As lawyers, we get to debate some of the most pressing questions of our time: the limits of Congress’s commerce power; the reach of the Due Process Clause; "pleaded" versus "pled."
Yes, you read that right: There is a bitter, friend-splitting debate raging among lawyers about whether to use "pleaded" or "pled." (For our part, we almost ended up at Weehawken over the row.) Both words get a lot of play in legal writing. We think that it’s time for one usage to rule them all but we disagree about which word to send to the dustbin. Chandler always uses "pled." Boone always uses "pleaded." The gloves are off.
