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Preparing to write
- The purpose of legal writing is to get issues on the record, to talk to the judge, and to put the other side on notice of your position.
- When writing, be clear, credible, and direct. Use correct citations and only terms and concepts you understand.
- Characterize your opponent’s arguments and facts fairly, and don’t clutter your documents with unnecessary stuff, typos, and grammatical errors.
- Use the active voice. Don’t say, “The money was paid by the defendant.” Say, “The defendant paid the money.”
Types of pleadings and motions
- As a request for an order, a motion must persuade the judge to rule in your favor.
- There are numerous motion types, including the motion to dismiss, motion for summary judgment, and motion to reconsider, each asking the judge to do a different specific thing.
- A pleading starts a complaint or responds to one.
- With a pleading, you simply have to list facts in chronological order that might be proven later. You’re not asking a court to make a decision now.
- In a pleading, you don’t have to persuade or prove anything, but you will need supporting documents.
- Types of pleadings include the complaint, counterclaim, or an answer to a complaint or counterclaim.
Parts of pleadings and motions
- The caption is located at the top of a motion or pleading. It lists the name of the court where the case was filed.
- Next are the names of the parties and additional information, like a case number.
- The document title follows.
- In a motion, write a statement about what you want to “move” the court to do. It argues a point and cites cases and statutes. The tone is persuasive.
- In the body of a pleading, write a statement of facts that show the need for relief and a statement of relief in which you say what you want as a result of the case
- Both document types end with the name, signature, and contact information of the person filing or his/her attorney.
- The certificate of service declares that you gave the other side the documents.
Transcript
Welcome to lesson three of our course on introductory legal skills. I\’m Portia, and lesson three covers topics related to basic legal writing. This lesson will cover preparing to write, types of pleadings and motions, and the various parts of pleadings and motions.
There are three main reasons to do legal writing, To get issues on the record, to talk to the judge, and to put the other side on notice of your position.
Lots of documents are called legal, but not all are for litigation.
Litigation documents are customized to the need of individual parties and are used during open legal cases. This lesson is about litigation documents.
The dues of legal writing are all about being clear and credible.
Clear is uncluttered, so you leave white space and use correction citations to the law.
Credible means using terms and concepts you understand.
If you characterize your opponent\’s arguments, you must do so fairly.
The same goes for his set of facts.
The don\’ts of legal writing also have to do with being clear.
Don\’t beat around the bush. You don\’t want anybody to mistake your meaning, so don\’t clutter your documents with unnecessary stuff, typos, and grammatical errors.
To be clear, don\’t use the passive voice. Use the active.
Don\’t say the money was paid by the defendant. Say the defendant paid the money.
Before you write, ask yourself, who is my audience, what issues am I addressing, and what type of documents do I need? Answer all three questions before moving forward.
A motion is a request to a court for relief.
A pleading refers to a complaint or answer.
A brief is an argument in support of a motion or appeal.
In some jurisdictions, the brief and motion are the same document.
The memo of law is a legal argument with cases and statutes in support of a motion.
Since briefs and memorandums are like motions, the remainder of this section will focus only on motions and pleadings.
As a request for an order, a motion must sway the judge. For instance, if you want a dismissal, you\’d write a motion that ends with something like, defendant moves this court to dismiss plaintiff\’s amended complaint.
Your goal is to persuade.
You want to use the law and argument to say why you should get an order in your favor.
There are numerous motion types, including the motion to dismiss, motion for summary judgment, and motion to reconsider, each asking the judge to do a different, specific thing.
A pleading starts a complaint or responds to one. With a pleading, you simply have to list facts in chronological order that might be proven later.
You\’re not asking a court to make a decision now.
A pleading might end with plaintiff prays for judgment against defendant in the sum of six hundred and twenty three dollars plus interest and cost together with any other relief the court finds to be just and proper.
Again, a bleeding commences or answers a claim or counterclaim.
You don\’t have to persuade or prove anything, but you will need supporting documents.
Types of pleadings include the complaint, counterclaim, or an answer to a complaint or counterclaim.
Litigation documents might all look the same, but let\’s take apart some to see their structure.
In this section, we\’ll use the little green guy on the top right to designate that the part belongs in a motion.
We\’ll use the brown guy to designate a pleading.
We\’ll use both to designate that the part is typical of both motions and pleadings.
The first part is the caption, which at the very top lists the jurisdiction, that is, the name of the court where the case was filed.
The left lists the names of the plaintiffs and defendants as shown.
On the right is additional information, which might vary depending on the court.
It could be the case number, issue, division, etcetera.
Next is the document title.
It\’s usually centered and capitalized, bolded, or underlined, or any combination of any of these so that it stands out. Underneath the title is a statement about what you want to move the court to do.
The main part of the motion argues a point and cites cases and statutes.
The tone is persuasive and argumentative.
State here the document title and purpose of the pleading, then follow with a chronological statement of facts with enough details to show the need for relief.
There\’s actually a section for relief.
Say in that section, what you want as a result of the case.
You end with the name, signature, and contact information of the person filing the pleading or his or her attorney.
Often, pleadings are required to be verified.
That is, the person filing the pleading must declare under oath, for example, before a notary public, under penalty of perjury that a statement or pleading is true.
Every document filed in the case needs a certificate of service along with the name, signature, and contact information of the person filing the pleading or his or her attorney.
This is to declare that you served or gave the other side the documents.
Lastly, include any exhibits, numbered in alphabetical order, that support the pleading.
To summarize, this lesson covered preparing to write, which discussed the purpose and do\’s and don\’ts of legal writing and other points to consider.
It looked at the types of litigation documents focusing primarily on motions and pleadings.
Finally, we talked about the various parts of pleadings and motions, from the caption to the final signatures and exhibits.