How to Write a Court Filing That Judges Trust

A judge reading “Officer Doe struck the handcuffed plaintiff four times with a closed fist” needs no help from “brutally.” The facts carry the sentence. The adverb tells the judge you are worried they will not.

That is the whole theory of this article. Adjectives and adverbs tell. Facts show. Understatement backed by specific facts is the most persuasive register available in federal court, and it also satisfies the pleading standard, which credits facts and discounts conclusions.

After reading this article, you should be able to:

tell your own voice from the law’s voice, and write each one correctly
apply a dozen mechanical rules that remove most of what makes pro se filings hard to read
state an adverse position without adopting it
run a self-edit pass in order before you file anything

This article is about how to write. For what to write, read the guide for the specific document, starting with How to Write a Section 1983 Complaint. For how to behave, read Pro Se: How to Avoid Looking Like the Problem.

Two voices

Every filing has two voices, and they follow different rules.

Your own voice is the factual narrative and everything else you write in your own words. It should be plain, dry, short, and repetitive on purpose. Use “show,” not “demonstrate.” Use “before,” not “prior to.” Call Officer Doe “Officer Doe” in every paragraph. Repeating a name eleven times is correct. Switching to “the officer,” “the defendant,” and “Doe” to sound more elegant is a defect, because the reader has to stop and check whether you mean the same person.

The law’s voice is the legal standard and the elements. State those in the controlling authority’s words, quoted or closely tracked, with a citation. Do not paraphrase a standard into something looser or broader. Terms of art such as “clearly established,” “deliberate indifference,” and “under color of state law” keep their exact wording. A formal word in the facts section is a violation. A paraphrased standard in a count is a missed citation.

Words

Use the short common word. Under, not pursuant to. Before, not prior to. After, not subsequent to. Use, not utilize. This case, not the instant case. Assuming, not arguendo.
Delete adjectives and adverbs unless the sentence loses a fact without them. If you are tempted to write that something is clear, it usually is not. Replace the modifier with the fact that tempted you to use it.
One name for one thing. Pick a name for each person, place, and document, and use it every time.
No intensifiers. They signal overstatement. A partial list to search for and cut: clearly, obviously, plainly, blatantly, egregious, outrageous, absurd, baseless, frivolous, meritless, undisputed, indisputable, simply, merely, very, extremely, literally, absolutely, completely, wholly, totally, undoubtedly, certainly, indeed.
No accusation labels. “The officer lied” is a label. “The report states X. The video shows Y.” is a fact. Replace each label with the defect it stands for.

Verbs and sentences

Active voice with a named actor. In a complaint, passive voice hides the defendant. “Plaintiff was struck” tells the court nothing. “Officer Doe struck Plaintiff” tells it everything.
Use the verb, not the noun. “Searched,” not “performed a search.” “Decided,” not “made a decision.”
One point per sentence. In a complaint, one factual allegation per sentence and per numbered paragraph.
Keep sentences under about 25 words. If a sentence runs long, it is usually two sentences.
Keep the subject and the verb close together.
Every pronoun needs an unambiguous, nearby antecedent. When in doubt, repeat the noun.
No contractions.
No semicolons. Write two sentences, or use a numbered list.
No exclamation marks. Ever.

Structure

One topic per paragraph, and rarely more than six sentences.
Every section opens with what it is about, and every paragraph opens with its point. The court should be able to read the first sentence of each paragraph and follow the argument.
Use numbered lists for steps and elements. One item per line.
Transitions carry substance. Repeat the idea being carried forward. Do not open a paragraph with “Moreover” or “Furthermore.” Those words announce that a connection exists without saying what it is.

Register

No rhetorical questions. State the point as a sentence and answer it with a fact.
No weasel assurances. “Believe me,” “the truth is,” “the record speaks for itself.” An assertion that needs vouching needs a record citation instead.
No footnotes unless there is a strong reason.
Show, do not tell. Plead the chronology and let the court write the conclusion in its own order.
Understate. The dry version of the sentence is the forceful one.
Civility is a hard rule. Write nothing you would not say to opposing counsel’s face in open court, in front of the judge. Hyperbole is inversely proportional to substance, and judges know it.
Write only the document. No preamble about how important the case is. No closing plea. The argument ends with the requested ruling.

