ALTERNATIVE PLEADING: II

In any save the most elementary of litigation, the practicing lawyer frequently encounters difficulty in estimating with confidence, in advance of the trial, what precise fact propositions may be established by the evidence. As a result, he desires to preserve for himself the maximum area in which to maneuver as the testimony unfolds. One device for assuring such flexibility is the use of alternative pleading. The present series of articles undertakes to depict the extent to which the pressure of this common professional experience is reflected in our civil practice.