1 A METHOD FOR WRITING FACTUAL COMPLAINTS Jan Armon, J.D., Ph.D. * A factual complaint narrates a story. The story constructs an event from the world outside court into numbered paragraphs. Those paragraphs, or allegations, relate enough facts to identify the parties, to make sense of the story, to cover the elements of the cause of action, and to anticipate defenses that are certain to be raised. This article will teach you how to write factual allegations. Allegations are not like the paragraphs of a brief, which develop a single topic through narration of detail or explanation of a line of reasoning. I will discuss what to put into an allegation paragraph, when to begin a new paragraph, and how to arrange these paragraphs. Through two sample problems, on exclusionary zoning and civil appellate malpractice, I will illustrate the process and principles of drafting a factual complaint. The first problem (Part I) relies on a cause of action that is well defined in its jurisdiction. In the second problem (Part II), the cause of action has been recognized in its jurisdiction, but not all its elements have been defined. This article is both a manual for practitioners-whom I address as "you"-and a treatise for law professors. For my academic readers, theories of narrative, rhetoric and English composition that inform the writing of factual allegations are discussed in the concluding section (Part III), on "Constructing the world into numbered paragraphs." TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION What the Court Rules Require of Factual Allegations Introduction to the Sample Problems I. THE FIRST SAMPLE PROBLEM: EXCLUSIONARY ZONING A. The Template for Exclusionary Zoning B. Facts of the First Sample Problem C. Drafting the Exclusionary Zoning Complaint 1. Grammar Lesson Number One 2. Grammar Lesson Number Two 3. An Element Is Defined by Facts That Have Been Held to Constitute That Element 4. Avoid Parentheticals 5. Main Paragraphs Narrate; Subparagraphs Analyze 6. An Element May Name a Requirement for Pleading 7. Narrative Continuity and Sequence D. The Exclusionary Zoning Complaint E. An Additional Element to Anticipate a Defense II. THE SECOND SAMPLE PROBLEM: CIVIL APPELLATE MALPRACTICE A. Two Templates for Civil Appellate Malpractice B. Facts of the Second Sample Problem C. Drafting the Complaint for Civil Appellate Malpractice: Alleging Negligence 1. Finding the Verb 2. Alleging Harm: Using Subparagraphs for Analysis 3. Alleging a Duty and its Violation as Separate Circumstances 4.Creating an Additional Element, to Strengthen the Complaint D. Multiple Counts E. Drafting the Complaint for Civil Appellate Malpractice: Alleging Breach of Contract 1. Alleging the Breach as an Omission and as an Act 2. Finding a Duty in the Contract and in the Law
2 3. Alleging Contractual Damages in Malpractice F. The Civil Appellate Malpractice Complaint III. CONSTRUCTING THE WORLD INTO NUMBERED PARAGRAPHS A. What is a Set of Circumstances? B. What Makes a Text a Narrative? C. What Makes a Narrative an Argument? D. Old Battles INTRODUCTION Pleading is rarely taught in law school. Most of you learned to draft complaints on the job. In consequence, complaints heavily mimic those found in office files, which themselves were paraphrased from complaints in other files and from form books. The result is a progression of mediocrity, spiritually akin to succeeding generations of pale grey photocopies. Instead, write a complaint that you yourself would want to read. Let the complaint be a product of your professional judgment. That judgment begins with research. By researching during the drafting of a complaint, you can reinvent the cause of action, shore up the complaint against a demurrer, and avoid scrambling to learn the elements after you have been served with a motion for summary judgment. As my academic readers know, a lawyer should set up his or her authority over the law at the inception of a case. Law students need to be taught ways that law is made not by judges but by the practice of it. This manual is written to suggest such a pedagogy. Drafting a factual complaint entails analysis so fundamental to legal reasoning that it should be taught during the first year. 1 Complaints map the way that lawyers think. Lawyers think in allegations, with the steps in reasoning left implicit. Lawyers list. Lawyers tell the client's story in skeletal form: Here are the basic facts of my client's claim or defense. Yet pleading does not receive the introduction that Legal Writing and Research provides for briefs and memoranda. Law students must learn processes of writing that will enable them to think like lawyers, so that as lawyers they will write the way they are expected to think. Practitioners, you already know that throughout your handling of a case, you sort out facts by the legal elements or tests you hope they may satisfy. If you are fortunate enough to practice in a factual pleading jurisdiction-i.e., Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, or Virginia-then the state court rules, in effect, require you to complete that sorting process before you expose a client to litigation. 2 Do not assume that the form books will sort the facts for you. Factual pleadings drafted from form books tend to clog the reader's comprehension with language not descriptive of the case at hand. I want to help you replace the forms, with pleading templates of your own design. A pleading template consists of the elements organized as a story-the story defining that cause of action. Draft the template as you research the law, so that it may articulate categories of fact through language that evokes the cause of action. Working off the template, you will draft complaints for that cause of action. If the controlling law has developed by the next time you write a complaint, then revise the template. 3 Constructing an element-by-element template from research may help you to adhere to court rules on pleading. Under the procedure of factual-pleading jurisdictions a complaint states, without repetition, the facts on which the cause of action relies. Facts are to be alleged with enough specificity to inform the adverse party of the nature of the claims against which it must defend. To determine the client's causes of action and how to allege them, you must research for law that fits the facts. From research you will learn the elements, which usually cannot be found in a single source. Thus drafting a complaint begins with research-again, not in the form books, but in the lawbooks.
