theory of pleading doctrine
theory-of-pleading doctrine. The principle — now outmoded — that one must prove a case exactly as pleaded. • Various modern codes and rules of civil procedure have abolished this strict pleading-and-proof requirement. For example, Fed. R. Civ. P. 15 allows amendment of pleadings to conform to the evidence. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 881; Pleading 370. C.J.S. Pleading §§ 763, 766–768, 770.]