PART FOUR. DEFENSIVE PLEADINGS
CHAPTER 18. MOTIONS OF DEFENDANT AFTER THE
DECLARATION AND BEFORE THE PLEA
See. Page
184. Demand of Oyer 368
185. Views, Aid-Prayer and Voucher to Warranty 370
186. Imparlance 371
187. Motion for a Eill of Particulars 372
188. Status Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts and Rules of Court 375
CHAPTER 19. CONSIDERATIONS PRELIMINARY TO THE
CLASSIFICATION OF DEFENSES
189, Parties Must Demur or Plead 378
190. Pleas: Dilatory or Peremptory 379
191. Other Stages of Pleading Beyond the Declaration and Plea 380
192. E]eetion to Demur or Plead—Factors to be Considered
193. Forced Issues Tinder the Codes 382
CHAPTER 20. THE DEMURRER
194. The Nature and Office of the Demurrer 384
195. The Speaking Demurrer 387
196. The Demurrer and Other Pleadings Distinguished 388
197. The Scope of a Demurrer 388
198. General and Special Demurrcrs and Defects Available Thereunder ~89
199. Effect of Demurrer—By Way of Admission 396
200. Effect of Demurrer—Tn Opening the Record 400
201. Judgment on Demurrer 405
202. Status of the Demurrer—Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts and
Rules of Court 406
CHAPTER 21. PLEAS--DILATORY
203. The Nature of Dilatory Pleas 410
204. The Order of Dilatory Pleas 411
205. Pleas to the Jurisdiction 412
206. PIcas in Abatement 416
207. Noojoinder or 1\iisjoinder of Parties Plaintiff in Contract 423
208. Nonjoinder or Misjoinder of Parties Defendant in Contract 424
209. Nonjoinder or Misjoinder of Parties in Actions Ex Delicto 426
210. Requisites of Pleas in Abatement 428
211. Pleas in Suspension 429
212. Judgment on Dilatory Pleas 430
213. Formal Commencement and Conclusion 430
214. Status Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts and Rules of Court 432
CHAPTER 22. PLEAS—PEREMPTORY OR IN BAR
215. The General Nature of Pleas in Bar 434
216. The Various Forms of Traverse or Denial 435
217. The General Requisites of Traverse 436
XXVII
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sec. Page
218. Materiality of the Traverse 439
219. Selection of Issuable Proposition 441
220. Denial of the Essentials Only 441
221. Negatives and Affirmatives Pregnant 444
222. The Specific or Common Traverse 446
223. The Special Traverse 447
224. The General Issue—Its Nature and Use 457
225. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance—The Nature and Form 460
226. Giving Color 462
227. Pleadings in Estoppel 465
228. Admission by Failure to Deny 465
229. Protestation 466
230. Argumentative Pleas 467
231. Pleas Amounting to the General Issue 469
232. Partial Defenses 472
233. A Pleading Bad in Part is Bad Altogether 473
234. Several Defenses 475
235. Duplicity in Pleas—In General 480
236. Dup]icity—Immaterial Matter 480
237. Duplicity—Matter Ill Pleaded 481
238. Duplicity—Matters Forming a Connected Proposition 482
239. Duplicity—Protestation 484
240. What Defenses May he Shown Under the General Issue and What
May or Must be Pleaded Specially 484
241. The General Issue in Trespass 485
242. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Trespass 486
243. The Ililary Rules—Their Effect Upon Negative and Affirmative Defenses in Trespass 488
244. The General Issue in Trespass on the Case 488
245. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Trespass on the Case 490
246. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon Affirmative and Negative
Defenses in Trespass on the Case 492
247. The General Issue in Trover 493
248. Pleas in Confessioa and Avoidance in Trover 493
249. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon Negative and Affirmative
Defenses in Trover 493
250. The Genera] Issue in Ejeetment 494
251. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Ejectment 495
252. The General Issue in Detinue 496
253. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Detinue 497
254. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon Negative and Affirmative
Defenses in Detinue 497
255. The General Issue in Replevin 497
256. The Special Traverse in Replevin 499
257. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Replevin 500
258. The General Issue in Debt on Simple Contracts and Statutes 500
259. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Debt on Simple Contracts and
Statutes 502
260. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon the Scope of the General Issue in Debt on Simple Contracts and Statutes 502
261. The General Issue in Debt on a Specialty 503
262. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Debt on a Specialty 503
263. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon the General Issue in Debt on a
Specialty 504
fly”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sec. Page
264. The General Issue in Debt on Judgments 504
265. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Debt on Judgments 505
260. The General Issue in Covenant 505
267. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Covenant 507
268. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect Upon the General Issue in Cov
enant 507
269. The General Issue in Special Assumpsit 508
270. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in Special Assumpait 510
271. The Hilary Rules—Their Effect on the Scope of the General Issue
in Special Assumpsit 510
272. The General issue in General or Indebitatus Assumpsit ~11
273. Pleas in Confession and Avoidance in General or Indebitatus As
sUmpsit 512
274. The Rilary Rules—Their Effect Upon the Scope of the General Is
sue in General or Indebitatus Assumpeit 512
275. Comparison of Scope of Different General Issues 512
276. Notice of Defenses Under the General Issue 513
277. Plea Puis Darrein Continuance 513
278. Recoupment and Set-Off 515
CHAPTER 23. TilE REPLICATION
279. The Various Kinds of Replication 518
280. The Replication De Injuria—Definition, Scope and Availability 519
281. Forms of Plea and Replication De Injuria Thereto 521
282. Formal Parts of Replication 522
283. Status of the Republican De Injuria Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts and Rules of Court 522
284. Departure Defined and the Reason for the Rule Against Departure -- 525
285. The Kinds of Departures and the Stage of Pleading at Which They May Occur 526
286. The Mode of Taking Advantage of a Departure 528
287. Status of Departure Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts and Rules of Court 529
288. New Assignment—Definition, Necessity and Application 529
289. Form of New Assignment 530
290. New Assignment as in the Nature of a New Declaration 530
291. Status of New Assignment Under Modern Codes. Practice Acts and Rules of Court 531
CHAPTER 24. THE PRODUCTION, TENDER, AND
JOINDER OF ISSUE
292. Production of Issue 582
293. Tender of Issue 532
294. Joinder of Issue 535
PART FIVE. LITIGATING THE CONTROVERSY
CHAPTER 25. TRIAL BY COURT OR BY JURY
295. Trial by Court 536
296. Trial by Jury 538
KoTher & Reppy CornLaw Pldg. *1.5—2 XXIX
HANDBOOK
ON
COMMON-LAW PLEADING
PART ONE
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMON LAW PLEADING
AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN MODERN
PRACTICE
See.
1. The Place of Common-Law Pleading in the Law.
2. The Importance of Common-Law Pleading.
3. The Functions of Pleading at Common Law.
4. The Development of Substantive Law out of Procedure.
5. Relation of Common-Law Pleading to Other Systems.
6. The Status of Common-Law Pleading Under the Codes.
7. Modern Procedure Under Codes, Practice Acts and Rules of Court— Merely Another Step in the Evolutionary Development of the Common Law.
COMMON-LAW PLEADING, the ancient Reign of Edward I (1272~1307)1 and further methodology used for bringing legal issues perfected during the Reign of Edward m before the Courts of England, is as old as the
I. See comment in Stephen, A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions, c. II, Of the -Principal Rules of Pleading, 147 (3d Am. Cd. by Tyler, Washington, B. C. 1892). Cf. The Statement of Sir Mathew Rain, in The ff155017 of the Common Law, c. VIII, 173 (4th Cd., Dublin, 1792).