3 You do not have to claim every conceivable cause of action that your facts might be stretched to cover. I recommend a conservative approach that would allow you to write well, rather than excessively: Anticipate claiming only those causes of action which the facts of your file support. Search for those causes of action that the applicable law may allow you to plead in the complaint. If your research reveals that the facts do not sufficiently cover elements of a particular cause of action, then do not plead it. Investigate for facts, but do not create facts to fit a cause of action. 4 By facts, therefore, I mean the facts that are available or likely to become available to you. Fortunately for all writers, facts are not hard little things, but fairly fluid, permitting a range of inferences and interpretations. A legal writer shapes the facts to suit the purpose of the legal document and the body of law that gives those facts significance. The more you research the law applicable to a case, the more you can investigate your own case for what may become its facts. In the Law, we not only give events the form required for legal documents, we arrange and tell those events so that they may merge with some legal doctrine favorable to the client. We call that "developing the facts of a case." It begins in earnest with drafting the complaint. As a writer you will develop the facts through language, language gleaned not only from prior complaints in the office files, but from case law, which evolves. Apply the facts of your own case to the law you are reading to select the cases you will need. Although complaints only rarely cite cases, 5 the drafting of a complaint should depend on developments in case law as often as does the drafting of a brief. Every type of legal document has its own demands for research. Initially, you would want your complaint to survive a motion for dismissal on the ground that the complaint failed to state its causes of action sufficiently. After discovery, if defendant moves for summary judgment, your allegations will serve as an outline for your opposing brief. Too many attorneys find themselves writing their first element-by-element breakdown of the facts at that point in the case. That is too late to be researching your cause of action. If your clerk writes a memorandum reporting and analyzing the research, then warn the clerk not to evaluate or predict whether you will win. Predicting success is a bad habit picked up in law school. Law students learn first to write memoranda. The recognized function of the legal memorandum is to predict judicial action. But in the typical assignment, a conclusion that the client will prevail is tacitly preordained. Law students are, in effect, taught to imagine themselves as judges persuaded by the reasoning they are writing. Drafting a complaint, however, does not require a prediction of victory. You are concerned with whether the case can be sufficiently alleged. Write in anticipation of demurrer or a motion for summary judgment, not in anticipation of trial. Ultimately, your evidence may not convince the trier of fact. Perhaps the defendant's version of events will prevail during proofs. The rules of evidence guide how propositions get proven rather than merely alleged. Of course you will always consider whether you could win before filing a complaint; but your concern as a writer is with how to draft it. A. What the Court Rules Require of Factual Allegations Factual pleading in actions at law began with New York's original Code of Procedure, the Field Code of The requirements of factual pleading are typified by the court rules of Michigan: A complaint... must contain the following: (1) A statement of the facts, without repetition, on which the pleader relies in stating the cause of action, 7 with the specific allegations necessary reasonably to inform the adverse party of the nature of the claims the adverse party is called on to defend. 8 Factual pleading requires allegation of categories of fact that a plaintiff is expected to know. This requirement is reinforced by its exception, under Michigan Court Rule 2.112(B)(2), which permits that "[m]alice, intent,
