I Hate Lame Affirmative Defenses.

Don't you just love it when a two-count complaint or single counterclaim somehow engenders an answer containing 58 affirmative defenses?

I don't know about you, but my eyes glaze over as you waste time reviewing pointless and rote affirmative defenses that are clearly so general as to be meaningless or merely restate or "reserve" arguments and defenses that aren't ripe or have no applicability to the facts at hand.

Generally I ignore them and, at the appropriate time, ask the Court to ignore them as well.

But if push comes to shove it's nice to see a judge "get" it:

The Court's order denying the motion to dismiss also found that Plaintiff had sufficiently pled her claim to survive a motion to dismiss. Affirmative Defense 19 essentially argues that Plaintiff has not adequately pled her claim, despite the Court's prior ruling. Furthermore, Affirmative Defense 19 is neither an affirmative defense or a specific denial of any of Plaintiffs allegations. Lastly, because Defendant cannot amend its pleadings without leave of Court, its reservation of rights is meaningless. Accordingly, Affirmative Defense 19 is stricken.

Question -- how much did an associate bill and/or partner review to file this defense?