Rule 7.Pleadings allowed; form of motions

Rule 7 keeps the pleading stage from sprawling. Only a defined set of documents qualifies as a pleading: a complaint and answer, a reply to a counterclaim, an answer to a cross claim, and third-party complaints and answers when someone new is brought into the case under Rule 14. Nothing else counts as a pleading unless the court specifically orders a reply to an answer or third-party answer. Older common-law pleading devices — demurrers, pleas, and exceptions for insufficiency — are abolished outright; a party who thinks a pleading is legally deficient raises that through a motion, not a demurrer.

The rule also sets ground rules for motions. A motion asking the court for an order must ordinarily be in writing, state its grounds with particularity, and spell out the relief requested — unless it's made orally during a hearing or trial. The same formatting rules that apply to pleadings apply to motions, and every motion must be signed under Rule 11. If the motion relies on affidavits or other supporting papers, it has to identify them. Courts may also allow oral argument on civil motions by phone or other remote means, with each side generally covering its own cost of participating that way.