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Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure a complaint is the first pleading in American law filed by a plaintiff which initiates a lawsuit. [1] A complaint sets forth the relevant allegations of fact that give rise to one or more legal causes of action along with a prayer for relief and sometimes a statement of damages claimed (an ad quod damnum clause).
The FRCP does not entirely eliminate code pleading. The FRCP still requires that certain pleadings state facts with particularity. An example is Federal Rule 9(b) which states that "in alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake". [3] This is considered a special pleading rule.
The defendants have limited time to respond, depending on the State or Federal rules. A defendant's failure to answer a complaint can result in a default judgment in favor of the petitioner. For example, in United States federal courts, any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party may serve a summons and complaint in a civil case. [7]
Following the chief complaint in medical history taking, a history of the present illness (abbreviated HPI) [1] (termed history of presenting complaint (HPC) in the UK) refers to a detailed interview prompted by the chief complaint or presenting symptom (for example, pain).
A prayer for relief, in the law of civil procedure, is a portion of a complaint in which the plaintiff describes the remedies that the plaintiff seeks from the court. For example, the plaintiff may ask for an award of compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, an injunction to make the defendant stop a certain activity, or all of these.
[citation needed] [1] The chief complaint is a concise statement describing the symptom, problem, condition, diagnosis, physician-recommended return, or other reason for a medical encounter. [2] In some instances, the nature of a patient's chief complaint may determine if services are covered by health insurance. [3]
Alternative pleading (or pleading in the alternative) is the legal term [1] [2] in the law of the United States for a form of pleading that permits a party in a court action to argue multiple possibilities that may be mutually exclusive by making use of legal fiction.
In medical terms, this is known as a heteroanamnesis, or collateral history, in contrast to a self-reporting anamnesis. Medical history taking may also be impaired by various factors impeding a proper doctor-patient relationship , such as transitions to physicians that are unfamiliar to the patient.