4 knowledge, and other conditions of mind"-i.e., facts that a pleader can only infer from the file-"may be alleged generally." The pleader simply names the state of mind. A factual complaint consists of short, numbered paragraphs. Thus "[e]ach allegation of a pleading must be clear, concise, and direct." 9 Furthermore, "[a]ll allegations must be made in numbered paragraphs...." 10 At first, this requirement does not seem tough. We attorneys have an oral habit of listing. We number our points, "First,... Second,... Finally,... Also..." and so forth, almost compulsively. It is a habit readily adapted to dictation of a complaint. Because most allegations consist of a single sentence, we simply start the next paragraph when we are ready to start a new sentence. Only one more organizational principle is provided by the rule, which prescribes that "[t]he content of each paragraph must be limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances." 11 A single set of circumstances is a result, rather than a process for arranging your facts. Courthouses remain full of civil complaints in which allegations are not each confined to a set of circumstances, and into which key sets of circumstances are scattered, not arranged. Michigan Court Rule 2.113(E) corresponds to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10(b), which states: "All averments of claim or defense shall be made in numbered paragraphs, the contents of each of which shall be limited as far as practicable to a statement of a single set of circumstances...." 12 Other than California and Nebraska (both factual-pleading jurisdictions), every state has a statute or court rule similar or identical to Federal Rule 10(b); single sets of circumstances must be separated into numbered paragraphs. 13 Through the two sample problems, I will demonstrate how to organize a complaint in compliance with Rule 10(b). B. Introduction to the Sample Problems I have created two sample problems for the purpose of providing step-by-step guidance for the practitioner, and for the professor who wishes to teach factual-based pleading and analysis. Together, the problems illustrate the construction of pleading templates, and the drafting of one count of a complaint off each template. Although the sample problems are set in two particular states, the techniques they teach will work for drafting factual allegations in any jurisdiction that does not restrict its complaints to notice pleading. The first problem relies on a cause of action, exclusionary zoning, that is well defined in the jurisdiction I have selected, Michigan. The second problem uses civil appellate legal malpractice in a jurisdiction, Pennsylvania, that recognizes two theories of recovery, but has not yet defined the elements for either theory. 14 Where the elements of a cause have not been defined, your job as a writer is to construct them. But even if a cause of action has been defined, and its elements listed, do not place trust in a list created by a judge or the legislature. To insure the allegation of facts covering all the elements of a cause of action, you should reconstruct those elements. While reconstructing the elements, you may even split an element into component parts that the facts in your file cover particularly well. I. THE FIRST SAMPLE PROBLEM: EXCLUSIONARY ZONING A complaint for exclusionary zoning challenges a particular zoning ordinance, on constitutional grounds, for excluding an otherwise lawful use of land from the municipal area that includes plaintiff's land. Exclusionary zoning was defined by the Michigan Supreme Court, in Kropf v. City of Sterling Heights, 15 to have two alternative grounds under constitutional law: (i) a zoning ordinance denies a landowner equal protection by "a policy of discriminating against" an otherwise lawful use; and (ii) a zoning ordinance denies a landowner substantive due process as "unreasonable because of the purely arbitrary, capricious and unfounded exclusion of other types of legitimate land use from the area in question." 16 Only substantive due process was at issue in Kropf, where the Supreme Court found no violation. 17
5 Michigan's equal protection clause 18 has been interpreted to protect the property rights of a plaintiff from illfounded state action. 19 But in English v. Augusta Township, 20 equal protection was enforced on the basis of a municipality's interference with the need of persons other than the plaintiff to use the plaintiff's property. The definition of exclusionary zoning in English opens with the language of substantive due process and concludes with the language of equal protection: "A zoning ordinance that totally excludes an otherwise legitimate use carries with it a strong taint of unlawful discrimination and a denial of equal protection of the law with regard to the excluded use." 21 The analysis in English will allow a pleader to allege a single cause of action that relies on both approaches. As I will explain, alternative bases for a single cause of action may be pleaded in subparagraphs. Let me emphasize the theme of this article. To insure allegation of facts composing all the elements, you should reconstruct the elements of a cause of action rather than implicitly trusting what a single judge or the legislature might list. I have constructed Michigan's cause of action for exclusionary zoning into seven elements that are not listed in any single case or statute, but rather have been gleaned from the following line of authority: Township Rural Zoning Act, Mich. Comp. Laws Ann a (West 1996); Mich. Stat. Ann (27a). Kropf v. City of Sterling