pleadings

Pleadings is an antiquated word that remains in use which used to be describe documents filed by the parties to litigation in English Courts to set out the facts (and sometimes the law) that the respective parties rely on in the dispute.

A pleading is a formal document that may allege, deny, admit, or not admit to allegations of the other party or parties to the litigation. They serve to define and narrow the issues in litigation, by requiring the parties to clearly and concisely set out their respective positions with regard to the dispute.

Each of the following documents may be described as a pleading:

1. particulars of claim;
2. defence;
3. counterclaim;
4. reply to defence;
5. defence to counterclaim;
6. reply to defence to counterclaim;
7. Responses to requests for clarification and further information (otherwise known as Part 18 Requests under the Civil Procedure Rules), to each of the foregoing documents.

In legal proceedings commenced under Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the claimant will file and serve particulars of claim upon the defendant. If the defendant wishes to contest the cause of action as set out in the particulars of claim:

1. The defendant will file its defence;
2. The claimant will thereafter have an opportunity to file a reply to the defence, to respond to the allegations set out in the defence. A reply may not be used to raise fresh claims - the place for these is the particulars of claim.

At the same time that the defendant files its defence, it may also file a counterclaim to set out a cause of action that the defendant may have against the claimant. A counterclaim is the equivalent of particulars of claim (except it is made by a defendant and not a claimant). If the claimant wishes to contest the counterclaim, the claimant will file and serve a defence to counterclaim. Once served, the defendant may file a reply to defence to counterclaim, which again is equivalent to the reply to defence.  A defendant may also wishes to make a claim for contribution against a third party which is made by way of a Part 20 Claim.

After the parties are completed filing this series documents, the pleadings are said to be closed.

Modern terminology dictates that each of the court documents referred to above is a "statement of case".

There are strict rules for the content of pleadings. Pleadings must contain statements of fact, not argumentative material, disclose a cause of action, and not be embarrassing in the sense that the other party or parties will not know what the case is that they must answer. Cost penalties may be imposed by a court for failing to comply with the requirements for such documents. These are set out in the Civil Procedure Rules. For particular requirements of the documents set out above, see their individual listings.

It may be the case that each of the documents referred to above may need to be amended during the course of legal proceedings. Taking particulars of claim as an example, the usual convention is to name the first amend version “Amended Particulars of Claim”, and the second amended version “Further Amended Particulars of Claim”.

Usage: The pleadings were filed with the court to commence the litigation.

Related Words: cause of action; claim form; particulars of claim; defence: litigation; counterclaim; reply to defence; defence to counterclaim; reply to defence to counterclaim; request for further information and clarification; Part 20 Claim; notice to admit facts.