If you're thinking about a way to organize an argument to the trial court, you're already way ahead of many lawyers, who often start somewhere in the middle and end up confusing the judge and anyone else who might be listening. See my prior post, "Arguing a Motion Before a Trial Court: Begin at the Beginning."
Rather than starting in the middle, approach your argument like your law school professors used to tell you to approach exams: address each issue one at a time, proceeding step by step without returning to places you've already been.
If you're arguing that a three-count complaint should be dismissed, you might organize your argument like this:
- Set the stage as explained in the prior post;
- Explain that plaintiff's complaint is in three counts, and that each count fails to state a claim;
- State the legal basis for the three claims, e.g., breach of contract, misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment, and explain that you will address each count in turn;
- Explain why the breach of contract count fails to state a claim;
- Explain why the misrepresentation count fails to state a claim;
- Explain why the unjust enrichment count fails to state a claim.
The goal is to present an argument in outline form in such a way that the outline itself becomes part of the presentation. You'll seem better organized, your argument will be easier to understand, and you won't repeat things you've already covered.
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