Pleading

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adjudicated in the action.

The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) govern pleading in England and Wales. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern pleading in United States federal courts. Each state in the United States has its own statutes and rules that govern pleading in the courts of that state.

Examples of pleadings

In the United States, a complaint is the first pleading filed by a plaintiff which initiates a lawsuit. A complaint sets forth the relevant allegations of fact that give rise to one or more legal causes of action along with a prayer for relief and sometimes a statement of damages claimed (an ad quod damnum clause). In some situations, a complaint is called a petition, in which case the party filing it is called the petitioner and the other party is the respondent. In equity, sometimes called chancery, the initial pleading may be called either a petition or a bill of complaint in chancery.

Pleading (England and Wales)

Pleading in England and Wales is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). These rules set a high priority on attempts to resolve all matters able to be resolved by the parties, prior to hearing (or trial).

The pleadings are contained in various Statements of Case - usually the Claim and any associated Particulars of Claim, the Defence, and an optional reply to the Defence. The Claim, Particulars of Claim, and Defence, are broadly equivalent to the Summons, Complaint and Answer filed in some other jurisdictions). The pleadings set out succinctly the claims made by each side, and their legal basis, and provide a basis to explore the issues in the case. They must specify the basic facts which are alleged, but need not evidence those facts or any extensive legal argument (these are addressed at later stages of the process). Some types of allegation must be expressly stated in the appropriate statement of case, if they will be alleged or relied upon at a later stage.

Pleading (United States)

Pleading in United States Federal courts is governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

According to Rule 7, only these pleadings are allowed:

Any other document that requests a court order is referred to as a motion.

Notice pleading

Notice pleading is the dominant form of pleading used in the United States today. In 1938, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted. One goal of these rules was to relax the strict rules of code pleading.

The focus of the cause of action was shifted to discovery (another goal of the FRCP). Under the Federal Rules, a plaintiff's complaint merely needs to contain a short and plain statement of their cause of action. All additional information in regards to the cause of action are handled through discovery. The idea is that a plaintiff and their attorney who have a reasonable but not perfect case can file a complaint first, put the other side on notice of the lawsuit, and then strengthen their case by compelling the defendant to produce evidence during the discovery phase.