Attribution, not adoption

This rule is the one pro se writers most often break, and it costs the most.

When the other side, the magistrate judge, or a witness has characterized the facts against you, you must deal with that characterization. Do not repeat it in your own voice as if it were true.

Weak:

Plaintiff yelled at the officers and refused to comply, but the force was still excessive.

That sentence concedes the two facts the defense most wants. Strong:

The R&R describes Plaintiff as having “yelled at officers and refused to comply.” R&R at 6. The complaint alleges that Plaintiff spoke at a normal volume from the sidewalk and did not receive any command before he was grabbed. Compl. ¶¶ 14–17.

State the adverse position as that source’s position. Then state your position and the facts that support it.

Two related rules:

No concession by default. Do not agree with an adverse fact, characterization, or legal conclusion unless you have decided to. If you leave a point out because it does not need an answer, that is not a concession. Silence is not agreement.
Do not speculate against yourself. Do not add “may bear on,” “could arguably support,” or “does not prove that” to sound balanced. If a source is unclear, say what it shows and what it does not show, and stop.

The self-edit pass

Run these in order on every filing, after the substance is complete.

Any concession you did not decide to make? Delete it.
Any adverse characterization in your own voice? Attribute it to its source and state your position.
Any caveat that favors the other side? Delete it.
Any sentence over about 25 words? Split it.
Any adjective or adverb? Delete it unless a fact disappears with it.
Any word from the intensifier list? Cut it.
Any formal word where a short one works? Replace it.
Any passive voice with a known actor? Name the actor.
Any nominalization or empty opener (“It is,” “There are”)? Recast with a concrete subject and verb.
The same thing called two names? Pick one everywhere.
Any semicolon, contraction, exclamation mark, or rhetorical question? Remove it.
Any paragraph covering two events? Split it.
Any legal standard stated in your own words instead of the authority’s? Quote it and cite it.

Then read the whole thing once more, out loud if you can.

Fast replacements

Instead of	Write
pursuant to	under
prior to	before
subsequent to	after
utilize	use
the instant case	this case
aforementioned	the [thing], or nothing
arguendo	assuming
it is important to note that	(delete)
the truth is / in all honesty	(delete)
X clearly failed to	X did not
Y is wholly unsupported	Y cites no evidence that
this argument is obviously meritless	this argument fails because
the officer deliberately ignored	the officer did not address

Where these rules come from

They are a merger of plain-language technical writing standards with the advice in two legal editing guides, David Horan’s Bad Words: A Legal Writer’s Guide to What Not to Say and Elizabeth McAlpin’s Beyond the First Draft. Both are worth reading. Where their advice conflicts, this article follows the plainer rule.

Check Your Understanding

Rewrite: “Defendants blatantly and egregiously violated Plaintiff’s clearly established constitutional rights by brutally assaulting him without any justification whatsoever.”

Show answer
Something like: "Officer Doe struck Plaintiff in the head three times while Plaintiff was handcuffed and lying face down. Plaintiff had not moved." Every fact stays. Every adjective goes. The legal conclusion moves to the count, where it gets a standard and a citation.
The magistrate judge’s R&R says you “became combative.” Your response needs to address that finding. Write the first sentence.

Show answer
"The R&R characterizes Plaintiff as having 'become combative.' R&R at 5." Then state what the complaint alleges, with paragraph cites. Attribute the characterization, then answer it. Do not repeat it in your own voice.
Your draft uses “Officer Doe,” “the officer,” “Defendant Doe,” and “he” for the same person in one paragraph. What is the fix?

Show answer
Pick one name, probably "Officer Doe," and use it every time, even when it feels repetitive. The reader never has to stop and check who is meant.