Pleadings consist of which of the following documents?

Pleadings are formal written documents filed with the court that state the parties' claims and defenses. In the context of a legal proceeding, the primary pleadings include the complaint and the answer.

The complaint is the initial document that a plaintiff files to initiate a lawsuit, outlining the legal reasons for the suit and the facts supporting the claims. The answer is the document filed by the defendant in response, which addresses the allegations made in the complaint, admitting or denying each point.

The other options include types of documents relevant to the legal process but do not fall under the definition of pleadings. A counterclaim is a claim made by the defendant in response to the complaint, alongside the answer, but it is not considered a primary pleading on its own. A motion is a request for the court to make a specific ruling, rather than a pleading. An appeal and a judgment fall under different categories of legal documents. A summons is a document that notifies a defendant of the lawsuit and requires their appearance in court, while a deposition is a form of discovery in which a witness provides sworn testimony outside of court. Thus, the correct characterization of pleadings is specifically the complaint and the answer.