CHAPTER 1
COMMON-LAW PLEADING AND PRACTICE—STILL
SURVIVES AS THE BASIS OF MODERN
REMEDIAL LAW
Anglo-Saxon Legal System and as new as yesterday’s cases before the Trial and Appellate Courts o( the United States. First formed and cultivated as a science in the
1
BASIS OF MODERN REMEDIAL LAW Ch. 1
In general on the subject of Common-Law Pleading, see the following:
Treatises: Glanvill, Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus regnit Angliae (1187—1189) INew edition edited by George B. Woodhine, 4 vols. (New Haven, 1932)]; Bracton, Do Legibus and Consuetudinibus Angliae (1250-4258) (London, 1640); Casus Placitorum, a collection of decisions of Judges, all of whom lived before 1260, according to Holdsworth, and which in style and subject matter anticipated the Year Books; Yet Assayer (before 1267), a tract on Procedure probably by Ilengham, and reported in Woodbine, Pour Thui’teenth Century Law Tracts (New Haven, 1910); Cadit Assisa (1267 or after), a summary of that part of Bracton’s Treatise dealing with the Assist 0f Mort d’Ancestor fnew edition by Sir Travers Twiss, London, 1878—1883]; Hengham, Magna (1270—1275), based on Bracton, and containing information on the rules of Pleading and Procedure in the Real Actions; Hengharn, Pana (1285 or after), containing Instruction as to Pleading and Procedure in certain Real Actions; Britton, Ancient Pleas of the Crown (Trans. by
F. M. Nichols, 1270); Fleta, An Epitome of Britton (1290); Articuli ad Novas Narrationes (1326— 1340), consisting for most part of Precedents of Pleading; Register of Writs (132G—1377); Pynson’s Book of Entries (1510); Fitzherbert, Natura Brevium (1534), a selection of Writs together with a commentary; Rastell’s Entries (1564); Theloau, Digest of Original Writs and Things Concerning Them (1579), a most orderly treatise on Procedure grounded on the Year Books and printed at the end of the 1687 edition of the Register of Writs; Coke, Book of Entries (1014); Powell, Attorney’s Academy (1623); Buer, Doctrina Placitandi, or The Art and Science of Pleading (1640); Coke, Declarations and Pleadings contained in his eleven Books of Reports (1650); Aston, Placita Latine Rediviva: A Book of Entries (1601—1878); Browne, Formulae beiie Pledtandi: A Boolr of Entries (1671, 1675); Liber Placitandi (London, 1674), a book of Special Pleadings containing Precedents; Vivian, The Exact
Pleader: A Book of Entries (1684); Clift, A New Book of Declarations, Pleadings, Verdicts, Judgments, and Judicial Writs, with the Entries Thereupon (1703, 1719); Lilly, A Collection of Modern Entries (1723, an English edition appeared in 1741); Euer, A System of Pleading, including translation of the Doctrina Placitandi, or the Art and Science of Pleading (Dublin 1701); American Precedents and Declarations (Boston, 1802); Wentworth, A Complete System of Pleadings (London 1797-49); Story, Selection of Pleadings in Civil Actions Subsequent to the Declaration (Salem 1805); Lawes, Elementary Treatise on Pleading (London 1806) list Am. from 1st London Cd. (Portsmouth, N. N. 1808)]; Booth, The Nature and Practice of Real Actions (1st Am. ed. New York 1808); Lawes, Practical Treatise
on Pleading (Boston 1811); Hening, The American Pleader and Lawyer’s Guide, 2 vols. (New York 1811); Chitty, Treatise on Pleading with Precedents, 3 vols. (~pringfleld 1833); Harris, Modern Entries, 2 vols. (Edited by Evans, Baltimore 1821); Jackson, Treatise on the Pleadings and
Practice of Real Actions (Boston 1828); Saunders, The Law of Pleading and Evidence in Civil Actions (2d Am. ed., PhiladelphIa 1831); Could, Treatise on the Principles of pleadings In Civil Actions (1832); Tyrwhltt, Pleading (London 1846); Williams, Introduction to Pleading and Practice (London 1857); Stephen, Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions, a View of the Whole Proceedings in a Suit at Law (3rd Am. ed. from 2d London cd, by Tyler, Washington, D. C. 1892); Evans, Pleading in Civil Actions (2d ed. by William Miller, Chicago 1879); Heard, Principles of Civil Pleading (Boston
