Significance

• Petitions, also called complaints, are filed with a court for any reason a person or entity thinks he may receive compensation because of a wrong committed on him by another person or entity. The petitioner (plaintiff) must show a valid legal reason for the wrong committed against him. When he files a petition or complaint, he is petitioning the court for compensation (not necessarily monetary) for the wrong-doing allegedly caused by the defendant (respondent).
  
  

Time Frame

• Once a petition is filed with the court, the petitioner has a certain amount of days (depending on state, local or federal rules of procedure) to serve the accused with the petition. Once the defendant is served, she has a certain amount of days to file an answer and counter claim to the petition (again, this time frame depends on state, local or federal rules). Once the answer and counter claim have been filed, the petitioner then has a certain amount of time, dictated by state, local or federal rules of procedure, to file an answer to the counter claim.
  Throughout the entire lawsuit, everything filed has a time frame to go with it. In federal court, the court will send out an order once it receives the petition. The order dictates--from the time of the filing of the petition--such things as discovery due dates and status hearing dates.
  
  

Features

• A petition or complaint outlines the alleged wrong. In addition, it must outline jurisdiction. Jurisdiction tells the court why they have jurisdiction over the parties as opposed to another type of court. Jurisdictional requirements include the amount being sued for, the county location in a state court, or in the case of a federal lawsuit, the jurisdictional requirements required for a federal lawsuit.
  
  

Identification

• A petition or complaint will have a heading, as do all court pleadings. The heading includes the type of court, the district, the case number, the division, the petitioner's name and the respondent's name.
  
  

Size

• Some courts limit the size of a petition. If there is a limit, the petition must present the legal request behind the alleged wrongdoing, it must briefly state the wrongdoing, and it must state the relief requested. Petitions can be as short as a few pages to over 20 pages in length, especially in petitions that contain more than one count of wrongdoing.
  
  

Effects

• Once a petition is filed with the court, the clock starts ticking. The defendant must answer the petition or risk being served with a default judgment. If a default judgment is entered and served on the defendant, he may have no recourse to the relief granted in the default judgment.