A motion to strike in Missouri is the request a party files under Rule of Civil Procedure 55.27(e) to have the court remove an insufficient defense, or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous material, from an opposing party’s pleading.1vLex United States. Missouri Rule 55.27 – Defenses and Objections Judges grant the motion sparingly, and the timing rules are strict, so knowing what qualifies and when to file matters as much as the argument itself.
What Rule 55.27(e) Lets the Court Remove
The rule reaches two kinds of content. The first is objectionable material in any pleading, described by four terms that each carry their own meaning:
- Redundant material repeats what the pleading already says elsewhere without adding anything.
- Immaterial content has no bearing on the legal dispute. Allegations about a party’s unrelated business ventures in a breach of contract case are the classic example.
- Impertinent allegations may relate to the parties in some loose way but do not touch the claims or defenses actually at issue.
- Scandalous matter is included to damage a party’s reputation rather than advance a legal argument. Personal attacks and inflammatory accusations that serve no purpose in the case fall here.
The second target is an insufficient affirmative defense. If a defendant pleads a defense Missouri law does not recognize, or states one so vaguely it amounts to nothing, the plaintiff can move to strike it instead of litigating around it.
The court can also strike material on its own initiative at any time. In practice it rarely does, and usually only when a filing contains something no reasonable party would defend.
When to File
Rule 55.27(e) runs on two tracks, and which one applies depends on whether the pleading you are attacking requires a response.
If it does, the motion must be filed before you file that response. A defendant challenging language in the plaintiff’s petition, for instance, has to file the motion to strike before filing an answer. Filing a Rule 55.27 motion pauses the clock on the responsive pleading. If the court denies the motion, you have ten days after notice of the ruling to file your answer, or whatever time was left on the original deadline, whichever is longer.2vLex. Missouri Rule of Civil Procedure 55.25 – Time of Pleading
If the pleading does not call for a response, you have 30 days after it is served on you to file the motion. This is the typical posture when a plaintiff wants to strike content from a defendant’s answer, since Missouri does not ordinarily require a reply to an answer.1vLex United States. Missouri Rule 55.27 – Defenses and Objections
Miss the deadline and the court will usually refuse to hear the motion. There is some flexibility if objectionable material surfaces later through amended pleadings, but only if you act promptly once the problem becomes apparent.
How to File the Motion
The motion has to be in writing. Rule 43.01 requires written motions for anything filed outside of a hearing or trial. Draft it to identify the specific language you want removed, point to where it appears in the opposing party’s pleading, and explain why it fits one of the categories in Rule 55.27(e). A request to strike “all improper material” gets nowhere. Judges want the exact words on the page.
Keep the supporting argument focused. If the material is immaterial, explain why it has no logical connection to the claims. If an affirmative defense is insufficient, identify why Missouri law does not support it. Exhibits are allowed if they help, but most motions to strike rely on the face of the pleading itself.
Attorneys file through the Missouri eFiling System under Supreme Court Rule 103.3Jefferson County, MO. Local Court Rules and Filing Information Self-represented litigants may file in person or by mail. Serve a copy on every opposing party after filing. Rule 43.01(c) permits service by personal delivery, mail, fax, or email.
An unopposed motion may be decided on the papers. Contested motions usually draw oral argument, though local practice varies. Some judges set hearings automatically; others wait for a request. Written motions and hearing notices must be filed and served at least five days before the hearing under Rule 44.01(d).
How Judges Decide
Missouri courts treat motions to strike as disfavored. The reason is straightforward: courts prefer deciding cases on the merits rather than trimming pleadings on technicalities. Judges have called it an extreme and disfavored measure, and the reluctance runs through both state courts and federal courts sitting in Missouri.
Several things push a judge one way or the other. If the challenged material could become relevant as discovery develops, striking it early is unlikely. A defense that looks weak on paper might harden once the facts come out, and courts are wary of cutting that off. On the other side, material that is clearly prejudicial and disconnected from the dispute — inflammatory personal attacks, defamatory accusations with no factual basis, or defenses Missouri law flatly does not recognize — is the kind of content courts will remove.
Practical impact matters too. If leaving the content in would force the other side into expensive, irrelevant discovery or would confuse a jury, that pushes toward striking. If the material is just imprecise or poorly drafted, courts tend to allow amendment instead.
If Someone Files One Against You
The response has to show that the challenged material belongs. Arguing that motions to strike are disfavored is not enough on its own; every judge already knows. Connect the material directly to the claims or defenses in the case. If the motion targets allegations as immaterial, tie those facts to an element of a claim or to a legitimate litigation strategy. If it targets an affirmative defense, cite the Missouri statute or case law that recognizes it. Specificity gives a judge who is already inclined to deny the motion a concrete reason to do so.
File and serve the response through the same channels as the original motion. If the court sets a hearing, be ready to argue the point and to bring additional authorities that support keeping the language in.
Amending Instead of Fighting
Sometimes the better move is to amend rather than defend the language. Rule 55.33(a) allows a party to amend a pleading once as a matter of course before a responsive pleading is served. After that point, you need either written consent from the other side or leave of court, which “shall be freely given when justice so requires.”4Missouri Courts. Missouri Rule of Civil Procedure 55.33 – Amended and Supplemental Pleadings
Courts weigh three factors when deciding whether to allow the amendment: the hardship to you if leave is denied, the reason you did not include the corrected material originally, and any prejudice the amendment would cause the other side.5Missouri Courts. Klenc v. John Beal Incorporated – Order If the motion identifies a real problem with how a defense or allegation was phrased, offering to amend is often more efficient than litigating the motion, and it signals to the judge that you are focused on the merits.
Appealing the Ruling
A ruling on a motion to strike, granted or denied, is not immediately appealable. Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 512.020, appeals generally lie from a final judgment, not from interlocutory rulings.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 512.020 – Who May Appeal The statute lists a handful of exceptions, including orders granting new trials and certain injunction and class certification rulings, but motions to strike are not among them.
If the court strikes something that should have stayed, or leaves in something you challenged, you wait until the case ends and raise the issue on appeal from the final judgment. Not appealing the interlocutory ruling itself does not waive the challenge later. In practice, few motion-to-strike rulings drive appeals, because the material at issue is usually inconsequential or gets fixed through amendment before judgment.