How To File a Complaint:

  1. Start with a ‘good faith’ basis (instructions below).

  2. Prepare your claim(s) (instructions below).

  3. Identify which court (jurisdiction) your case belongs in (instructions below).

  4. Prepare your heading (instructions below).

  5. Introduce the parties and the case in an opening introduction (instructions below).

  6. Construct a list of ‘allegations’ (relevant statements about your claim), in chronological order, beginning with basic background about you and the person(s) your suing, and ending with the damage you suffered (instructions below). 

  7. Set up separate sections for each claim, where you will reiterate a summary of only the allegations relating to that claim, and conclude with your legal basis for relief (instructions below).

  8. End with your ‘prayer for relief’  (instructions below).

  9. Sign and Date your pleading (instructions below).

  10. Prepare a ‘Certificate of Service’ if your pleading is a ‘Counterclaim’ or file with the Court if it is a ‘Complaint,’ and wait for service instructions from the court (instructions below).

  11. If this is your first filing with the court, prepare a ‘Notice of Appearance’ to include with your package to the court and the person(s) you are suing, to let them know where to reach you (instructions below).

Notice
I am not an attorney. This information is based on my personal research, observations and opinions. Laws vary from state to state. You are responsible for verifying the accuracy of any information you take from this site – and are liable for what you do with it.

The Complaint serves many functions:

A well drafted Complaint can (and should) achieve all of these things. 

And here’s how. 

1. Start With A 'Good Faith Basis'

In order to ‘establish your jurisdictional, factual and legal rights to the litigation,’ you need to actually have jurisdictional, factual and legal rights to the litigation. This is referred to as a ‘good faith basis.’ If you don’t have this, you’re not going to get very far. You could always find a lawyer who can help you fake it for a while – but  you’re still going to lose. It’s just going to cost you a hell of lot more.

Filing a frivolous lawsuit can be costly if the Court determines that you have done it in ‘bad faith.’ Representing yourself does not necessarily mean you won’t end up paying attorney’s fees, especially if the other side counter sues and wins. If you’re not sure whether you have a legitimate claim or not, you should read my blog entitled ‘To Sue Or Not To Sue.’ 

Having said that, you are certainly entitled to justice if you’ve been legitimately harmed by the actions of another, provided that the harm you suffered is legally ‘actionable,’ meaning that there are laws that entitle you to ‘relief.’ If that’s the case, let’s consider what makes a winning case. 

Search “Claims & Case Law”

2. Preparing a Successful claim 

The importance of a good claim

After, refer them to the article on Claims and Case law at a glance…..Often, the best complaints get the least amount of attention. In fact, they may never be mentioned again, after the initial ‘Answer’ from the Defendant. It’s entirely possible that the court will never even read it. That’s the hope.

A bad complaint, on the other hand, will face certain scrutiny, first by the attorney for the Defendant, and then by the Court. This scrutiny will most likely come in the form of a ‘Motion to Dismiss.’

The two most important purposes of the Complaint, in my view, are first, to give notice to both the defendant and the court of what it is, exactly, that you’re doing, and second, to understand yourself what it is that you’re doing. You have a legal obligation to put the facts, your legal theories and the relief you’re requesting ‘on the record,’ otherwise the other side is entitled to have your case thrown out. Doing it right will not only assure your right to be heard, but could actually persuade the other side to settle out of court.

The second part of that – understanding your litigation for yourself – is just as important. If your lawsuit was a house, the Complaint would be the foundation you’re building it on.  It establishes the framework for you to use as a guideline through the rest of the litigation.

It can also act as a checkpoint. If you don’t know, with some level of accuracy, where you’re going with this, you should not be suing. You don’t have a ‘good faith’ basis, and if you move forward with it, you deserve, in my opinion, to be charged for everybody’s time and trouble.

To be clear, not knowing how you’re going to get where you want to go is not what we’re talking about here. This is about the why, not the how. If the meat of your cases is anger, revenge, or even that the defendant is a genuinely horrible person, you do not have a legitimate reason to sue. 

A ‘good faith’ litigation must include verifiable actions (you can prove they happened) that caused you perceptible harm (the harm is obvious and/or you can prove it) that has a legal remedy (there’s a law or series of laws that entitle you to relief). Although most lawsuits come with a ‘discovery’ period that allows you to gather more facts, you must already have these three components to enough of a degree to merit filing the suit in the first place.  

