In the law, a pleading is one of the papers filed with a court 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 whereas a demurrer is a pleading filed by a defendant which challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint and 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. Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or... The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) govern civil procedure in the United States district courts, or more simply, court procedures for civil suits. ... The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 came into force in England & Wales on 26 April 1999, largely replacing and significantly overhauling the previous Rules of the Supreme Court (applicable to the High Court of Justice) and the County Court Rules. ... Civil procedure doctrines are rules developed by case law as opposed to being set down in codes or legislation, which, together with Court Rules / Codes, define the steps that a person involved in a civil lawsuit can, may, or can not take. ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ... Subject matter jurisdiction is a legal term used in civil procedure to indicate that a case must be entered in the proper court of law based on the nature of the claim. ... Personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction of (or over) the person, or jurisdiction in personam is the power of a court to require a party (usually the defendant) or a witness to come before the court. ... Proper venue is one requirement for a court to be able to hear a case. ... In the law, a pleading is one of the papers filed with a court in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. ... Service of process is the term given to legal notice of a court or administrative bodys exercise of its jurisdiction over individuals who are the subject of proceedings or actions brought before such court, body or other tribunal. ... In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, for example. ... In the law, a cause of action is a recognized kind of legal claim that a plaintiff pleads or alleges in a complaint to start a lawsuit. ... In common law civil procedure, a demurrer is a pleading by the defendant that contests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. ... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ... An affirmative defense is a defense used in litigation between private parties in common law jurisdictions. ... The reply is a response by plaintiff to defedants answer. ... In law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party through the law of civil procedure can request documents and other evidence from other parties or can compel the production of evidence by using a subpoena or through other discovery devices, such as requests for... In law, interrogatories are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary, in order to clarify matters of evidence and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trial in the case. ... Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of the plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court. ... Summary judgment in U.S. legal practice is a judgment awarded by the court prior to trial, based upon the courts finding that: (1) there are no issues of material fact requiring a trial for their resolution, and (2) in applying the law to the undisputed facts, one party... Voluntary dismissal is when a law suit is terminated by request of the plaintiff (the party originally bringing the suit to court). ... Involuntary dismissal is the termination of a court case despite the plaintiffs objection. ... A settlement is a contract that is one possible result when parties sue (or contemplate so doing) each other in civil courts, usually seeking money as reparations for the alleged wrongdoing of the defendants. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. ... A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... In the common law, burden of proof is the obligation to prove allegations which are presented in a legal action. ... A judgment or judgement (see spelling note below), in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. ... Judgment as a matter of law(JMOL) is a motion made by a party, during trial, claiming the opposing party has insufficient evidence to reasonably support its case. ... Renewed judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) is the partner of judgment as a matter of law in American Federal courts. ... Judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or J.N.O.V. for short (English Judgment + Latin Non Obstante Veredicto) is the practice in American courts whereby the presiding judge in a civil case may overrule the decision of a jury and reverse or amend their verdict. ... In law, a motion to set aside judgment is an application to overturn or set aside a courts judgment, verdict or other final ruling in a case. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Trial de novo. ... In law, a Judicial remedy is the means by which a court, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes some other court order. ... An appeal is the act or fact of challenging a judicially cognizable and binding judgment to a higher judicial authority. ... Law (from the late Old English lagu of probable North Germanic origin) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ... In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, for example. ... In common law civil procedure, a demurrer is a pleading by the defendant that contests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. ... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... In the law, a cause of action is a recognized kind of legal claim that a plaintiff pleads or alleges in a complaint to start a lawsuit. ... ... A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... Impleader is procedural device before trial in which a party joins a third-party into a lawsuit because that third-party is liable to an original defendant. ...

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. 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 had to engage in great ingenuity to shoehorn their clients' claims into the necessary "elements" required to bring an action. Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... In the law, a cause of action is a recognized kind of legal claim that a plaintiff pleads or alleges in a complaint to start a lawsuit. ...

Code pleading

Code pleading was introduced in the 1850s in New York and California. Code pleading 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. Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total   - Width   - Length   - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 158,302 sq mi  410,000 km² 250 miles  402. ...

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.

Notice pleading

Notice pleading is the dominant regime in the United States today. In notice pleading, the plaintiff is 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

Alternative pleading is a legal fiction permitting a party argue two mutually exclusive possibilities, for example, submitting an injury complaint alleging that the harm to the defendant caused by the plaintiff was so outrageous that it must have either been intended as a malicious attack or, if not, must have been due to gross negligence. Alternative pleading is a legal fiction permitting a party to argue multiple possibilities that may be mutually exclusive. ... In the common law, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ... In logic, two mutually exclusive (or mutual exclusive according to some sources) propositions are propositions that logically cannot both be true. ...

Specific Jurisdictions

England and Wales

In England and Wales, pleading is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules. Pleadings are referred to as 'Statements of Case'. The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 came into force in England & Wales on 26 April 1999, largely replacing and significantly overhauling the previous Rules of the Supreme Court (applicable to the High Court of Justice) and the County Court Rules. ...

A variant of 'Notice Pleading' is used wherever possible, which is called the 'Pre-Action Protocols'. There are various Pre-Action Protocols, covering different types of dispute, and one general practice direction covering everything else. Whilst they vary slightly, the protocols all follow the same idea. As soon as someone becomes aware they are likely to bring a claim against someone, they should first write a short letter to their prospective opponent telling them. Once they have sufficient information to set out roughly what the claim is about, they should write what has now been termed a 'protocol letter', setting out all the information they base their claim on, confirming all the details of the claim, and including a request for any documents held by the opponent.

The opponent should acknowledge having received the letter, and after that, within a reasonable time (usually three months), write a letter of response, enclosing any requested documents.

The parties should then negotiate a settlement. Only if a settlement cannot be reached, or if the statute of limitations is due to expire, should a Claim be formaly commenced in the court, and by that time each party should have all the information they need to provide comprehensive pleadings.

If a party does not co-operate with the pre-action protocol, they could find themselves penalised by having to pay the other party's legal bills, and / or getting an order made against them for disclosure (discovery)

Once proceedings formally start, there is a strict timetable for Statements of Case, which this time have to be fully pleaded, setting out all the main allegations each party will make. The Claimant must deliver his / her pleadings to the opponent within four months of starting the claim (in fact the court usually does this for the Claimant automatically as soon as the Claim is commenced).

The Defendant has two weeks to respond with either a tender of a sum of money, an admission of liability, an admission together with a request for time to pay, a Defence (the Defendant's pleading), a Counter-claim or a combination of the above. In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ...

If two weeks is insufficient, if the Defendant acknowledges to the court that they have recived the documents, that period will be extended to four weeks. The parties can agree an extension of up to eight weeks if they wish.

If a Defence is filed, the Claimant may provide a further pleading called a 'Reply', although that is optional. If there is a Counterclaim, the Claimant needs to either admit that or provide a further pleading called 'Defence to Part 20 Claim'.

Once all this has happenned, a stage known as 'Close of Pleadings' is reached, and the case will progress, although it is not uncommon for Pleadings to be amended after this point if the court agrees.

See also

• prima facie