Heights, 391 Mich. 139, 215 N.W.2d 179 (1974). Schwartz v. City of Flint, 426 Mich. 295; 395 N.W.2d 678 (1986). Bell River Assoc. v. China Charter Township, 223 Mich. App. 124; 565 N.W.2d 695 (1997). English v. Augusta Township, 204 Mich. App. 33, 514 N.W.2d 172 (1994). Eveline Township v. H & D Trucking Co., 181 Mich. App. 25, 448 N.W.2d 727 (1989). Gustafson v. City of Lake Angelus, 76 F.3d 778 (6th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 81, 136 L. Ed. 2d 39 (1996). Although I have determined that there are seven elements to exclusionary zoning, two or more elements of a cause of action may be alleged in a single allegation if they comprehend the same set of circumstances. To construct a template, however, you should articulate the elements separately. From the statutes and case law, the elements of exclusionary zoning can be written in the following language and constructed into the following template. A. The Template for Exclusionary Zoning Concepts key to each element have been put into italics: Template for exclusionary zoning (1) Plaintiff owns [or leases] certain land withing the [defendant] municipality. (2) Plaintiff proposes to the court [i.e., pleader alleges] a use for plaintiff's land that plaintiff proposed to the defendant municipality. (3) The proposal for use of plaintiff's land is specific. (4) A zoning ordinance in effect excludes the use proposed for plaintiff's land, and [where facts permit] accomplishes a policy of excluding the proposed use by designating no appropriate site for that use. (Pleader must cite section of ordinance, and may quote them in Exhibits.) (5) Plaintiff demonstrates [i.e.,, pleader alleges] there is a need for the proposed use within the municipality or surrounding area. [Subparagraphs may include]: a. [Municipality or region] needs the proposed use. b. The defendant discriminates against [describe group of people in the municipality or region] through a policy
6 of excluding the proposed use, which [those people] need. (6) Plaintiff's land suits the proposed use. (7) The proposed use is otherwise lawful. Note that the seven elements are arranged to outline a story. It is the paradigmatic story for exclusionary zoning. Written in prose, the story might be told as follows: The owner of land proposed to use the land, but the use specifically proposed by the owner is prohibited by a zoning ordinance. The proposed use is suited to the land and, in the owner's view, needed in the municipality. The use is legal under state or federal law. For these reasons, the owner has arrived in court claiming the zoning ordinance to be unconstitutional. B. Facts of the First Sample Problem Your client is Planned Parenting, a non-profit corporation that provides counseling and medical services related to a woman's reproductive system. Planned Parenting structures its fees according to the income of the patient or client. Patients with income below a certain level, for example, pay no fees at all. The nature of the client requires comment. Many of you, including colleagues who have taught me much about pleading, may consider the goals of "Planned Parenting" repugnant. Do not let that stop you from reading. You may find yourselves at an advantage. Each cause of action in a complaint furnishes ground for relief. Although settlement may be the implicit goal of a lawsuit, judicial relief is the explicit goal. A client comes to you wanting a result. You would file a lawsuit to obtain that result through the relief awarded by a court. The client is rarely interested in the type or number of causes of action in the complaint. Even for you, a cause of action should have no intrinsic value. A cause of action has value only if it fits the facts of your case and could, under the law, bring your client relief worth pursuing litigation. Even if you believe in the justice of your client's case, even if you volunteered to represent the client, that does not give you license to select a particularly engaging cause of action. The facts are set in fictional Weaver Township, Toronto County, Michigan. Land use in Weaver Township is controlled by a 1980 zoning ordinance, which prescribes five zoning classifications: CM, R-1, R-2, R-3, and AR. CM allows for "Commercial" zoning within roughly one-quarter mile of either side of two main highways that pass through the township. Commercial zoning permits any use legal under Michigan or federal law, other than industrial and agricultural uses. AR is "Agricultural" zoning, which includes any legal agricultural use as well as all uses permitted under the three "Residential" classifications, R-1, R-2 and R-3. Single family dwellings on plots of no less than one acre are permitted by R-1 zoning. R-2 zoning permits single family dwellings on plots of no less than one-half acre. R-3 zoning permits single family dwellings without restriction on plot size as well as