1880); Maitland and Baildon, The Court Baron (London 1891); Chitty, Treatise on Pleading and Parties to Actions, with Precedents and Forms (London 1808; 16th Am. ed. by J. C. Perkins, Springfield 1879); Shlnn, Treatise on Pleading and Practice (Chicago 1892); MclCelvey, Principles of Common-Law Pleading (1st ed. New York 1894); Stephen, Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions (Am. ed. from 5th English ed., by Wihiston, Cambridge, 1895); Shinn, Treatise on Pleading and Practice. 2 vols. (Chicago 1890); Poe, Pleading and Practice in Courts of Common Law (Baltimore 1897); Perry, Common-Law Pleading (Boston 1897); Martin, Civil Procedure at Common Law (St. Paul 1905); Maitland, Equity, The Forms of Action at Common Law (Cambridge 1909); Woodbine, Pour ThIrteenth Century Law Tracts [on Pleading] (New Raven 1910), containing: Judicium Essoniorum (1267—1275), a tract on Essoing probably by Hong-ham; Eceptienes ad Cassandum l3revia (7285 or after), [tract on the Writs]; Modus Componendi Brevia or Cum Sit Necessarium (1285 or after), (a tract on the Writs]; Millar, Common-Law Pleading (Chicago 1914); Puterbaugh, Common Law Pleading and Practice In IllInois (6th ed. by L. D. Puterbaugb, Chicago 1916); Scott, Fundamentals of Procedure in Actions at Law (New York 1922); Shipman, Handbook of Common Law Pleading (3d ed. by Ballantine, St. Paul 1923); Winfleld, History of Conspiracy and Abuse of Legal Procedure (Cambridge 1925); Buhlen and Leake’s Precedents of Pleadings in Actions in the King’s Bench Division of the Nigh Court of Justice (8th ed. by W. Wyatt-Paine, London 1924; 9th ed., London 1935); O’Donnell, Procedure and Form~ of Common Law Pleading (Washington, B. C.
1934); Plucknett, Concise History of the Common Law (3d ed, London 1940; 4th ed., London 1948); Fifoot, History and Sources of the Common Law
(London 1949); Odgers, Principles of Pleading and Practice In Civil Actions In the nigh Court of Justice (1st ed., London 1891; 3d e,L, London 1897; 4th ed., London 1900; 5th ed., London 1903; 6th ed.,
2
COMMON-LAW PLEADING
3
(1327—1377) ,~ it has served each succeeding generation as an effective instrument in the Administration of Justice, and today is still very much alive, both as an Operating. System and as a guiding force in the recurring Waves of Reform designed to correct its abuses.
For more than Six Centuries, it was the only Method of Pleading in the Common-Law Courts of England—King’s Bench, ExcheqLondon 1906; 7th ed., London 1912; 14th ed., London 1952).
casebooks~ Ames, A Selection of Cases on Pleading (let ed., Cambridge 1875; 2d ed., Cambridge 1905); Shipp and Daish, Cases Illustrating Common-Law Pleading (Chicago 1903); Keen, Cases on Pleading (Boston 1905); Sunderland, Cases on Common-Law Pleading (Chicago 1013); Lloyd, Cases on Civil Procedure (Indianapolis 1915); Scott, Cases and Other Authorities on Civil Procedure (Cambridge 1915); Whittier and Morgan, Cases on Common-Law Pleading (St Paul 1916); Cook and Hinton, Cases on Pleading at Common Law (Chicago 1923); Reppy, Cases on Pleaffing at Common Law (New York 1928); Maglfl, Cases on Clvii Procedure (St. Paul
1927); Lloyd, Cases on Pleading jn Actions at Law (Indianapolis 1927); Clark, Cases on Common-Law Pleading (Cincinnati 1931); Keigwin, Cases on Common-Law Pleading (1st ed., Rochester 1926; 2d ed., Rochester 1934); Cook and Hinton, Cases on Pleading at Common Law (revision of Part I, Common Law Actions) (Chicago 1940); AtkInson, Introduction to Pleading and Procedure (Columbia 1940); Scott and Simpson, Cases and other Materials on Judicial Remedies (Cambridge 1946); Scott and Simpson, Cases and Other Materials on Civil Procedure (Boston 1950); Reppy, Introduction to Civil Procedure (Buffalo 1954).