3. Where to File

Where to file is determined by two things: venue and jurisdiction

Venue‘ refers to the geographical location of either the plaintiff and/or the defendant, whereas ‘jurisdiction‘ comes in two parts: (1) ‘personal jurisdiction,’ which comes down to the court having authority over the person being sued and/or their activities (it could be where the activity complained of took place or even where the most harm was done) and (2) ‘subject matter jurisdiction,’ which refers to the division of the judicial system having authority over your particular issue. Choosing the wrong venue or jurisdiction can result in a dismissal of your case. Although you may be able to re-file it in the right place, there’s a good chance you will have to pay ‘sanctions’ or ‘costs’ for the inconvenience to the person you’re suing.

Venue and jurisdiction can be tricky to figure out, especially for cases involving internet activity or parties who are scattered about the country. Check the laws in your area beforehand. Here are few example ‘allegations’ regarding venue and jurisdiction from actual Complaints:

  1. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Hillsborough County, as that is where
    one of the plaintiffs, John Doe, resides.’
  2. Venue is proper in this district because the Plaintiff, Jane Doe Inc., is situated in this district and the events giving rise to the Complaint occurred in this district.’
  3. The Court has personal jurisdiction over Doe Defendants because they committed
    tortious actions in this state, and upon information and belief, they have otherwise availed
    themselves of the benefit of conducting activities within the forum state or are residents of the forum state.’
  4. Further, this state has a strong interest in this litigation, as the tortious acts caused injury here; having the case heard here provides the Plaintiffs an effective and convenient forum to obtain relief; and the acts of the multiple defendants are intertwined, such that interstate judicial efficiency is served by avoiding multiple lawsuits.‘ (this appears to be arguing personal jurisdiction)
  5. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to N.H. R.S.A.
    491:7.’

If you look up the New Hampshire law quoted in item 5 above, you will see that it is quite thorough in setting forth the ‘subject matter’ that New Hampshire’s Superior Courts are willing to accept jurisdiction over. 

Generally speaking, if you’re suing for divorce, custody or child support, these issues will fall under the subject matter jurisdiction of ‘family’ or ‘Probate‘ court, which is usually subdivided by county. A civil lawsuit for damages or other ‘relief‘ (not involving a family issue or a government official) will most likely belong in ‘Superior’ court, which is also a ‘county’ court. A civil rights case or other federal issue (especially those involving government officials) will most likely belong in your state’s ‘District‘ court, which is actually a division of Federal Court that has been assigned the authority to operate in the ‘district’ of, and on behalf of, the state where the violation took place.

Again, I would stress that you do your due diligence to ensure that you are filing your lawsuit in the right court. You can start on this website, by searching ‘complaint for [insert your claim here].’ The sample pleading you find, even if its not in your state, will at least get you started in the right direction. A quick phone call to the corresponding court in your area might settle the issue (when you contact the court, request ‘verification’ not legal advice). Do NOT tell them you’re whole life story, unless you want to make enemies of them. They are extremely busy and overworked. Keep it brief and professional.

NOTE: Many courts post this information on their website, so you might want to check that out first, before contacting the Clerk.

3. The Heading

Headings come in a few different styles that are standard to each jurisdiction and venue, but I have seen pleadings accepted even when they strayed from the standard – and I have also seen opposing parties file Motions to Strike pleadings for errors in form. Don’t expect special treatment as a pro se litigant. Sadly, it’s more likely you’re  going to be held to a higher standard than the attorneys. There’s a bias against pro se litigants that, when an issue arises, they’re probably the ones who are wrong – and the attorneys are doing it right. Many attorneys play on this bias, virtually breaking the rules with impunity because the judges are too blind to see it. In my experience, having a law degree is often a free pass to ignore the rules, while pro se litigants are expected to follow the rules to the letter. So even if you have to go to the courthouse and dig through the public files, I recommend getting the format right. 

Here are the two most common heading styles I’ve encountered:

Heading # 1:

Heading # 2:

Heading #1 is the style I see the most in civil cases here in the Northeast.  However, the headings for civil rights cases in the various State Districts appear to follow the second style (again, check your State/District). 