multiple-family dwellings and mobile home parks. All three Residential classifications list "physician's office" as a permitted use. However, the zoning ordinance defines a "physician's office" narrowly: Physician's office. A professional medical office constituting the primary location, outside of a hospital or institution of higher education, for the medical practices of each of the physicians or dentists who provide services within that office. The zoning ordinance explicitly excludes a "clinic" from R classifications (and thereby from AR as well). CM zoning lists "clinic" as a permissible use. A "clinic" is not defined in the zoning ordinance. There are no medical clinics in Weaver Township, just a hospital and physicians' offices as defined by the ordinance. Seven Mile Road divides Weaver Township from Silo Township to the east. In 1975, Planned Parenting purchased and occupied a building located at Seven Mile Road, on the Weaver Township side. Since its acquisition, the building has been used by Planned Parenting for administrative offices and counseling services-
7 pre-existing uses that were not affected by the 1980 zoning ordinance. 22 The 1980 ordinance zoned Planned Parenting's parcel R-3. The side of Weaver Township bordered by Seven Mile Road consists mostly of houses on plots of various sizes, along with some farms and a few apartment complexes and office buildings. The area by the Silo Township side of the road is similarly constituted. Planned Parenting chose the Seven Mile Road site because of its accessibility to low and middle-income families in both townships, and because the building was substantial enough for eventual conversion of a portion of the premises into a clinic. Planned Parenting had decided to avoid the commercial strips within both townships because they are further from such neighborhoods-and for one other reason. Planned Parenting was aware that, should it open a medical clinic and provide abortions, a clinic on a commercial strip would be more visible and, therefore, it was feared, more vulnerable to demonstrations by anti-abortion activists than a neighborhood clinic would be. On August 29, 1997, Planned Parenting applied for a building permit that would have permitted a portion of the building's interior to be constructed into a medical clinic. At the clinic, women would be able to obtain a range of reproductive medical services, including abortions to be performed by qualified physicians. 23 The building permit was not granted. The denial letter from the Weaver Township building inspector, dated September 7, 1997, explained: "A clinic is not permitted within an R-3 zone. Nor is the proposed clinic a valid continuation of the existing use." Planned Parenting appealed to Weaver Township's Zoning Board, arguing inter alia that the zoning ordinance effected exclusionary zoning. While the administrative appeal was pending, a group of residents from the Seven Mile Road neighborhood demonstrated weekly in front of Planned Parenting's building. On February 7, 1998, the Zoning Board ruled in writing that the building permit was prohibited by the zoning ordinance. The ruling states in part: Under Weaver Township's zoning ordinance, R-3 zoning explicitly excludes clinics of all sorts, not just abortion or reproductive clinics. Instead, R-3 zoning does permit medical services, including abortions, to be provided in professional medical offices. The Board notes the concern of neighbors that this particular kind of clinic will attract protesters who will create noise, obstruct traffic on streets and sidewalks, and perhaps even commit acts of violence. Such disturbances are likely to cross over into Silo Township; and this Board considers itself obligated to recognize the effect of its zoning decisions on neighboring municipalities. The stated concern, while not a factor in the present decision, does demonstrate the soundness of Weaver Township's zoning ordinance, which limits neighborhood medical offices to the traditional practices of physicians committed to the community. C. Drafting the Exclusionary Zoning Complaint Being determined to build and operate a clinic at its present location, Planned Parenting wants to sue Weaver Township. As the new attorney for Planned Parenting, you have decided to file an action in the Circuit Court for Toronto County. Now you must draft a complaint. The facts allow for several causes of action, 24 including exclusionary zoning. For many causes of action, elements may be listed in a judicial opinion or in a statute. How each element gets written in that list, however, will provide only some understanding of the cause of action, and only some utility for writing a complaint. Nor may the list be complete. You cannot depend on any one case for a list of the elements of exclusionary zoning, nor on the controlling statute. In English v. Augusta Township, the Court of Appeals began its explanation of the law with the controlling statute. The Legislature addressed the problem of exclusionary zoning with the enactment of 27a of the Township Rural Zoning Act, M.C.L a; M.S.A (27a), which provides: A zoning ordinance or zoning decision shall not have the effect of totally prohibiting the establishment of a land use within a township in the presence of a demonstrated need for that land use within either the township or surrounding area within the state, unless there is no location within the township where the use may be appropriately located, or the use is unlawful. 25
