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Pleading
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In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. 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. 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.
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Encyclopedia
In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. 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. 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. A demurrer is a pleading filed by a defendant which challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint; an answer is a pleading which admits or denies the specific allegations set forth in a complaint and constitutes a general appearance by a defendant. A defendant may also file a cross-complaint as well as bringing other parties into a case by the process of impleader.
Types of pleading
Common law pleading
Common law pleading was the system of civil procedure used in England, where each cause of action had its own separate procedure: law and equity were entirely different judicial systems, each with its own causes of action and available remedies. Because the list of causes eligible for consideration was capped early during the development of the English legal system, claims that might be acceptable to the evolving court often did not match up perfectly with any of the established causes. Lawyers might have to engage in great ingenuity to shoehorn their clients' claims into the necessary "elements" required to bring an action. Some claims for debt were alleged together in common counts in an effort to prevent the defendant from squirming out of liability on some technicality on one of the counts.
Code pleading
Code pleading was introduced in the 1850s in New York and California. Code pleading sought to abolish the distinction between law and equity. It unified civil procedure for all types of actions as much as possible, and the required elements of each action are set out in carefully codified statutes.
However, code pleading was criticized because many lawyers felt that it was too difficult to fully research all the facts needed to bring a complaint before one had even initiated the action, and thus meritorious plaintiffs could not bring their complaints in time before the statute of limitations expired. Code pleading has also been criticized as promoting "hypertechnical reading of legal papers".
Notice pleading
Notice pleading is the dominant form in the United States today. In 1938, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted. One goal was to relax the strict rules of code pleading. Code pleading had served four purposes: notice, issue narrowing, pleading facts with particularity and eliminating meritless claims. The Federal Rules eliminated all of those requirements except for the notice requirement (hence we call it notice pleading). The requirements that were eliminated were shifted to discovery (another goal of the FRCP). In notice pleading, plaintiffs are required to state in their initial complaint only a short and plain statement of their cause of action. 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.
Alternative pleading
In alternative pleading, legal fiction is employed to permit a party to argue two mutually exclusive possibilities, for example, submitting an injury complaint alleging that the harm to the plaintiff caused by the defendant was so outrageous that it must have either been intended as a malicious attack or, if not, must have been due to gross negligence.
Specific jurisdictions
England and Wales
In England and Wales, pleading is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).
Pleadings are referred to as 'statements of case'.
Formal proceedings should be preceeded by an initial exchange of correspondence
in accordance with the . These
exchanges are not technically part of the pleading process, and parties are
not encouraged to take points on any discrepancy between pre-action
correspondence and the formal statements of case.
of the Civil Procedure Rules and its accompanying (CPR PD 16)
govern the content of the claim form (equivalent to a Summons) and statements
of case.
The claim form must contain a concise statement of the nature of the claim and
specify the remedies which the claimant seeks. It must also
contain a statement of value in accordance with CPR 16.3.
The Particulars of Claim (equivalent to a Complaint) must contain a concise statement of the facts on which
the claimant relies,
together with details of any interest claimed and whether aggravated damages or
provisional damages are claimed.
The Defence (equivalent to an Answer) must state which allegations of the Particulars of Claim are
admitted, which allegations are denied, and which allegations the defendant
is unable to admit or deny, but which the claimant is required to prove. A defendant must give reasons for any denial, and must put
forward his or her own version of events if different from the claimant's version. The Rules do not speak to affirmative defences (save that CPR PD 16 paragraph 13.1 requires the defendant to give details of the expiry of any limitation period relied on), but a concise statement of any facts relied on in support of any affirmative defence should be included in the Defence.
The claimant may, but need not, respond to the Defence by means of a Reply.
Further statements of case following a Reply are possible, but require the
court's permission.
The Practice Direction accompanying Part 16 sets out various items which must
be included in or served with statements of case in particular circumstances,
for example medical reports (paragraphs 4.3 and 12.1) and written contracts
(paragraph 7.3).
Statements of case may refer to points of law and include names of
witnesses whom it is proposed to call. A party may also attach to or serve with
a statement of case any document which is considered necessary to the claim or
defence, but which is not required to be attached or served.
The claim form and all statements of case must be verified by a statement of
truth,
signed by the party or his or her legal representative. A person
who makes a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth
without an honest belief in its truth is liable to be prosecuted for contempt
of court.
Counterclaims, claims for contribution or indemnity against another party,
and third party claims (collectively referred to as 'additional claims') are
governed by .
A counterclaim should normally be included in the same document ('Defence and Counterclaim') as the defence and should follow on from it. The
claimant's defence to the
counterclaim should be included in the same document ('Reply and Defence to Counterclaim') as the reply and should
follow on from the reply.
A claim for contribution or indemnity against another party is made by serving
and filing a notice containing a statement of the nature and grounds of the
claim.
A third-party claim is made by issuing and serving a third-party claim form (equivalent
to a Summons), together with particulars of the third party claim.
An additional claim is treated as a normal claim
unless Part 20 otherwise provides, so the rules on contents of claim forms,
Particulars of Claim, Defences and Replies apply accordingly, although the title of the statement of case should be modified to make clear who is pleading, and which statement of case, if any, is being responded to.
Amendment of statements of case is governed by , and requests for
information about statements of case are governed by .
See also
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