Login

Login

To access this feature, please Log In or Register for your Casebriefs Account.

Add to Library

Add

Search

Login
Register

PLEADING

Chapter 4

PLEADING


ChapterScope
This Chapter covers pleading, the process by which the parties to a litigation spell out their claims and defenses. The emphasis in this chapter is on the pleading provisions of the Federal Rules. These exemplify the modern, non-technical approach to pleading, and have served as the model for the pleading provisions of many states. The most important concepts in this Chapter are:

  • Two types: In most instances, there are only two types of pleadings in a federal action. These are the complaint and the answer. The complaint is the document by which the plaintiff begins the case. The answer is the defendant’s response to the complaint.
    • Reply: In some circumstances, there will be a third document, called the reply. The reply is, in effect, an “answer to the answer.” Most often, a reply is allowable if the answer contains a counterclaim (in which case a reply is required).
  • Elements of complaint: There are three essential elements which a complaint must have:
    • Jurisdiction: A short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court’s jurisdiction depends;
    • Statement of the claim: A short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and
    • Relief: A demand for judgment for the relief (e.g., money damages, injunction, etc.) which the pleader seeks.
  • Defenses against validity of complaint: Either in the answer, or by separate motion, defendant may attack the validity of the complaint in a number of respects. Grounds for attack include lack of jurisdiction, insufficiency of service of process, and failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
  • Affirmative defenses: There are certain defenses which must be explicitly pleaded in the answer, if D is to raise them at trial. These are so-called “affirmative defenses.” (Examples: contributory negligence, fraud, res judicata, statute of limitations, and illegality.)
  • Counterclaim: In addition to defenses, if D has a claim against P, he may (in all cases) and must (in some cases) plead that claim as a counterclaim. If the counterclaim is one which D is required to plead, it is called a compulsory counterclaim. If it is one which D has the option of pleading or not, it is called a permissive counterclaim. A counterclaim is compulsory if it “arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the [plaintiff’s] claim.”
  • Variance of proof from pleading: The Federal Rules allow substantial deviation of the proof at trial from the pleadings, so long as the variance does not seriously prejudice the other side.

Create New Group

Casebriefs is concerned with your security, please complete the following