Which of the following is NOT a method of pleading in defense?

In the context of legal pleadings, withdrawal is not considered a method of pleading in defense. Pleading is the process by which parties formally submit their claims or defenses in legal proceedings.

Admission, denial, and non-admission are all recognized methods of responding to allegations made in a pleading.

• Admission occurs when a party acknowledges the truth of a statement made by the opposing party, thereby accepting certain facts as established.

• Denial is the process by which a party contests or disputes the truth of the allegations. This is a fundamental aspect of defenses, as it challenges the claims made against the defendant.

• Non-admission is a more nuanced approach where a party neither admits nor denies the truth of a statement, often used when the party does not have enough information to accurately respond.

In contrast, withdrawal generally refers to the act of retracting a pleading or claim, which does not fit within the framework of a defensive pleading method. Therefore, the correct identification of withdrawal as not being a method of pleading in defense highlights the specific categorization of how parties respond to claims in legal contexts.