawHelp has: