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In this lesson, you will learn the parts of a complaint and what should be included in each section.
Parts of a complaint
- Sample complaint
- What should the complaint include?
- Caption and parties
- The title
- The body
- The verification
- The certificate of service
Transcript
If you write your own complaint, the layout is similar to any other pleading. Here, there\’s a complaint, verification, and a certificate of service.
The complaint has a caption, a title, a body, signature, verification, and certificate of service. It might also have exhibits attached.
In the caption, you want the name of the court jurisdiction, the name of the parties, and additional information like case numbers or court division number.
The title should be accurate, descriptive and clear.
The body begins with an introduction and includes parts like a statement about jurisdiction and venue, a statement of facts, the cause or causes of action, the harm done and the prayer for relief, which is a statement telling the judge what you would like as a result of your injury.
A verification is a declaration under oath that a pleading is true. Once you\’re done writing your complaint, have it notarized. This will satisfy the verification requirement.
Always include a certificate of service with pleadings and motions place it at the end of the complaint and file it with the clerk along with the complaint.