You’ll note that with both styles the relevant information is the same, as follows:

4. Introductions

Most of the time, the first thing you’ll do is to introduce your case (by the way, most states require that the body of a pleading, which starts here, be spaced at ‘1.5’ or ‘2’).

Introducing your case can be super simple: 

NOW COMES the Plaintiff, Jane Doe, without counsel, and complains against the Defendant, John Doe, as follows:”

Or, you can offer a brief summary of your case (this appears to be the preferred style in District Court):

This is an action brought by Plaintiff, Jane Doe, without counsel, under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution for damages against the Defendant, Town of Kingston. This action arises out of the Defendants’ ongoing, unlawful and unconstitutional activities, which include their assessor’s refusal to correct a clear error in their categorization of the Plaintiff’s property. This has caused, and continues to cause, a significant disparity between the assessment of the Plaintiff’s property and other properties of the same type in the Town of Kingston, and subsequently a disproportionate amount of tax being levied against the Plaintiff. The Town’s ongoing refusal to correct the error, and the resulting disproportionate tax being levied against the Plaintiff, represent an intentional violation to her civil rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, of which the Town of Kingston is liable under Title 42, Section 1983, and to which she is entitled. In support of this Complaint, the Plaintiff states the following:

Think of the introduction as a very brief and logical equation: action + harm = relief. The relief should be obvious (and, of course, supported by law). The introduction does not include details. In most cases, it doesn’t need to be much longer than 3 sentences in a single paragraph (however, civil rights cases are often longer). 

Your introduction should consist of the following (and only the following):  

End your introductory statement with “In support of this Complaint, the Plaintiff states the following:”

Whether you use the short introduction or the more descriptive one (I like the latter one better), it should end with the phrase, ‘the following:‘ – which is the segue into the body of your complaint.

There is no need to place a sub-heading or title before the super short version, but you can for the longer version, like so:

INTRODUCTION

Sub-headings within the pleading separate the sections and make it easier to read. Again, I’ve seen these done all different ways, and in different orders, so you may want to check the preferred method in your venue/jurisdiction (in my neck of the woods, all caps, bold, underlined and centered seem to be the accepted style). The way you present your case should make sense, flow naturally, and lead the reader comfortably to the end.  There are, I believe, local laws that outline the proper format, but the easiest way to figure it out is to go to the courthouse, dig through similar cases and check out their complaints.

All paragraphs from this point on (after the ‘as follows:’) will be numbered (until the end).

The parties are next in line for introductions, and they get their own sub-heading titled ‘THE PARTIES‘. But first, many people like to establish jurisdiction and venue (sub-heading ‘JURISDICTION AND VENUE‘) because often, the introduction of the parties will lead right into the allegations (no heading needed) and continue until you reach your first claim.

So, to review: you have your ‘INTRODUCTION‘, either short and sweet with no heading, or a brief summary with a heading. Next, you have your ‘JURISDICTION AND VENUE‘ containing a few (numbered) paragraphs about why your case should be heard in that court. And finally, that brings us to ‘THE PARTIES‘, which will continue as numbered paragraphs, starting with the number you left off at in the previous paragraph.

The introductory ‘paragraphs’ of the parties is not just a formality. They set the stage for how each of you has contributed to, or been affected by, the claims you’re about to make. For example, let’s say you’re suing someone for causing you to have a crippling physical injury. You might introduce yourself as follows:

Prior to the injury, the Plaintiff was in excellent health, jogged three mornings a week, and was a two time participant in the Boston Marathon.” 

This establishes a lifestyle that was significantly altered by the injury, thereby highlighting the pain and suffering you’ve incurred as a result, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

And it’s the same for the Defendant, who you might introduce as follows:

The Defendant has a long history of reckless behavior combined with alcoholism, having been convicted of 3 DUIs and involved in 4 car accidents in the last decade alone.”

This illustrates a pattern of behavior that, while it cannot be used as proof that the Defendant was responsible for this particular incident, certainly adds an element of culpability if he or she is found responsible during the course of the litigation.  

Keep your introductions on point, and then slowly lead into a chronological account of what happened (the allegations) – again, keeping them on point. Each ‘paragraph’ should reveal a single point, although it does not have to be limited to a single sentence. Each ‘point’ should be separated by a new number.