5- In referring to the Improvement In the Science of Pleading, Sir Edward Coke declared: ‘In the Reign of Edward III (1327—i277) Pleadings grew to Perfection, both without lameness and curiosity; for then the Judges and Professors of Law were excellently learned, and then Knowledge of the Law
flourished; the Serleants of the Law, &c. drew their own pleadings, and therefore [it was] truly said by Justice Thirning, in the Reign of Henry IV (1399— 1413) that in the time of Edward III the Law was in a higher degree than it had been any time before; for before that time the Manner of Pleading w~s but feeble, In comparison of that It was afterward In the Reign of the same KIng.” 2 Coke, Lit. tieton, 304b, LIb. 3, Cap. 0, ~ 534 (1st Am. from the 16th European ed. by Francis Hargrave and Charles Butler, PhIladelphia, 1812).
uer and Common Pleas—and for two hundred years it was the exclusive procedural device leading to the Trial of Legal Issues in the United StatesIt was, however, subject to many defects,
due largely to the fact that the entire English Procedural System had grown up in a patchwork fashion,3 while the constantly expanding Substantive Law was outgrowing the Forms of Action which gave it birth. In the latter part of the Eighteenth and early part of the Nineteenth Centuries, under the impetus of Bentharn’s searing criticism of the existing System of Law in England, with its Courts, its Special Pleading, and its general atmosphere of Delay and Administrative Inefficiency, these restrictive influences be-caine clear to the people, a demand for Reform sprang up and the movement for the improvement of procedure slowly got under way,
The impact of this development, strangely enough, first bore fruit in America in the State of Louisiana, with the framing of Livingston’s Code of Practice ~ and the Penal Code in 1824, which latter was never adopted.~ This was followed in England by the adoption of the Rilary Rules in 1834,6 and
3. “The Remedial Part of the Law resembled a mass of patchwork, made up at intervals and by pIecemeal, withoutany preconceived plan or system, for the purpose of meeting the exigencies of the times by temporary expedientt” Walker’s Introduction to American Law, Pt, VI, Lecture xxxv, 569 (11th Cd., Boston, 1905).
4. Enacted by Louisiana in 1805.
5. Livingston’s Penal Code, which was a product of Intensive preparation, and was published in 1824, was never enacted Into Lair as such by the Legislature of Louisiana.
Edward LIvingston was born in 1764 and died In 1836, or about six years after Field began his ProfessIonal Career. A native of New York, and a brother of Chancellor Robert It. Livingston, his Penal Code of Louisiana, which was published in 1824, attracted great attention in England and on the Continent. David Dudley Field Centenary Essays, 19 (EdIted by Reppy, New York, 1949).
t The Hilary Rules, designed to restore the ancient
strict Common-Law theory as to the Scope of the
BASIS OF MODERN REMEDIAL LAW
in the United States by the New York Code of Procedure in 1848.~ Thereafter, in relatively quick succession, the English Parliament enacted the Common-Law Procedure Acts of 1852,8 1854,° and 1860,10 and the Supreme Court of Judicature Acts of 187311 and 1875,12 now for the most part replaced by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act of 1925.13 And in 1938 the Supreme Court of the United States made effective the New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.14 In conseGeneral Issue, were promulgated pursuant to the Law Amendment Act, 3 & 4 Wm. IV, c. 42, ~ 1 (1833).
