> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aiinsurance.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Update Defendant > Updates a defendant. Only provided fields are updated. Send `null` for a field to clear its value. Omit a field to preserve its existing value. **Required permission:** `company.event:export` ## OpenAPI ````yaml /openapi/generated-external-api.yaml patch /api/external/companies/{companyId}/events/{eventId}/lawsuit/defendants/{defendantId} openapi: 3.0.3 info: title: AI Insurance External API description: External API for AI Insurance platform version: 1.0.0 contact: email: support@aiinsurance.io servers: - url: https://app.aiinsurance.io description: Production security: - ApiKeyAuth: [] paths: /api/external/companies/{companyId}/events/{eventId}/lawsuit/defendants/{defendantId}: patch: tags: - Defendants summary: Update Defendant description: > Updates a defendant. Only provided fields are updated. Send `null` for a field to clear its value. Omit a field to preserve its existing value. **Required permission:** `company.event:export` operationId: updateDefendant parameters: - $ref: '#/components/parameters/companyId' - $ref: '#/components/parameters/eventId' - $ref: '#/components/parameters/defendantId' requestBody: required: true content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UpdateDefendantRequest' examples: updateContact: summary: Update contact information value: email: newemail@example.com phoneNumber: +1-555-999-8888 assignAttorney: summary: Assign a defense attorney value: attorneyId: 880e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 clearFields: summary: Clear nullable fields value: email: null phoneNumber: null attorneyId: null responses: '200': description: Updated defendant details content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Defendant' examples: success: summary: Defendant updated value: id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001 companyId: 660e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 lawsuitId: 770e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 insuredId: null nonInsuredName: John Doe phoneNumber: +1-555-999-8888 email: newemail@example.com attorneyId: 880e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 lawFirmId: null createdAt: '2026-02-15T10:30:00.000Z' updatedAt: '2026-02-19T14:20:00.000Z' '400': description: Bad Request - Validation error content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: invalidAttorneyId: summary: Invalid attorney reference value: error: code: VALIDATION_ERROR message: Attorney not found in this company '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized' '403': $ref: '#/components/responses/Forbidden' '404': description: Defendant not found content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: defendantNotFound: summary: Defendant not found value: error: code: NOT_FOUND message: Defendant not found '500': $ref: '#/components/responses/InternalServerError' components: parameters: companyId: name: companyId in: path required: true schema: type: string format: uuid description: Company identifier eventId: name: eventId in: path required: true schema: type: string format: uuid description: Event identifier defendantId: name: defendantId in: path required: true schema: type: string format: uuid description: Defendant identifier schemas: UpdateDefendantRequest: type: object properties: insuredId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: >- Update associated insured (send null to clear; mutually exclusive with nonInsuredName) nonInsuredName: type: string nullable: true description: >- Update non-insured defendant name (send null to clear; mutually exclusive with insuredId) phoneNumber: type: string nullable: true description: Update phone number (send null to clear) email: type: string nullable: true description: Update email address (send null to clear) attorneyId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: >- Update associated attorney (send null to clear; must reference an existing attorney) lawFirmId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: >- Update associated law firm (send null to clear; must reference an existing payee) Defendant: type: object description: A defendant associated with a lawsuit properties: id: type: string format: uuid description: Defendant identifier companyId: type: string format: uuid description: Company identifier lawsuitId: type: string format: uuid description: Associated lawsuit identifier insuredId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: >- Associated insured identifier (mutually exclusive with nonInsuredName) nonInsuredName: type: string nullable: true description: Name of non-insured defendant (mutually exclusive with insuredId) phoneNumber: type: string nullable: true description: Defendant phone number email: type: string format: email nullable: true description: Defendant email address attorneyId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: Associated attorney identifier lawFirmId: type: string format: uuid nullable: true description: Associated law firm payee identifier createdAt: type: string format: date-time nullable: true description: When the defendant was created (ISO 8601) updatedAt: type: string format: date-time nullable: true description: When the defendant was last updated (ISO 8601) ErrorResponse: type: object description: Standard error response for all external API endpoints required: - error properties: error: type: object required: - code - message properties: code: type: string description: Machine-readable error code example: VALIDATION_ERROR message: type: string description: Human-readable error message example: 'submissionId: Required field is missing' details: type: array description: Additional details for validation errors (field-level errors) items: type: object properties: field: type: string description: The field that caused the error example: submissionId message: type: string description: Description of the field error example: Required field is missing responses: Unauthorized: description: Unauthorized - Invalid or missing API key content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: missingApiKey: summary: Missing API key value: error: code: UNAUTHORIZED message: Authorization header is required bearerTokenNotAllowed: summary: Bearer token used instead of API key value: error: code: UNAUTHORIZED message: External API endpoints require API key authentication Forbidden: description: Forbidden - Insufficient permissions content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: insufficientPermissions: summary: Insufficient permissions value: error: code: FORBIDDEN message: Insufficient permissions to perform this action InternalServerError: description: Internal Server Error - Unexpected error occurred content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' examples: internalError: summary: Unexpected server error value: error: code: INTERNAL_ERROR message: An unexpected error occurred. Please try again later. securitySchemes: ApiKeyAuth: type: apiKey in: header name: Authorization description: >- API key authentication. Include your API key in the Authorization header. ````