If you’ve been served with an Iowa EDMS lawsuit, you’ll have to respond within 21 days with what’s called an Answer. This document will contain your defense to the plaintiff’s allegations—but there are limitations on what these defenses can be and when you can raise them. In this article, we examine the concept of affirmative defenses in Iowa courts EDMS, how they’re raised, and when you should or shouldn’t include them in your answer.
Lack of Personal Jurisdiction
In order to establish personal jurisdiction, the court must find that the defendant’s conduct and contact with the forum state are such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there. If a defendant’s contacts were limited and sporadic, for example, it would be difficult for a court to conclude that they should have anticipated being subject to personal jurisdiction in the forum state. This issue is typically raised by defendants when they argue that they lacked sufficient notice of suit.
Improper Venue
In the state of Iowa, a defendant has the right to defend against a lawsuit even if they don’t live in the county where the suit was filed. However, if they believe that they were improperly sued in a county where they don’t live or work, then they can raise an affirmative defense called Improper Venue. For example, if someone sues you for dropping their phone and it was dropped outside of the county you live or work in, then you could file an answer claiming improper venue.
Failure to State a Claim
The failure to state a claim defense is one of the most common affirmative defenses. This defense means that the plaintiff did not provide enough information for you to understand what they are claiming.
If you have been served with a summons and complaint, you should speak with an attorney about your case as soon as possible. If you do not respond within 20 days, the court may enter a default judgment against you.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is a time limit set by law that dictates how long you have to file a lawsuit. In many cases, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the incident or violation. However, there are exceptions, such as if you were a minor when the incident occurred or if you were incarcerated at the time of the offense. The statutes of limitation for these two exceptions vary depending on your age and circumstances at the time of injury.
Laches
In a laches defense, the defendant admits that they have done something wrong but argues that the plaintiff should not be able to sue them because they waited too long to do so. In other words, they argue that the plaintiff is being unreasonable. The courts will generally find it unreasonable for a person to wait until harm has been done and then try to recover damages without doing anything about it before.
Conclusion
Affirmative defenses are a way to protect yourself from the plaintiff’s accusations. If you have an affirmative defense, you must include it in your answer as soon as possible, or else you will lose the opportunity to raise it at trial.