For the history and effect of the Iliiary Rules in England, see article by Holdsworth, The New Rules of Pleading of the Hilary Term, 1 Cam.L.J. 261 (1923); for the history and effect of the Hilary Rules in the Several States of the United States, see, lieppy, The Ililary Rules and Their Effect on Negative and Affirmative Pleas under Modern Codes and Practice Acts, 6 N.Y.UL.Q.Rev. 95 (1929),
7- “After careful consideration and amendment by the New York Legislature, the draft tot a proposed code] was enacted into Law on April 12, 1548, N. Y.Laws 1848, c. 379, to become effective on July 1 of the same year. Written in the form of a Code Containing 391 Sections, it became known at once as the Code of Procedure or as the Field Code. This title was far too broad in scope as the Act related only to a small portion of the Adjective Law, and expressly retained the Old Common Law or Statutory Rule where not expressly abolished by the Code.” Reppy, The Field Codification Concept, in the David Dudley Field Centenary Essays, 17, 33— 34 (Edited by Reppy, New York, 1949).
8. 15 & 10 Vict. c. 76 (1852).
9- 17 & 18 Vict. C. 125 (1854).
it 23 & 24 Vict. c. 120 (1860).
11. 36 & 37 Vict. c. 06 (1873).
12- 38 & 39 Viet, c- 77 (1875).
13. 15 & 10 Geo. V. e. 49 (1925).
14. The Federal Rules were drafted by an Advisory Committee appointed by the Supreme Court under the authority of a Federal Statute enacted In j034. Act of June 19, 1934, ii 651, ~ 1, 2; 48 Stat. 1064, 28 U.S.C.A, ~ 723b, fl3c. See, on the earlier phases of the struggle for Federal Procedural Reform, artide by Shelton, The Reform of Judicial Procedure, 1 Va,flRev. 89 (1913).
For detailed Information concerning the adoptIon, background and drafting of the Federal Rules of CivIl Procedure, see Clark, Handbook of the Law
quence thereof, both at home and abroad, the System of Pleading as developed at Common Law, has been Modified by Judicial Decision, Changed by Statute, or by Rule of Court, and in some Jurisdictions ostensibly swept away in its entirety—so the Reformers thought—but subsequent events have cast grave doubts on this conclusion, as the solemn and stubborn fact is that Common-Law Pleading still survives as the basis of our Modern Remedial Law.’~
Select any individual and you will find that he is what he is today because of what his father and mother were yesterday; he cannot escape his ancestry, but must make his way through life with the physical, mental, moral and spiritual assets with which he was naturally endowed by the union of his parents. It is true that within certain limits he may seem to change with his environment,
of code Pleading, e. I, Eistory, Systems and Function of Pleading, 31—39 (24 Cd., St. Paul 1947).
In this connection it should be recalled that progress in the Reform of Criminal Procedure has followed up and to some extent paralleled the Reform of the Civil Procedure which has been under way since 1848. In 1930 the American Law Institute issued its Code of Criminal Procedure, which has subsequently substantially influenced State Criminal Procedural Developments In the Several States, In 1941, pursuant to the rule-making authority granted to the Supreme Court by Congress, the AdvIsory Committee on Rules of Criminal Procedure was appointed by the Court, which published two Prellmiaary Drafts, with motes, and its Final Report to the Court in July. 1944. The rules suggested therein were adopted, with certain modifications, by the Court on December 26, 1944, to become effective on March 21, 1946. The Court also gave directions that the Rules be reported to Congress In accordance with the terms of the Enabling Act, 323 U.S. 821, 65 S.Ct. CLXXIV (1944).
See, also, Editorial, “To Form a More Perfect Union”,
32 A.B.A!. 90 (1940); Desslon, The New Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure, Part I, 55 Yale L.J.
694—714 (1946); Part II, 58 Yale L.J. 197—257
(1947).
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