Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Re: demurrer to demurrer

CAVEAT: outside of Pennsylvania state court, the following information is entirely useless because our state has deveoped some unique practices over the years, with ancient historical roots.

You've been reading the Rules of Civil Procedure, which is why you're confused. They are quite confusing. I'll try to clear it up.

When a complaint is filed, the defendant has a choice: either answer the complaint (a responsive pleading) or file preliminary objections (sometimes called a dilatory pleading).

An Answer usually says, in effect, "Defendant admits his name and denies everything else you say. Try to prove it. Let's get ready to rumble."

Preliminary Objections say, "Judge, throw this Complaint out right away, we don't need a trial." (in federal court, the equivalent filing is a Motion to Dismiss).

There are several types of preliminary objections. E.g, bad service of process, no jurisdiction over the defendant or the claim, etc.

One of these is sometimes called a "demurrer." This type of P.O. "demurs" to the Complaint. It says, in effect, "Judge, even if EVERYTHING stated in the Complaint is true, Plaintiff still doesn't have any legal claim against me. So throw out the lawsuit now."

The Plaintiff can file an Answer to the Preliminary Objections, but also sometimes files P.O.'s to the P.O., typically raising a technical defect.

Hope this helps.