The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case.
Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, technicalities and difficulties in drafting pleadings and claims and defences could be dismissed for trivial errors.
As an extreme instance, a learned judge in the 19th century challenged a pleading for putting the year without adding A.D., on the ground that "non constat that A.D. might not be intended".
[1] Some practitioners made it their business to frame pleadings, rather than to appear in court or to write legal opinions, and were called special pleaders.
The system had largely fallen into disuse as a speciality by the beginning of the 20th century,[1] although it continues to exist in India.