Distinguished from Pleadings

Basic Distinction

A pleading is a written statement of the parties' respective claims and defenses submitted for the purpose of presenting, narrowing, and joining the issues in a civil action. A motion is an application for relief other than by a pleading. The difference is not merely a matter of label: a pleading frames the controversy, while a motion asks the court to act on a matter arising in the controversy.

Under Rule 6, pleadings are the authorized procedural papers by which a party asserts a claim, denies a claim, raises defenses, or pleads a counterclaim, cross-claim, third-party claim, complaint-in-intervention, or reply when the Rules allow one. Under Rule 15, a motion is the vehicle for asking the court for an order, direction, permission, sanction, provisional relief, procedural adjustment, or disposition that is not itself the assertion of a claim or defense by pleading.

The phrase other than by a pleading is the controlling idea. A party should use a pleading when the Rules require the party to allege ultimate facts constituting a cause of action, defense, or claim for affirmative relief. A party should use a motion when the Rules permit or require the party to request a ruling from the court on a procedural, incidental, evidentiary, provisional, or sometimes dispositive matter.

Pleadings as Issue-Forming Papers

Pleadings perform the issue-forming function of civil procedure. They notify the court and the adverse party of the material factual positions of each side, define the scope of trial, and determine which allegations are admitted, denied, or deemed controverted by operation of the Rules.

A complaint states the plaintiff's cause or causes of action. An answer responds to the complaint by specific denial, admission, or affirmative defenses, and may also contain counterclaims. A counterclaim asserts a claim by the defending party against an opposing party. A cross-claim asserts a claim by one party against a co-party arising out of the transaction or occurrence involved in the action or a related property. A third-party complaint brings into the case a person not yet a party who may be liable for all or part of the plaintiff's claim. A complaint-in-intervention allows an intervenor to assert a claim in a pending action when intervention is proper. A reply is used only in the situations recognized by the Rules, most notably to address new matters when necessary under the governing pleading rules.

The essential office of a pleading is to state ultimate facts. Ultimate facts are the important and substantial facts that form the basis of the right asserted or the defense invoked. Pleadings should not be overloaded with evidentiary facts, arguments, conclusions of law, or anticipated proof. Their function is to tell the court what material facts are in dispute and what relief is claimed as a consequence of those facts.

Because pleadings join issues, they have consequences that motions generally do not have. Material averments may be deemed admitted if not specifically denied when the Rules require a denial. Defenses and objections may be waived if not seasonably pleaded or raised in an authorized motion, subject to the non-waivable matters preserved by the Rules. A defendant may be declared in default for failure to answer, but not merely for failing to file a pleading-like response to every motion unless a rule or order specifically requires a response.

Motions as Applications for Court Action

A motion is a request addressed to the court for a specific relief in a pending proceeding. It may ask the court to allow, direct, suspend, deny, strike, dismiss, admit, reconsider, execute, defer, amend, compel, protect, or otherwise regulate something in the case. Its defining feature is that it invokes judicial action without itself being one of the pleadings by which claims and defenses are constituted.

All motions must be in writing, except those made in open court or in the course of a hearing or trial. A written motion must state the relief sought and the grounds supporting it. When the motion depends on facts not already appearing in the record, or when the Rules require factual support, it should be accompanied by affidavits, documents, or other supporting papers sufficient to justify the relief requested.

A motion may be procedural, such as a motion for extension to file an answer, postponement, admission of a pleading, or setting of pre-trial. It may be corrective, such as a motion for reconsideration or new trial. It may be clarificatory, such as a motion for bill of particulars. It may be dispositive, such as a motion to dismiss on grounds allowed by the Rules, a motion for judgment on the pleadings, a motion for summary judgment, or a demurrer to evidence. Even when a motion may terminate the case, it remains a motion because the relief is sought by application to the court, not by asserting a new pleading-based claim.

A motion normally assumes that there is already a case, a pleading, an order, a judgment, an incident, or a procedural step on which the court is being asked to act. It is therefore incidental to the main action unless the Rules make the motion itself the mode of obtaining a particular adjudication.

Comparison Table

Formal Similarities Do Not Erase the Distinction

Written motions and pleadings share some formal requirements because both are papers filed in court. They generally bear a caption, title, docket number, designation, signature, address, and proof of service when service is required. The Rules on form, signing, filing, and service may apply to both, so far as consistent with their nature.

These formal similarities do not convert a motion into a pleading. A document may look like a pleading but still be a motion if it asks for court action rather than alleges a claim or defense. Conversely, a party cannot avoid the rules on pleadings by styling a claim for affirmative relief as a motion when the Rules require that claim to be pleaded.

