What Is Court Pleading?
The term court pleading refers to the documents that litigants submit to the court in a lawsuit, a process called pleading. Specifically, pleadings refer to the formal documents found in the case file or on the docket that initiate, respond to, or advance the case.
There are four types of pleadings:
While not considered a pleading under the rules, there are also motions, which is a request for relief sent to the court, usually in the form of an order. Motions can be filed at any stage of litigation but often occur early on. A motion can be a request asking the court to do something about the case , such as closing it, or to deny something, such as a request to conduct additional discovery.
The purpose of a court pleading is to provide notice to the court of the parties’ disputes and to request relief. The other party must receive a copy of all pleadings filed with the court, and they have the opportunity to respond to them.
Court pleadings do not prove claims are true or correct. When a complaint is filed, for example, the claims alleged in the complaint are just that—allegations. They do not represent the actual truth of the claims being made.
Categories of Court Pleading
The first set of pleadings that obtain the court’s attention are the complaint and the answer. We do not use the court to litigate issues until we have a complaining party (the plaintiff) and a responding party (the defendant). In these pleadings, each party is alleging facts that they believe support their case, and stating the theories of to your theory, that the court should grant them relief (settle their complaint in their favor).
The complaint is filed first, and states the claim (the passages of law that you allege support your right to recover) against the opposing party (the defendant). The answer will then admit or deny the allegations of law and fact that the plaintiff made in their complaint.
The motion is the action that actually gets filed more frequently than any other. Motions are usually filed in an attempt to force the court to compel the other party to do something (e.g., to give up certain documents), or to try to eliminate the other party’s pleadings entirely (e.g., to dismiss the complaint).
The third category of pleadings that are filed in court are called discovery motions or requests. These pleadings are filed to obtain information from the other party or parties. For example, where you may ask a party to produce documents, the other party may ask you to respond, in writing, under oath, asking the same thing. This process is called interrogatories.
So now that you know the different types of pleadings and their purposes, you can look at them for what they really are. And, because we now have a common language in regard to court proceedings, you can spot the pleadings that are out of place.
Why Court Pleadings Are Important
While there are many important aspects to a lawsuit, pleadings are one of the most significant. Pleadings set forth the basic facts and allegations of the case, and help the Court and litigants focus on what the issues are that need to be resolved. Imagine a situation where a person who is injured in an automobile accident proceeds with making his or her day in court with nothing more than that car accident. Lawyers and the Court could spend days, weeks, or even months getting to the bottom of the case, and what happened in that car accident. But if certain individuals are properly identified at the beginning of a case, and the critical facts are set forth in the pleadings, the Court and litigants can focus on the facts and issues that are truly contested. Rather than simplistically describe the entire case, this helps narrow the field of what the trial may actually be about.
In addition, the pleadings also contain what attorneys refer to as "defenses" or "claims". These claims and defenses are absolutely critical to the case. With respect to the claim, it is only the allegations in the complaint that determines whether the lawsuit can proceed or not, because the Defendant cannot be forced to answer or defend against a claim that has not been pled or alleged in the complaint. Similarly, the Defendant cannot mount a defense to any assertion in the complaint that is not contained in the answer. Therefore, the answer must completely address the allegations in the complaint with its own assertions that reflect its defenses to the claims. This is commonly referred to as "denials and affirmative defenses." There simply is no way to "fix" this problem if one side or the other fails to address a claim that was not pled, or a defense that is raised for the first time in a motion. It is the pleadings that ultimately decide what is in the litigation, and what is not.
How to Draft a Court Pleading
A court pleading is a document which commences a court action, or responds to a court action. Court pleadings can then be cross-claimed, counterclaimed, amended, defended and appealed. In other words, court pleadings are the means by which a party participates in a court proceeding.
All court pleadings in the District Court and Supreme Court of Victoria must comply with the Rules and Practice Notes that apply to each court jurisdiction. This means that when drafting a court pleading you must ensure that you follow the requirements for that court.
For example, in the Supreme Court the Supreme Court Rules require that a statement of claim/defence include a statement of truth verifying the truth of the matters in the pleading.
Basically court pleadings must:
- Specify the parties full names;
- Specify the parties addresses;
- Set out the orders being sought;
- Set out relevant facts and concisely state the legal grounds; and
- Include a statement of truth where applicable.
You will need to format court pleadings in the way specified by the Rules and there are formatting requirements for example font size, spacing, headings, footings, quoting policy, numbering paragraphs and indenting paragraphs.
If you are drafting affidavits or evidence for your case – look at the Rules and Practice Notes because they will also provide formatting requirements for these too.
If you’d prefer not to deal with drafting court pleadings for any reason (maybe you haven’t been able to get editing working on your word processor?), there are a number of free templates available online which have all of the above formatting requirements.
Common Court Pleading Errors
One of the most common mistakes that I’ve seen in drafting pleadings (whether it be a complaint, answer, cross-complaint, or opposition) is the failure to admit, deny or otherwise respond to all the statements or allegations in the other parties’ pleading.