8 The Township Rural Zoning Act is explained in English and in Eveline Township v. H & D Trucking Co., 26 which provides the longest judicial listing of elements for exclusionary zoning. In Eveline Township, the municipality sued the landowner, who was already violating the ordinance. The owner counter-claimed exclusionary zoning. The Court of Appeals relied on Kropf v. Sterling Heights and on the statutory language from 27a of the Township Rural Zoning Act, 27 to recite a test consisting of three "prongs": "Under 27a, a zoning ordinance may not totally exclude a land use where (1) there is a demonstrated need for that land use in the township or surrounding area, (2) the use is appropriate for the location, and (3) the use is lawful." 28 Writing a complaint, you can properly rely on the prongs numbered by the appellate court to be elements of the cause of action. But you should not assume that the list in a single legal source is either complete or correctly enumerated. Your job is to reconstruct rather than recite the lists given to you. Eveline Township's threepronged test can be constructed into at least four elements. Let me use the construction of elements (4), (5), (6) and (7) of the template to demonstrate principles of legal writing and a method for writing factual allegations. (4) A zoning ordinance, in effect, excludes the use proposed for plaintiff's land, and [where facts permit] accomplishes a policy of excluding the proposed use by designating no appropriate site for that use. The three pronged-test of Eveline Township offers five elements. Two of them are in the introductory phrase, "a zoning ordinance may not totally exclude a land use." 29 A rich source of information about the cause of action, the phrase begins with the defendant's instrumentality-"a zoning ordinance" that must be specified by the pleader-and the action effected by the instrumentality, to "totally exclude." In other words, defendant by means of its instrumentality has harmed plaintiff's property and thereby harmed the plaintiff. Although both a constitutional and statutory cause of action, exclusionary zoning is at heart a traditional action to enforce the right to enjoyment of one's property. 1. Grammar Lesson Number One of Two: Use Verbs to Communicate the Wrongdoer's Actions Plaintiff sues because defendant did or failed to do something. This theme, that defendant acted wrongly, can be reinforced by the style of your allegations. Where an element contains a component of wrongful action by the defendant, or anything that can be viewed as if it were action by the defendant, try to rewrite the element using a verb-make it the main verb, if possible-to carry that action. Allege through verbs, and create a verb-based narrative template for the cause of action. The task is not arduous. You need mainly be aware of verbs and words that can be turned into verbs. 30 Take the verb from the language of your source. Eveline Township provides the wrongful action in verb form, "excludes". This indicates that the verb "excludes" carries as much legal significance as its noun form "exclusion", which of course names the plaintiff's cause of action. Every cause of action is a verb transformed into the name for a wrongful act. The writer of a complaint should not overlook an opportunity to use a verb instead of a noun. The verb allows for a sentence in which defendant, directly or through its instrumentalities, carries out unlawful actions. In a complaint for exclusionary zoning, the verb "exclude" should be used at least once in a sentence about action by the defendant through its ordinance. 2. Grammar Lesson Number Two: Modify Verbs Where the Law Does, if That Allows You to Allege Less Than the Total Action by Defendant A modifier qualifies the meaning of a word. A verb that is modified has, in most instances, had its meaning reduced rather than enhanced-as I will illustrate. In the definition of an element, a modifier allows the writer to allege less than total action on the part of the defendant, or a less than absolute consequence from the defendant's action. The modifier thereby broadens the range of facts constituting the element. Putting a modifier to advantage, the pleader could allege more actions or consequences than an unmodified verb would permit.
