The Complaint: General Points

1
The Complaint General Points

• The Purpose of the complaint under the federal
  system and many state systems is merely to give
  notice to the other side as to what your cause of
  action is.
• Writing too much in the complaint may
• Annoy the judge
• Waste your own time
• Give away your trial strategy needlessly
• As the plaintiffs lawyer, the complaint serves
  the following purposes
• Start the suit and (with service) toll the staute
  of limitations
• Introduce the cause of action to the court and
  defendant
• Invoke the courts jurisdiction over the
  defendant and case

2
Strategies in Starting to Draft a Complaint

• First, obtain an old complaint from your firms
  archives. Many firms have templates that all
  complaints are drafted from.
• Theres no need to set up the boilerplate and
  caption and other things that change from
  complaint to complaint initially. First, draft
  the substance and later plug it into the form.
• Do the different sections (e.g., jurisdiction,
  each cause of action, etc.) separately.
• Appendixes and exhibits can be used in a
  complaint, but dont overuse these. Save your
  evidence for trial.
• Only use exhibits if its a relatively simple
  case or one that may be able to be resolved on
  the pleadings

3
Naming the Parties in a Complaint

• Caption
• Says the parties, index , name of court and
  complaint
• Description of parties
• Usually, you will say the addresses of the
  parties
• Parties must have standing to sue for the
  complaint to be valid
• Parties must have the capacity to sue or be sued
• Other types of complaints
• Third party complaints
• Interpleader complaints
• Class action complaints
• Intervention complaints

4
Asserting Jurisdiction

• A statement as to why the court has jurisdiction
  over the case and over the parties is a required
  component of every complaint.
• Even in state courts of general jurisdiction,
  you should still allege why the court has
  jurisdiction.
• In courts of limited jurisdiction, like federal
  courts and lower state courts, you certainly need
  to discuss why the court has subject matter
  jurisdiction.
• To allege subject matter jurisdiction, first list
  the location of the parties and or the cause of
  action, whichever is relevant. Then state the
  statute under which jurisdiction rests
• To allege personal jurisdiction, state where the
  defendant lives or where the tort occurred and
  then the statute which allows personal
  jurisdiction in that case

5
Alleging Your Causes of Action

• First, state the relevant facts of the case (only
  those facts you need to establish your causes of
  action) at the outset of the complaint.
• Use a separate heading for each cause of action.
• For each cause of action, make sure to reiterate
  the relevant facts.
• Then, tie in the relevant facts to the elements
  of the cause of action
• Make sure that the reader understands why the
  facts line up with all of the allegations
• Make sure, if damages is an element of the cause
  of action (e.g., negligence), that you allege the
  damages within the cause of action.

6
What NOT to do in a Complaint

• Do not anticipate or refute possible defenses
• That is for motion practice or trial. At this
  stage, you just need to state a cause of action
• Do not allege facts if you dont know if theyre
  true
• You can say Upon information and belief if
  youre not sure
• Do not state or argue the law
• Do not combine causes of action in one sentence
  or paragraph
• Do not go into too much detail in terms of the
  damages suffered
• Do not lock yourself into a particular theory
  unless you have to.

7
Fact or Code Pleading

• Although the federal rules and many states only
  require a short and plain statement of the claim,
  some jurisdictions still apply the old rule
  that requires all of the relevant facts to be
  pleaded in the complaint.
• In such a state, you must go into more detail and
  allege every fact thats relevant to the cause of
  action.
• The majority rule, however, is still apply the
  notice pleading rule (i.e., the federal rule)
  that gives notice to the other party as to the
  nature of the complaint and the basic facts that
  gave rise to it.

8
Types of Damages to be Sought in a Complaint

• There should be done in the wherefore clause.
  Damages can include
• Compensatory Damages e.g.,
• General Damages
• Special Damages
• Provable economic damages
• Pain and Suffering
• Exemplary (punitive) Damages
• Many states require intentional or reckless
  tortious conduct for punitive damages to apply
• Injunctions
• Prohibitory (preventing an action)
• Mandatory (requiring an action e.g., specific
  performance)

9
Miscellaneous Points about the Complaint

• You can allege completely separate causes of
  action even based on unrelated facts in the same
  complaint.
• Just make sure that
• The court has subject matter jurisdiction over
  each count
• You use a separate section for each cause of
  action
• You adequately allege the facts of each cause of
  actiom
• In the wherefore clause
• Demand a jury trial, if you want one
• Also as the court for all further relief that
  the court deems just and proper or something to
  that effect

10
Miscellaneous Points 2

• Rule 11 requires the lawyer to sign all pleadings
• The lawyer can thus be punished if they are false
  or frivolous
• A verification is required in many jurisdictions
• This is an affidavit from the plaintiff stating
  that s/he has read the complaint and believes all
  allegations to be true
• You can attach exhibits to the complaint, but
  dont overdo it. This is most useful where the
  complaint is based primarily on a document (e.g.,
  a contract).
• In the allegations when you reference the
  contract signed by the defendant, you can say
• a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit
  A.
• A bond for costs may be required in some states
  for some cases