This page is continued from Every Type of Pleadings:

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     Rule 7(a) within the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure specifies that:

“Only these pleadings are allowed:

(1) a complaint;

(2) an answer to a complaint;

(3) an answer to a counterclaim designated as a counterclaim;

(4) an answer to a crossclaim;

(5) a third-party complaint;

(6) an answer to a third-party complaint; and

(7) if the court orders one, a reply to an answer.“

Types of Initial Pleadings:

    The plaintiff‘s initial pleading is usually a complaint, but a petition could be filed instead (Fed. Rules. Civ. Proc. Rule 3).

civil complaint – the initial pleading that commences a civil action, stating the basis for the court’s jurisdiction, the basis for the plaintiff’s claim, and the specified demand(s) for relief.

petition – a formal written request presented to a court or other official body.

• petition of rights – for recovery of wrongfully detained property and/or person(s) held in custody.
• Petition for a Redress of Grievances
• referendum petition – a petition demanding that newly proposed, or previously enacted, legislation be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection.
• petition in intervention – to join the plaintiff in claiming what is sought or joining the defendant in resisting what is sought, or for taking a position adverse to both the plaintiff and the defendant.
• petitions pertaining to rehearings, appeals, and appellate courts
• petitions pertaining to bankruptcy court
• petitions pertaining to patents
• juvenile petition – a juvenile-court petition alleging delinquent conduct by the accused.
• petition for probate – to request the court to admit a will to probate.
• petition for highway – an application by property owners for the opening of a highway.
• petition for improvement – a property owner’s petition for the construction of a public improvement. 

Secondary Pleadings filed in response to the Initial Pleadings:

answer – defendant’s first pleading, either to deny the allegations of the complaint, demur to them, agree with them, or introduce affirmative defenses intended to defeat or delay the lawsuit.

Contents within the answer may include:

• counterclaim – a cause of action within answer (see page 5 of form) which may have been used to sue the plaintiff in a separate action; used in opposition to or as a setoff against the plaintiff ’s claim.
• objection in point of law – a defensive pleading by which the defendant admits the facts alleged by the plaintiff but objects that they do not make out a legal claim.

Complaint for Modification – a post-final-decree motion asking the court to change one of its earlier orders.

References: