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Be Your Own Lawyer

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4 Acceptable Ways To Respond To A Complaint

How do you respond to a complaint? You can choose fear-, or anger-driven responses, like crying or cursing the plaintiff. Or, you can do what so many others who cannot afford a lawyer do. Nothing. That will get you out of the case quickly. Is that what you want? Luckily, there are multiple good ways to respond to a complaint. Using four people in four different states with the same problem, we’ll explore four acceptable first responses to a complaint.

And if you need help representing yourself in civil court, it’s time to join Courtroom5.

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How To Defeat The Motion To Dismiss For Failure To State A Claim

You’re the plaintiff in a lawsuit, and you have a return of service in your hands, proof that the defendant has received your complaint. Now, you wait. It’s the defendant’s move. The most likely response is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim or cause of action.

And if you need help representing yourself in civil court, it’s time to join Courtroom5.

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How To Write A Motion–A Guide And Sample Motions For Pro Se Litigants

Far too often pro se litigants lose cases where they should win–all because of problems writing a motion. This should never happen, but it does. These tips will give you a better likelihood of succeeding, especially in cases where you have the law, the facts, or both on your side.

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What To Look For When Opposing Or Defending The Motion To Dismiss

A motion to dismiss asks or “moves” a judge to end a case because of deficient claims, improper service of summons, or for some other procedural error. A motion to dismiss will result in (1) a denial of the motion, (2) a dismissal “without prejudice”, allowing the plaintiff to amend the complaint, or (3) a dismissal “with prejudice”, which ends the case. “I didn’t do it” does not satisfy the requirements of a motion to dismiss for the defendant, and a simple “I did it right” might not suffice to keep a complaint afloat. Learn what to look for and address what matters in a motion to dismiss.

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Keeping Your Motion To Dismiss On A Leash

Everybody hates litigation. You just want it to end quickly, especially when you’re the defendant. A good motion to dismiss can make that happen, but the threshold is very high. The typical strategy is to attack the sufficiency of a complaint, to show that a required fact has not been alleged. If you focus solely on what’s contained within the four corners of the complaint, you just might find that one weakness that gets the case dismissed.