The vast majority of people are shocked to learn that your pleading is required to be a verified document, meaning that you are swearing to what is currently in the pleading with an oath. Any false statement or omission could lead to being charged with perjury, a serious crime in California.
Undertaking such a heavy burden isn’t quick and you don’t have a great deal of time to do it. Presumably, you are in the midst of litigation and have plenty of things to do and might see pleading responses as just another thing to mark off of the to-do list. For example, if you get served with a complaint, you have 30 days to respond or else by operation of law, you lose the case and a judgment is entered against you. How can one human being possibly redact and verify an educational and language packed, 40-page brief that was drafted and amended dozens of times when it took a team of attorneys and interns several hours to draft? Well, you have to outsource your verification to your paralegal and this is where things can go wrong.
A common error is to simply copy and paste the allegations or statements verbatim and check next to each one whether you admit, deny or deny according to information and belief (this particular answer must be made with caution in some matters). Not only does this not allow for the opportunity to give unique answers to allegations or statements that may be true, but it also takes a very long time and makes reading the responses a difficult and tedious process for the judicial officers (and parties) who are required to read this stuff.
The first thing you should do when you read opposing party’s pleading is highlight all the allegations or statements in the pleading including headings because you will want to know what to respond to. Be thorough and find each statement in the response , paraphrasing if you have to. Resist the temptation to simply copy and paste the statements directly into your pleading. Take a break from typing and come back to it later with fresh eyes.
Next, you want to go through your findings and determine whether each statement or allegation is true. Now you can formulate your responses which you must do in a way that still makes sense to the court without having to have the other party’s pleading in front of them. It is customary in California for the responding party to include a copy of the complaint so that the court doesn’t have to send to the clerk’s office for the complaint and re-file. You can do this too, but it isn’t required.
The best practice is to format your responses in the following way:
- State the paragraph number
- State whether you admit, deny or deny according to information and belief
- State your response (For example:
"Admit that the Plaintiff was hired as a bartender but deny that he regularly worked more than 8-hours a day.")
If you can’t find it in your records, then indicate "I don’t know enough to respond. This is denied."
This method makes it easy for the judge, clerks and court reporters to follow and reference if there are multiple cases that need to be consolidated (like many employment class actions are). It also prevents a barrage of objections, something you want to avoid at all costs.
When adopting the method set out above, you can write a lot or be really short. It really depends on you and how you want to respond. For example, some people like to separate the facts and the statement of the case from their responses, clearly marking each section and the parties involved. My preference is to mix everything together and depending on how you are writing and what you are responding to, you might be compelled to do the same.
Mistakes are bound to happen, but if you follow this method, you should be able to avoid them.
The Legal Process Following the Filing of a Pleading
Depending on the pleading and the procedural context, a pleading may be followed up with an answer, a response, or some type of reply. The rules governing what comes after the filing of a pleading are available online. When an answer is due depends largely on the type of pleading being answered and the jurisdiction in which the case is filed. In federal court, for example, a party facing a complaint must file its answer within 21 days if it was served with the complaint or within 60 days if it was served by mailing the complaint to the party’s last known address. Other defendants might have up to 90 days to file their answers.
In California state court, defendants have 30 days to file an answer. Often, if a defendant files a motion to dismiss, the court will grant the defendant additional time to respond to the complaint. While answers might not be due right away, some types of pleadings are due very soon after the original pleading. A reply in federal court, for instance, is required within 21 days of service of the answer. Responses in California state court are required 30 days after an answer is filed, and replies are also due 30 days following receipt of a response. Other pleadings — like brief, letters or motions — might not require a response from opposing parties. But, those pleadings could trigger other types of pleadings from the other side. For instance, when a defendant files a motion, typically, the plaintiff is allowed to file an opposition to the motion, and the defendant can reply to the opposition. Whether the pleading triggers other responses or requires a response at all depends largely on the procedural posture of the case and the rules in each court. Here are some examples outlining what can happen after a pleading is filed:
Legal Help with a Court Pleading
The importance of a properly formatted and well written court pleading should never be underestimated. Quite regularly cases are dismissed, or at least severely handicapped, because the incorrect procedural foot was put forward from the onset. That flaw might be one that is easily remedied by simply refiling a properly formatted document, but it also might be such that the case never gets a second hearing or opportunity to get back in front of a judge.
Lawyers and law firms generally have support staff that are responsible for ensuring that court pleadings are formatted correctly and meet the specific counties requirements. But many people have legal matters that do not require the use of a lawyer or law firm (example: when someone is just trying to obtain a divorce). In these instances, the need for proper legal assistance for their court pleadings is essential .
Those individuals whom need legal assistance with a court pleading without the need for full legal representation are often referred to as pro se litigants. Pro se litigants can obtain assistance from a variety of sources, including: the local courthouse for basic help, online resources for help with legal research, court approved self-help centers, and finally, a document preparer service.
Court approval of document preparer services is an important distinction to make. Some services are not even located in the same state as the client, which may relate to both the judicial and economic issue of taxing a case with the need for litigation in multiple states if necessary. But as long as the document preparer service is court approved, it is possible to obtain the needed resources to prepare any court pleading.