Pleadings
The process of a formal exchange of written documentation between the litigants defining the contested issues of fact, and, to a lesser extent, law, giving rise to the dispute between the parties.
Source

Title: The Law of Torts, 5/e
Statements in writing given by each party in a legal case to his or her opponent, stating the facts relied on to support her case and giving all details her opponent needs to know in order to prepare the case in answer.
Source

Title: Women, Law and Equality
By: Edited by Kim Brooks and Carissima Mathen