PLEADINGS, ETC Form

Instructions and help about PLEADINGS, ETC

(narrator) Everything is a process: losing weight, buying a pet, besieging a castle. A civil court case is no exception. And it's important to know what these processes are before heading into the courtroom, because knowing is half the battle. The other half is, well, the battle itself. So let's start at the beginning of the case and explain the pleadings. Pleadings are the formal written statements submitted at the opening of a court case. The first step is the plaintiff, the person suing or accusing, submitting a complaint. This is what officially starts the case itself, like a kick off in football. The complaint is a statement of the plaintiff's cause, basically, their whole reason for bringing the defendant to court. They then ask for relief or damages as a result. Now comes the defendant's turn, the person being sued or accused. They answer with, you guessed it, the answer, official term. Here, the defendant either admits or denies the facts stated in the complaint, goin