COMMON COUNT
A traditional type of COMMON-LAW PLEADING that is used in actions to recover a debt of money of the defendant based upon an express or implied promise to pay after performance had been rendered. In a common-count PLEADING, the plaintiff
sets forth in account form the facts that constitute the basis of his or her claim, such as money had and received and goods sold and delivered.
Common counts were once used to allege the
grounds for actions of ASSUMPSIT, a common-law
action for the recovery of money owed by a
defendant to the plaintiff. The four classes of
common counts were (1) the indebitatus count;
(2) the QUANTUM MERUIT count; (3) the QUAN-
TUM VALEBANT count; and (4) the ACCOUNT
STATED count. The generalized nature of com-
mon counts enabled a plaintiff to take advantage
of any ground of liability for which proof was
available within the limits of the action of
assumpsit. This is in contrast to special counts
within which a plaintiff had to state a particular
claim or be denied relief.
Common counts are no longer used for
pleading purposes but have been replaced by
complaints according to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and state codes of civil procedure.
