Waiver Defenses

“Waiver” is a common defense raised in many civil lawsuits. It generally, however, has fairly precise requirements. Specifically, it requires an “intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege, and no one can be bound by waiver unless it was made with full knowledge of the rights intended to be waived.” Fed. Nat’l Mortgage Ass’n v. Pace, 415 S.W.3 697, 704 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

In other situations, the requirements for waiver are more relaxed. For example, when contesting personal jurisdiction in a case, a litigant must typically do so at the first opportunity. Failure to do this results in a waiver of that defense. Plasmeier v. George, 575 S.W.3d 485, 487-88 (Mo. Ct. App. 2019) (“defending party who wishes to raise the defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction, insufficiency of process, or insufficiency of service of process must do so either in a pre-answer motion or in the party’s answer”).