What is a negative pregnant?

This week we discuss negative pregnants (sometimes referred to as pregnant denials). A negative pregnant is a denial that seems to only deny part of an allegation—while implicitly admitting another part, e.g.,

• I did not beat my wife last night. (Implicitly admits that I beat her on other occasions.)

• Plaintiff will not move for default against your client on September 25, 2026. (Implies that the plaintiff will move for a default on another day, just not on September 25, 2026.)

As you can see from these examples, negative pregnants are ambiguous at best, and at worst can result in a harmful admission. So carefully look over your denials and make sure that you’re not implicitly admitting something that you don’t intend to admit.

That is all for now …