Motions: Get to the Point

Trial judges are busy people, and most judges who handle domestic relations cases are perpetually overwhelmed with motions. As an advocate, your job is to make it easy for the court to rule in your favor. One way to accomplish this goal is to organize your motion papers so that the judge can quickly and easily understand the nature of, and basis for, your motion. In other words, provide a summary at the beginning of your pleading.

Most lawyers begin their motions with the antique formula "Now comes the ___ and brings this motion for ___ against the ___ . . . " This kind of introduction is what legal writing expert Bryan Garner calls a "hence the title" introduction. It is simply a recitation of information already contained in the caption.

Briefs often begin with a similar statement, followed by an introduction of the parties or other "background" information.

Instead of making the court wade through a bunch of preliminaries, start by providing the information that the court needs to understand your motion. University of Texas legal writing teacher Wayne Schiess advocates a method he calls the "bold synopsis." A bold synopsis is a one- or two-sentence summary of your main point(s), indented and highlighted in boldface text. The bold synopsis should appear directly below the caption.

Even if you are not adventurous enough to try the bold synopsis, you should begin your pleadings with a short summary setting out what you are asking the court to do and why. For more on writing judge-friendly motions, see the full Schiess article.