9 But learn to recognize those modifiers that require no pleading. In its opening clause, "[a] zoning ordinance or zoning decision shall not have the effect of totally prohibiting...", 31 the Township Rural Zoning Act attaches two modifiers to the verb "prohibiting" (its synonym for "excluding"). The more obvious modifier is "totally", which appears as well in Eveline Township, where the rule opens with "a zoning ordinance may not totally exclude." 32 The modifier "totally" neither reduces nor increases the quantity of wrongdoing a landowner must plead. Unmodified, an exclusion would be total anyway. A word that, in the context of your document, already means what you intend it to mean will need no modification. Remember that in all your legal writing. Unless your complaint mentions some other, partial exclusion that has to be distinguished, the modifier "total" is fluff, mere legalese, in a complaint. Let me return your attention to element (4) of the template, where I have used "exclude"-i.e., keep out-for its appropriately spatial connotation: (4) A zoning ordinance, in effect, excludes the use proposed for plaintiff's land, and [where facts permit] accomplishes a policy of excluding the proposed use by designating no appropriate site for that use. The modifier "in effect" has been adapted from the statutory language "shall not have the effect of totally prohibiting", and from English v. Augusta Township, where-applying both the Township Rural Zoning Act and the definition of exclusionary zoning from Kropf v. Sterling Heights-the Court of Appeals interpreted the element of the exclusion to be "[a]n ordinance that has the effect of totally prohibiting a particular land use within a township." 33 The verb "have" or "has" conveys no action, nor even a status as if it were an action. So the verb may be dropped, with "has the effect" becoming the modifier "in effect". Because "in effect" dilutes the meaning of "excludes", it broadens the range of facts that will constitute an exclusion. The modifier "in effect" will allow the pleader to allege facts in anticipation of a defense, here, the defendant's inevitable assertion that zoning elsewhere in the township, i.e. CM zoning, does permit clinics. 34 The pleader may anticipate the defense by alleging facts that constitute, at least in their effect, an exclusion. 3. An Element Is Defined by Facts That Have Been Held to Constitute That Element Bare definition of an element in a reported case is not as helpful as the way the court examines the facts of its decision against that element. An element is more usefully defined through the facts of each case in which it gets applied. The element of exclusion, according to English, may be satisfied by an "unwritten policy" accomplished by the zoning ordinance. Where a reported case discusses the sufficiency of evidence presented either at trial or during a pre-trial stage, read the case to learn which facts were held to constitute, or not to constitute, the element in controversy. If proofs on an element were held sufficient, then the sort of facts proven in that case, if, and only if, they exist in your own file, may suffice to allege that element. As you read the cases, be on alert for language used to narrate the facts. You, in turn, might adapt such language to narrate the facts of your own case. By "language" I do not mean the names of elements. Rather, examine the words by which the judge describes the facts of that case. Accordingly, the rest of the element (4) is derived not from any rule recited in Eveline Township or English, but from the findings of fact in English v. Augusta Township. The only area zoned for mobile home parks in Augusta Township was a parcel found unsuitable for any development. The Court of Appeals found that: [T]here was ample evidence that the zoning of that [unsuitable] parcel for mobile homes was nothing less than a subterfuge for the township's unwritten policy of excluding mobile-home parks altogether.... Thus, in effect, the township has designated no appropriate site for a mobile-home park..... There was also testimony that township officials exerted pressure to limit low-cost housing in general. 35
10 Whether Planned Parenting can produce evidence of subterfuge is not yet known to you. But note that the Zoning Board's written opinion praises "the soundness of Weaver Township's zoning ordinance, which limits neighborhood medical offices to the traditional practices of physicians committed to their community." This raises a suspicion of an unwritten policy to exclude clinics, which generally provide services for low-income families. The pleader might ethically consider such an allegation. Certainly your client would take a position, comparable to the reasoning in English, that by designating only the CM category for clinics, "in effect, the township has designated no appropriate site for" medical or reproductive health clinics. 36 Allegation in the complaint of element (4) of the template, therefore, requires several sets of circumstances: The defendant's ordinance, the Weaver Township Zoning Ordinance of 1980, [citation], zoned the area containing Planned Parenting's parcel R-3. The defendant's zoning ordinance provides that... [describe the provisions defining R-1, R-2, R-3 and AR zoning; the provisions excluding a clinic from R zoning; the provisions defining CM zoning and listing "clinic" as a permitted use; the provisions locating the CM zones; and the provision defining a physician's office]. [Cite the provisions.] These provisions are attached as Exhibit A. By prohibiting clinics in the areas zoned R-1, R-2, R-3 and AR, and by limiting all clinics to the two commercial strips zoned CM, the defendant's zoning ordinance, in effect, excludes neighborhood medical clinics from Weaver Township. The defendant has a policy of excluding medical clinics for low-income families, which is accomplished through the zoning ordinance's prohibition of clinics in the areas zoned R-1, R-2, R-3 and AR. Note that the defendant township is called "the defendant," rather than by its name, so that "Weaver Township" may be used in the complaint to designate the community. The desired implication is that the government of Weaver Township has not served the interests of Weaver Township. 