Rule 11 requires that a party’s legal contentions be warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law. This ensures that the arguments put before the court have some legal basis or a credible, nonfrivolous theory for changing or adding to the law. The option that states both existing law and a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or establishing new law best captures the full standard. The other options are too narrow or wrong: existing law alone omits the possibility of a nonfrivolous argument for changing or creating law; focusing only on extending or modifying existing law excludes reversing or establishing new law; and allowing any belief would undermine the requirement that contentions be legally warranted.

If no jury demand is made under Rule 38, the case is tried by the court. The right to a jury trial exists only if a timely demand is filed; without that demand, the default is a bench trial where the judge decides both the legal rulings and the factual issues and renders the judgment. This reflects the idea that a jury trial is not automatic—it must be invoked by a timely request.

When a complaint doesn’t meet Rule 8(a)’s requirement for a short and plain statement showing entitlement to relief, the appropriate step is a Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. This mechanism lets the court dismiss the suit at the pleading stage if the complaint doesn’t contain enough facts to support a claim, without needing discovery. The other options address different stages or issues: judgment on pleadings under the related Rule 12(c) comes after pleadings are closed; summary judgment under Rule 56 resolves disputes about material facts (not pleading sufficiency); and a discovery request under Rule 26 seeks information and does not resolve pleading defects.

Rule 11 governs the signatures and certifications that accompany papers filed with the court. It requires that every pleading, along with any signed written motion or other paper presented to the court, be signed by an attorney or party and contain a certification that, to the best of the signer’s knowledge after inquiry, the filing is not for an improper purpose, the claims or defenses have a basis in law, and the factual contentions have evidentiary support. Pleadings are the formal court filings that initiate or shape the litigation, so Rule 11 directly applies to them. Interrogatories, depositions, and subpoenas are discovery tools and are not, by themselves, papers filed with the court as pleadings, so Rule 11 does not govern the discovery requests.