Editing Common law (section)

=== Common law pleading and its abolition in the early 20th century ===

For centuries, through to the 19th century, the common law acknowledged only specific [[Form of action|forms of action]], and required very careful drafting of the opening pleading (called a [[writ]]) to slot into exactly one of them: [[debt]], [[detinue]], [[covenant (law)|covenant]], special [[assumpsit]], general assumpsit, [[trespass]], [[trover]], [[replevin]], case (or [[trespass on the case]]), and [[ejectment]].<ref>F. W. Maitland, ''The Forms of Action at Common Law'', 1909, [https://legacy.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/maitland-formsofaction.asp Lecture I], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622144219/http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/maitland-formsofaction.asp |date=22 June 2016 }} or John Jay McKelvey, Principles of Common Law Pleading (1894) or [[James Barr Ames|Ames]], [[Joseph Chitty|Chitty]], [[Henry John Stephen|Stephen]], [[James Bradley Thayer|Thayer]] and other writers named in the preface of Perry's [http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/commonlawpleadin00perr.pdf ''Common-law Pleading: its history and principles''] (Boston, 1897) or Koffler and Reppy, 1969, [https://kateofgaia.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/handbook-of-common-law-pleadings1.pdf ''Handbook of Common Law Pleading'']</ref> To initiate a lawsuit, a pleading had to be drafted to meet myriad technical requirements: correctly categorizing the case into the correct legal pigeonhole (pleading in the alternative was not permitted), and using specific legal terms and phrases that had been traditional for centuries. Under the old common law pleading standards, a suit by a ''pro se'' ("for oneself", without a lawyer) party was all but impossible, and there was often considerable procedural jousting at the outset of a case over minor wording issues.

One of the major reforms of the late 19th century and early 20th century was the abolition of common law pleading requirements.<ref>The remainder of the "common law" discussed in the rest of the article remained intact; all that was abolished were the highly technical requirements for language of the paper provided by the plaintiff to the defendant to initiate a case.</ref> A plaintiff can initiate a case by giving the defendant "a short and plain statement" of facts that constitute an alleged wrong.<ref>E.g., Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 4, a complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief".</ref> This reform moved the attention of courts from technical scrutiny of words to a more rational consideration of the facts, and opened access to justice far more broadly.<ref>E.g., Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 1, civil procedure rules "should be construed, administered, and employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding".</ref>