Mechanism 55
Special exceptions — group pleading and fraud particularity
What do you do about a petition that pleads fraud against 'all Defendants' collectively?
Except to it. A pleading must give fair notice of the claim against this defendant, and fraud must be pleaded with particularity — who said what, to whom, when, and why it was false. A petition that alleges everything against everyone gives no defendant notice of anything, and the remedy is an order to replead.
By John P. Henry · Tex. R. Civ. P. 45, 47, 90, 91; Stone v. Lawyers Title Ins. Corp., 554 S.W.2d 183 (Tex. 1977) · Reviewed 2026-08-02
The authority
A special exception shall not only point out the particular pleading excepted to, but it shall also point out intelligibly and with particularity the defect, omission, obscurity, duplicity, generality, or other insufficiency in the allegations in the pleading excepted to.Tex. R. Civ. P. 91
Tex. R. Civ. P. 45, 47, 90, 91; Stone v. Lawyers Title Ins. Corp., 554 S.W.2d 183 (Tex. 1977)
When it applies
Multi-defendant commercial cases, securities and investment disputes, anything with a fraud count and a long list of defendants. The more parties there are, the more likely the pleading is collective and the less likely anyone has tested it.
How it is proved up
- Point out the defect with particularity, as Rule 91 requires of your own exception. A special exception that is itself general is a gift to the other side.
- Take the counts one at a time and show, for each, what this defendant is alleged to have done. The exercise is what makes the collective pleading visible to the court.
- Ask for a specific repleading period — 21 days is customary — and for dismissal of any count not repleaded.
- Set it for hearing. Special exceptions left pending do nothing, and courts do not rule on them sua sponte.
- Use what comes back. A plaintiff forced to commit to who said what and when has narrowed its own case, and the amended pleading is a discovery roadmap.
What defeats it
- A petition that already pleads with particularity, where the exception simply reads as delay.
- A court that prefers to let discovery sort it out, which some do.
- Curable defects, which they usually are. Special exceptions produce a better pleading far more often than they produce a dismissal.
- Failing to obtain a ruling, which waives the complaint.
Where I have used it
Zhang v. EEE Development, LLC · Cause No. 26-3572-431, 431st Judicial District Court, Denton County. Special exceptions under Rules 90 and 91 to a petition brought by more than thirty plaintiffs, attacking failure to plead fraud with particularity and improper group pleading across the fraud, fraudulent-transfer, unjust enrichment, money had and received and conversion counts, with a request to replead within 21 days.
Questions
Does Texas require fraud to be pleaded with particularity?
Yes. A fraud claim must be pleaded with sufficient particularity to give fair notice of the misrepresentation relied on — the who, what, when and why — rather than as a legal conclusion.
What is group pleading and why is it objectionable?
Pleading allegations against 'all Defendants' collectively without specifying what each defendant is alleged to have done. It fails the fair-notice standard because an individual defendant cannot tell what claim it must answer.
What happens if special exceptions are sustained in Texas?
The pleader is ordinarily given an opportunity to replead. Dismissal follows only if the party refuses to amend or the defect cannot be cured.