The court looks at the substance of the paper, not merely its caption. A paper denominated as a motion may be treated according to its real nature if it asserts matters that properly belong in a pleading, and a paper denominated as a pleading may be treated as a motion if it merely seeks an order on an incident. Substance controls because procedural labels cannot defeat the orderly presentation of claims, defenses, and incidents.

Practical Consequences of the Distinction

Claims and Defenses Must Be Pleaded

A claim for affirmative relief must be set out in the proper pleading. A plaintiff must state the cause of action in the complaint. A defendant who has a counterclaim must assert it in the answer when the Rules so require. A defending party who relies on affirmative defenses must raise them in the manner required by the Rules. A motion is not the ordinary place to assert a new cause of action or a compulsory counterclaim.

This matters because pleadings determine the field of litigation. If a claim or defense is omitted from the pleading when the Rules require its inclusion, the party may suffer waiver, exclusion, or loss of the procedural advantage attached to timely pleading. A motion cannot cure the omission unless the Rules allow amendment, supplementation, intervention, or another proper corrective step.

Motions Ask for Relief on a Specific Incident

A motion should identify the particular relief requested and the grounds for that relief. If the relief is dismissal, the motion must rely only on grounds allowed by the Rules. If the relief is reconsideration, the motion must point to the error or matter warranting reconsideration. If the relief is extension, postponement, admission, or execution, the motion must show the factual and legal basis for that procedural action.

The motion does not replace the pleading that the Rules require. For example, a motion for extension to file an answer does not answer the complaint. A motion to admit an answer does not itself supply the answer unless the answer is actually attached or filed as required. An opposition to a motion to dismiss is not an answer. A motion to dismiss, even when allowed, does not function as a responsive pleading that joins all issues on the merits.

Periods and Default Are Affected Differently

Pleadings are tied to reglementary periods for filing claims, answers, replies, amendments, and responsive pleadings. Failure to file an answer within the proper period may expose the defendant to default, subject to the Rules on valid service, proper motion, and the court's determination. The consequence arises because the answer is the required pleading that responds to the complaint.

Motions have their own periods and effects. Some motions may suspend, affect, or relate to a period only when the Rules so provide. Filing a motion that is not authorized, prohibited, or dilatory does not automatically protect a party from the consequences of failing to file the required pleading. A party must therefore distinguish between a motion that the Rules recognize as affecting the next procedural step and a motion that merely asks for relief without tolling any period.

Admissions and Denials Operate Primarily Through Pleadings

The rules on specific denial, actionable documents, affirmative defenses, counterclaims, and deemed admissions are pleading rules. They operate because pleadings are the papers through which parties assert and contest material allegations. Motions may contain factual assertions, but those assertions do not ordinarily perform the same admission-and-denial function unless the Rules or the court's order gives them that effect.

For this reason, a party should not rely on a motion as the place to deny the material allegations of a complaint. The denial belongs in the answer. A motion may attack a pleading or seek a procedural ruling, but the pleading remains the normal instrument for traversing facts, preserving defenses, and defining what must be proved.

Litigious and Non-Litigious Motions

The amended Rule 15 classifies motions according to the degree to which the requested relief may affect adverse rights. This classification belongs to motions, not pleadings, and it helps show why a motion is a request for judicial action rather than an issue-forming paper.

Non-litigious motions are those that the court may act upon without prejudicing the rights of adverse parties. They generally involve routine or administrative steps in the progress of the case, such as issuance of alias summons, extension to file an answer, postponement, issuance of a writ of execution, or similar matters. They are not set for hearing and are resolved promptly on the basis of the motion and the record.

Litigious motions are those that may substantially affect the rights of the adverse party or the disposition of the case. Examples include a motion for bill of particulars, motion to dismiss, motion for new trial, motion for reconsideration, motion for execution pending appeal, motion to amend after a responsive pleading has been filed, motion for intervention, motion for judgment on the pleadings, motion for summary judgment, demurrer to evidence, and motion to declare a defendant in default. These motions require service on the adverse party and an opportunity to oppose in the manner and period provided by the Rules. The court may call a hearing when necessary, but motion practice under the amended rules is primarily written and designed to avoid needless delay.

The litigious or non-litigious character of a motion affects how the court acts on it. It does not change the nature of the paper into a pleading. A motion to declare a defendant in default is litigious because it may deprive the defendant of the standing to participate as a defending party, but it remains a motion. A motion for summary judgment may result in judgment without full trial, but it remains a motion because it asks the court to decide whether the record shows that judgment may be rendered as a matter of law.