NOTE: You don’t need to produce evidence at this stage, but you do need to tell the truth.

I used the short version to introduce my  abuse of process claim against a former judge in Maine (which I won). Jurisdiction had already been established, as this was a counterclaim (which is why I am ‘the defendant’), and it was just the one claim, so I just got right into it, without any headings or preamble.    

             NOW COMES the Defendant, Nancy Madore, without counsel, and complains against the Plaintiff, Robert M.A. Nadeau, as follows:

1. The Plaintiff, Robert M.A. Nadeau, has in the past, and continues to use his law license and all the trusts that come with it, to terrorize people.

2. The Plaintiff, Robert M.A. Nadeau, has been a party in well over twenty lawsuits in the last decade.

3. The Plaintiff, Robert M.A. Nadeau, has already sued the Defendant twice. The claims in both lawsuits were withdrawn before trial, but only after a grueling, expensive, drawn out and extremely abusive litigation process.

4. The only purpose served in the above referenced litigations against the Defendant, was that the Plaintiff was able to use those litigations to harass the Defendant, the Defendant’s family, and the Defendant’s friend. This failure to produce a legitimate case while harassing his victims was noticed by a judge in yet another of the Plaintiff’s litigations, who stated in his final order: “No credible evidence was produced by the Plaintiff [Nadeau] to explain how [his evidence] was anything other his harassing [the Defendant in that case].” (I cited the case law for this quote).

5. In fact, a judge in this Court had also noticed the abusive, harassing nature of Nadeau’s litigation against this Defendant in his previous litigation against her, calling his behavior ‘outrageous and unacceptable.’ (I cited the case law for this quote).

6. These are not isolated incidents. Other judges, in other cases, have also remarked upon Nadeau’s abusive litigation tactics (although no one ever actually does anything about it). One judge was particularly thorough in describing the abuse in his final order, concluding that ‘the instigation and continuing litigation of this lawsuit represents an egregious abuse of the litigation process.’ (I cited the case law for this quote). This pattern of behavior will continue until the Court addresses it.

7. In all of these cases, Nadeau’s lawsuits, or the bulk of his claims, were either thrown out or withdrawn before trial.

8. In all of these cases, the Plaintiff makes wild accusations without ever offering a shred of evidence, always promising that the evidence will be revealed at a later date, and always failing to provide the promised evidence.

9. In all of these cases, the various Courts trust the Plaintiff, based on his position as a lawyer and a judge.

10.These frivolous lawsuits, and the illegal misconduct that accompanies them, is now being investigated by the Board of Overseers of the Bar.

This was just the introduction, mind you. I hadn’t even gotten into what I was suing him for yet. Although I cite the cases involving his previous misdeeds in the courtroom, I don’t actually provide any hard evidence (such as copies of the court orders I’m referencing) because it’s not necessary to do so at this stage. However, I took great care to make sure that each and every statement was true. Often, the Complaint is never looked at again once the Defendant files their Answer. Other pleadings will come and go and, by the time the case goes to trial (or settles), the original Complaint will be all but forgotten. But you can’t count on this, so make sure that you can back up what you’re saying if you’re called upon to do so.

Also, most of the content of these statements can’t be used to prove that he is abusing the process in this case, simply because he’s done it before. I have the full burden of proving that his activities relating to this case – and only this case – represent abuse. However, a person’s prior history can become relevant to other issues, such as your motives and actions relating to them and especially, your entitlement to relief, should you successfully prove that he or she has, in fact, done what you’re claiming.  Any history you bring up should be a relevant part of your claim, particularly as it relates to your emotional state and/or your damages. If it is strictly prejudicial, meaning that it serves no other purpose other than to create a bias against the person, it can (and should) be stricken from the record.  In this case, the fact that this guy had been involved in so many  lawsuits – many of which had been called out by the judges for being ‘abusive’ and ‘harassing,’ and, in particular, three of which had been brought against me personally (and he went on to sue me another two more times before it was all over) goes directly to my motives in resisting his efforts to deposition me in the first place.  Ordinarily, depositions are granted on attorney trust alone – they doesn’t even need a court order to ‘command’ that you appear. But Nadeau’s ‘past history’ of using these depositions to stalk and harass people gave the court ’cause’ to question his motives in filing a complaint to force me to comply. It was enough to convince the court that my terror over being ‘compelled’ by the court to answer questions about my private life, and the lives of my family (he was particularly interested in my son), was justified. 

