In civil procedure, what is the difference between a caption and the body of a pleading?

• A. The caption identifies the court and parties; the body contains the pleading's legal requests and statements.
• B. The caption lists the factual allegations; the body states the court rules.
• C. The caption is optional; the body includes the case number.
• D. The caption includes the parties; the body includes only facts.

Answer: (C)

The key distinction is where the procedural information versus the substantive content sits in a pleading. The caption identifies the court, the parties, and the case number, serving as the header that locates the case in the system. The body is where the substance goes—the factual allegations that establish what happened, the legal claims or causes of action being asserted, and the specific relief or remedies being sought.

So the caption includes the court name, the parties, and the docket number (often shown at the top of the document). The body begins with jurisdiction or introductory statements and then lays out the facts, the legal theories, and the prayers for relief. If you see the case number listed in the body, that would be unusual; it’s typically part of the caption.

From the given choices, the accurate idea is that the caption identifies the court and parties (and includes the case number), while the body contains the pleading’s legal claims and factual statements. The claim that the caption is optional or that the body contains the case number misstates how captions are used and what goes into the body.