A. CAPTION; NAMES OF PARTIES. Every pleading shall contain a caption setting forth the name of the court, the title of the action, the file number, and a designation as in subsection A of Section 7 of this act. In the petition the title of the action shall include the names of all the parties, but in other pleadings it is sufficient to state the name of the first party on each side with an appropriate indication of other parties. In a third-party petition the title of the action shall include the names of the parties to the third-party action; a counterclaim and a cross-claim shall include the names of the claimants and the parties against whom the claim is asserted; and a motion and petition in intervention shall include the names of the intervenors and the adverse parties. When a party is suing or being sued in a representative capacity, this should be stated in the title of the action.
§ 2010.Form of Pleadings
Chapter 39: Oklahoma Pleading Code · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2010 sets the form every pleading must follow: a caption naming the court, parties, and file number, averments broken into numbered paragraphs limited to a single set of facts, and permission to adopt earlier statements by reference or attach exhibits that become part of the pleading.
Full Text of § 2010
B. PARAGRAPHS; SEPARATE STATEMENTS. All averments of claim or defense shall be made in numbered paragraphs, the contents of each of which shall be limited as far as practicable to a statement of a single set of circumstances; and a paragraph may be referred to by number in all succeeding pleadings. Each claim founded upon a separate transaction or occurrence and each defense other than denials shall be stated in a separate count or defense whenever a separation facilitates the clear presentation of the matters set forth.
C. ADOPTION BY REFERENCE; EXHIBITS. Statements in a pleading may be adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading or in another pleading or in any motion. A copy of any written instrument which is an exhibit to a pleading is a part thereof for all purposes.
Amendment History
Added by Laws 1984, SB 417, c. 164, §10, eff. 11/1/1984.
Plain-English Summary
This is the housekeeping counterpart to Section 2008's substance rules. Every pleading needs a caption with the court's name, the case title, the file number, and the pleading's designation; the petition must list every party by name, while later pleadings can shorten that to the first party on each side. Third-party petitions, counterclaims, cross-claims, and interventions each have their own naming conventions, and anyone suing or being sued in a representative capacity must say so in the title.
Averments go in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practical to a single set of circumstances, so later pleadings and arguments can reference them by number. Claims from separate transactions or occurrences, and defenses other than denials, get separated into their own counts when that separation helps clarify the matter. Finally, a pleading may adopt an earlier statement by reference, from elsewhere in itself, another pleading, or a motion, and any written instrument attached as an exhibit becomes part of the pleading for every purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has to be in the caption of an Oklahoma pleading?
The name of the court, the title of the action, the file number, and the pleading's designation, per subsection A, with the petition listing all parties by name.
Do the paragraphs in a pleading have to be numbered?
Yes -- subsection B requires averments to be set out in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practical to a single set of circumstances, so they can be referenced by number later.
If a document is attached to a pleading as an exhibit, does it count as part of the pleading?
Yes -- subsection C makes a copy of any written instrument attached as an exhibit part of the pleading for all purposes.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
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