Dispositive Motions Are Still Motions

Some motions can end the case or dispose of a claim. A motion to dismiss, when based on a ground allowed by the Rules, seeks termination without proceeding to full trial. A motion for judgment on the pleadings seeks judgment based on the admissions and contents of the pleadings. A motion for summary judgment seeks judgment when there is no genuine issue as to a material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. A demurrer to evidence tests the sufficiency of the plaintiff's or claimant's evidence after presentation of evidence.

These devices are not pleadings simply because they may result in a final disposition. They are procedural applications asking the court to decide whether the existing pleadings, admissions, evidence, or record justify a ruling without the ordinary continuation of trial. Their availability, timing, supporting papers, and effects are governed by the specific rules for each motion.

The distinction is important in drafting and in procedural strategy. A motion for judgment on the pleadings relies on what the pleadings contain. It cannot replace the pleadings from which admissions are drawn. A motion for summary judgment relies on the record, affidavits, depositions, admissions, or other materials showing the absence of genuine factual controversy. It cannot be used to plead a missing cause of action. A demurrer to evidence relies on the evidence already presented by the claimant. It does not perform the office of an answer or affirmative defense.

Omnibus Treatment of Objections in Motions

A motion attacking a pleading, order, judgment, or proceeding must generally include all objections then available to the movant. Objections not included are deemed waived, subject to the exceptions preserved by the Rules, such as lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, litis pendentia, res judicata, and prescription when properly apparent or invoked under the governing rules.

This omnibus treatment reinforces the difference between motions and pleadings. A pleading states the party's claims and defenses as part of the case structure. A motion attacking a pleading or proceeding is an opportunity to raise available objections to a particular procedural or substantive defect. Because motion practice can delay proceedings if objections are raised piecemeal, the Rules require consolidation of available objections in the proper motion.

Amendment, Supplementation, and Withdrawal

Pleadings are amended or supplemented under the rules governing amended and supplemental pleadings. Amendment changes or corrects allegations, claims, defenses, parties, or other matters in a pleading. Supplementation sets forth transactions, occurrences, or events that happened after the date of the pleading sought to be supplemented.

Motions are not amended in the same sense as pleadings. A defective motion may be denied, corrected by leave of court, supplemented with supporting papers when allowed, withdrawn, or replaced by a proper motion if the period and rules permit. If the real problem is an insufficient pleading, the proper remedy is usually amendment of the pleading, not the filing of a motion that informally adds missing ultimate facts.

Use of Evidence and Supporting Papers

Pleadings are generally not evidence. They are allegations, admissions, denials, and claims or defenses. Although judicial admissions may arise from pleadings, the pleaded facts still serve a procedural function distinct from proof at trial. Evidence is ordinarily presented later, unless the Rules allow judgment or relief based on the pleadings, admissions, affidavits, or records.

Motions often depend on proof outside the bare allegations of pleadings. A motion for postponement may need facts showing necessity and lack of intent to delay. A motion for summary judgment requires materials showing whether a genuine issue exists. A motion for new trial may require affidavits or documents supporting the ground invoked. A motion for execution pending appeal requires good reasons appearing in a special order. The need for supporting papers flows from the motion's character as a request for immediate court action.

Substance Over Caption

Courts are not bound by the title chosen by the filing party when the contents show the paper's true nature. A paper called a motion but asserting a claim against an opposing party may require treatment as a pleading, with the consequences of filing, service, amendment, docket fees when applicable, and responsive periods. A paper called a manifestation or comment may be treated as a motion if it seeks affirmative court action.

However, liberal construction cannot be used to defeat mandatory distinctions. A party cannot avoid the period to answer by filing a paper that argues the merits but does not comply with the requirements of an answer. A party cannot raise a compulsory counterclaim through a mere motion if the Rules require it to be pleaded. A party cannot obtain dispositive relief through an informal request when the Rules require a motion with specific grounds, supporting papers, service, and opportunity to oppose.

Operational Summary

• A pleading is the instrument for stating claims, defenses, admissions, denials, and issues.
• A motion is the instrument for asking the court to grant relief other than by a pleading.
• Pleadings define what the case is about; motions regulate, challenge, advance, or dispose of matters within the case.
• A motion may attack a pleading, rely on a pleading, seek leave to amend a pleading, or ask for judgment based on pleadings, but it does not thereby become a pleading.
• A pleading may require verification or certification when the Rules so provide; a motion requires supporting affidavits or papers when the requested relief depends on facts or when the Rules require them.
• Failure to file a required pleading may cause default, waiver, or loss of claims or defenses; failure to oppose a motion ordinarily permits resolution of that motion but does not substitute for the consequences attached to pleadings.
• The caption of the paper is less important than its function, but the proper procedural form matters because rights, periods, waiver, and court authority depend on whether the Rules require a pleading or permit a motion.