There must be a reason for each point, even in the introduction of your defendant. And this goes double for your allegations pertaining to your actual case.

5. Your Allegations Say Something About You Too

I’m always baffled by how long blatantly frivolous lawsuits are able to survive in our courts. I mean, the people running our justice system are considered the smartest and best this country has to offer. Why else would we entrust them with our safekeeping – literally assigning them the power authority to determine our fate, as our lawmakers, our congress and our presidents? If you’ve spent any time in our courts at all, this is indeed a terrifying thought.

There are a number of ways to sniff out a ‘bad faith’ lawsuit, but for me, the allegations are the dead giveaway. For starters, the allegations can help you identify a sociopath – even if that sociopath is you. I single out sociopaths on this site because our courtrooms are literally crawling with them. From the lowliest criminal to the most ‘upstanding’ judge, the courtroom is a breeding ground for sociopaths.  It’s the only place I can think of where they don’t have to hide who they are.

Of course, anyone can file a bad lawsuit, but the litigation process is so traumatic to most people (or maybe I should say, ‘normal’ people) that it requires a genuine belief that they have a legitimate claim for them to file a lawsuit. Is it possible that they’re wrong about having a legitimate claim? Sure. But the point is that this person is not filing the bogus lawsuit intentionally. And they will probably suffer from the process just as much as (if not more than) the person they’re suing.

This isn’t the case for the sociopath. Sociopaths LOVE the litigation process. Having gone up against a master sociopath (he was a judge who literally bragged about his misdeeds in writing), I can tell you that they are not in our courts seeking justice or ‘due process.’ They are there for the process alone, which to them is like a playground where they can stalk, harass, bully and basically terrorize people without any consequences. I have seen conduct that, in any other forum, would’ve resulted in criminal charges being filed. But in the civil court, I’ve seen it virtually ignored – not once, not twice, but too many times to count. Just about all of the judges (even the ones I referenced in my counterclaim above, who actually commented about the abuse in their orders) ultimately looked the other way. No one reported his behavior, even though all of them had a sworn obligation to do so. You need to understand this going in, or else you won’t come out in one piece. The sociopath – whether in the role of plaintiff or defendant – sees the lawsuit as a free pass to come after you. And hiring an attorney doesn’t necessarily make it better. In fact, lawyers make a lot more money when there’s a sociopath in the mix – not to mention that many of them are sociopaths too.  The only way to ‘win’ is to remember that they’re not really focused on winning. They’re there to break you (or, if they’re you’re attorney, to make as much money as possible off you). As long as you recognize (and accept) this – it will still get ugly – but your chances of getting the justice you deserve will increase dramatically.

So, if you’re still here (and if you have a legitimate case I hope you are), let’s talk about what makes a good allegation.

6. Your Allegations Should Go Directly To The Points In Law That Entitle You To Relief. 

If you’re looking for sympathy or an opportunity to to vent, you will not only be disappointed, but you may well find yourself sanctioned for wasting everybody’s time. The court doesn’t care about your feelings, or even how mean and horrible the other party is. Even if they did care (which, again, they don’t), the court has no jurisdiction over that ‘subject matter.’ The court must (or at the very least, is supposed to) rule on points of law. Court rulings that are not supported by law can (and should) be reversed on appeal. And no judge wants their rulings overturned, so your best chance for getting the ruling you want is to make sure that every allegation you make represents (or supports) 1) a violation of the law, and/or 2) a violation of your rights under the law. 

Every allegation that doesn’t support either 1) a violation of the law or 2) your rights under the law weakens your claim. 

What’s more, if your allegations overall don’t support a legal basis for ‘relief’, your case will either 1) continue through discovery but ultimately lose to summary judgment or trial or 2) be dismissed before it even gets off the ground. It really depends on the attorney for the other side. For him or her, it can mean the difference of $50,000 to $100,000 (and I have seen it go even higher on cases that ultimately got thrown out for never having a viable claim). This is one of the benefits of representing yourself; you have the greatest incentive to a speedy resolution, even if its not in your favor. Unless you’re a sociopa;th, in which case, you’re willing to suffer yourself, provided you can make the other person suffer.

