Legal Definitions - artful pleading

Definition: Artful pleading is a way of phrasing a legal claim in a clever or deceptive manner to prevent a case from being moved from state court to federal court.

Example: A plaintiff may disguise a federal claim as solely a state-law claim in order to prevent a defendant from removing the case from state court to federal court. This is an example of artful pleading.

This definition explains that artful pleading is a tactic used in legal cases to prevent a case from being moved to a different court. The example provided shows how a plaintiff may use artful pleading to keep a case in state court instead of federal court. This definition is written in simple language that a high school student can understand.