Form Of Pleadings

(a) Caption; Names of Parties. Every pleading must have a caption with the court's name and the county in which the action is brought, a title that names the parties, and a Rule 7(a) designation. The title of the complaint must name all the parties; the title of other pleadings may name the first party on each side and refer generally to other parties. If the State of North Dakota is a real party in interest in an action and was not named as a party in the original title, a party filing a pleading in the action must name the State in the title until the State files a notice in the action that it is no longer a real party in interest. (b) Paragraphs; Separate Statements. A party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances. A later pleading may refer by number to a paragraph in an earlier pleading. If doing so would promote clarity, each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence—and each defense other than a denial—must be stated in a separate count or defense. (c) Adoption by Reference. A statement in a pleading may be adopted by reference elsewhere in the same pleading or in any other pleading or motion. A document filed in conjunction with a pleading is a part of the pleading for all purposes.