Here are some examples of allegations that are supported by law:

7. Your Allegations Must Be Plausible.

I touched on this earlier, but it definitely merits more discussion here, because a failure to make a plausible (believable) claim is another reason to have your case dismissed.

Briefly, a ‘Motion to Dismiss’ addresses a case that is, simply put, not worthy of the court’s time. The theory is that everyone is entitled to their ‘day in court,’ but in this case, the lawsuit in question can not possibly succeed. Here are some examples of why this might be:

The case is filed in the wrong court (jurisdiction and/or venue)

The case was not filed in time (statute of limitations and/or missed deadlines)

The requested ‘relief’ is not supported by law (there is no legal relief available under the stated circumstances so, even if the allegations are true, there is not case)

The allegations do not entitle the Plaintiff to the relief requested

The allegations to 

Notice that none of these are about the truthfulness of the allegations themselves.

Plausibility …

Possible: if its merely conceivable, could have happened 

Make statements of fact that support your claim.

Avoid over-using adjectives, labeling or simply reciting legal terms.

Does it state facts that support the desired conclusion – or simply state a conclusion? 

Are the allegations describing something that logically must have occurred – or simply might have occurred?

Do the allegations contain sufficient facts to create a reasonable expectation that the claim is legitimate  – or is it merely not ruling out the possibilty?

If you didn’t come right out and say it, could the reader draw a similar conclusion about why you’r

                   WHEREFORE THE DEFENDANT, Nancy Madore, requests the following relief:

1. That the Court deny the Plaintiff’s Complaint against the Defendant, if not on the basis of the Plaintiff’s past abusive history and his harassment of this Defendant, then based on the fact that the claims in the Plaintiff’s Complaint, even if true, would not merit the inconvenience of having this Defendant travel out of state to attend a deposition on such vague and flimsy claims (ie., how, specifically, were the signs [his Maine Defendant] supposedly put in his yard ‘illegal’?).

2. That if the Court grants the Plaintiff’s Complaint against the Defendant, that it order the Plaintiff to put his questions in writing, and submit them for approval from this Court before submitting them to the Defendant; and that the Court permit the Defendant to answer in writing as well.

3. That the Court Sanction the Plaintiff on two counts: first, for the Defendant, for the time involved in having to answer yet another Complaint that was submitted to this Court without any evidence to support it—especially in light of his most recent litigation against her in this same Court, which ended on April 2017, when the Plaintiff submitted a Motion to Dismiss his own case on the morning of trial; and second, a sanction for the Court, for the time involved in reading his complaint and this answer, and scheduling a hearing and/or issuing an order.

4. Any and all other relief this Court deems just.

DEFENDANT

 

_________________________________________________              _____________________

Nancy Madore                                                                           Date

[Address]

[Phone] 

Certificate of Service

 

 I, Nancy Madore, certify that I caused a copy of the foregoing document to be mailed to the Plaintiff, Robert M.A., at his latest known address, as identified in his Complaint, on the date indicated above.

_____________________________

Nancy Madore

Where to file:

To the court only…

in person

by mail

online

 

Costs money… find out how much

Court will notify you that your case is accepted, give you a case number and a summons…

WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER YOU FILE
A COMPLAINT
***************************************************************************************************
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
 You will receive an E-mail from the Electronic Filing Center when your filing(s) has/have
been accepted.
 The court will electronically send you paperwork for service on the defendant(s).
EX PARTE:
 If you filed an Ex Parte Motion, the court will review your filing during normal business
hours.
HEARING:
 A hearing may be scheduled.
 The hearing information will be provided in the Summons.
 You must appear at the hearing.
SERVICE:
 The court will send you instructions on how to serve the defendant(s).
 You must have the defendant(s) served BY THE DEADLINE provided in the Summons.
 The return(s) of service must be electronically filed by the deadline provided in the
Summons.

Sheriff’s service

usually… only in person or by mail.

Call first… copies, cost, how to pay (some don’t take cc unless in person) check or money order always good

verified complaint

amended complaint

substituted complaint

Leave a Reply