4. Avoid Parentheticals Notice that, in the second paragraph of the allegations, the reference to the Exhibit is written as a separate sentence, rather than as a parenthetical that may interrupt a reader's attention to facts. You do not want the reader to turn to an Exhibit until after reading the allegation in that paragraph. Parentheticals tend to intrude (except for those that translate a term) upon the reader's need to follow a sentence. 5. Main Paragraphs Narrate; Subparagraphs Analyze Element (5) of the template broadens the substance of what a pleader can allege by allowing for subparagraphs that raise alternative theories for why the use is needed. Let me begin by focusing on which words work as verbs for telling this portion of the story, in which an exclusion has deprived people of something they needed. (5) Plaintiff demonstrates [i.e.,, pleader alleges] there is a need for the proposed use within the municipality or surrounding area. [Subparagraphs may include]: a. [Municipality or region] needs the proposed use. b. The defendant discriminates against [describe group of people in the municipality or region] through a policy of excluding the proposed use, which [those people] need. The first prong in Eveline Township states: "there is a demonstrated need for that land use in the township or surrounding area." 37 Several words here might be used as verbs to convey action. "[T]hat land use" could provide the verb use; but since plaintiff would use the land, not defendant, the verb use does not support a theme of wrongdoing. 38 The complaint's theme, or unifying idea, is the defendant's wrongdoing. Verbs should communicate what the defendant did more often than what plaintiff has done or would do. 39
11 "A demonstrated need" provides the verb demonstrate, which also refers to action by a plaintiff, not a defendant. More important for the writer, this action is an event during the litigation, not an event that led to litigation. A plaintiff demonstrates by alleging, and, later, by proving. The first prong of Eveline Township is not to be copied obsequiously. Rather, this prong instructs the pleader on exactly what to allege: that there is a need. As a verb, need is not an action; it is a condition. But need conveys a sense of action because it takes on the same grammatical structure: Someone needs something. If you can allege exactly who needs the land to be used as the plaintiff proposes, then do so. Under a substantive due process approach to exclusionary zoning, the grammatical subject of "needs" may be the municipality or a greater area that includes the municipality. Under an equal protection approach to exclusionary zoning, the grammatical subject of "needs" may be a group of people. The people might be named through an accepted label, or they might simply be identified by what they need. These permutations can be alleged through subparagraphs. Unlike the main numbered paragraph, subparagraphs do not move the story forward. Rather, they pause the narrative movement of the complaint in favor of analysis. Analysis allows you to clarify the purpose of the allegation in the main paragraph. Such analysis may include a variety of legal imports or consequences to the action alleged in the main paragraph. The analysis may consist of inferences that you want the reader to draw from the facts. Subparagraphs may name the elements that the facts in the allegation might constitute, if more than one element is entailed. As the Sixth Circuit recently explained in Gustafson v. City of Lake Angelus, 40 a complaint for exclusionary zoning under Michigan law must articulate a "public need" for the proposed use. 41 In English v. Augusta Township, the Court of Appeals found that low income housing was needed in the township by persons whom the court specified only by that need. 42 Kropf v. Sterling Heights would look for exclusionary zoning in a municipality that "has a policy of discriminating against" an otherwise lawful use. 43 Thus, policy becomes a component of this element. "Has" is not a verb that conveys any meaning; but "discrimination" yields the verb "discriminates," with "policy" being relegated to a modifier, i.e., "through a policy...." A subparagraph could allege that the municipality discriminates against a group of people, who can be defined in the complaint by no more than what they need. Development of analytical subparagraphs comes easily to a legal writer. It is an opportunity to allege every ground the writer can conceive for liability, as subparagraphs in complaints often do. But this should not be an opportunity to rattle off every theory or legal phrase that might be needed at trial. Limit your subparagraphs to analysis that follows from the fact alleged in the main paragraph. As with element (4), a fact from English v. Augusta Township can be adapted to the allegation of element (5). Narration of facts in English begins with "the township had no existing mobile-home parks," 44 a fact that is pertinent to the court's findings of exclusion and need. Once you decide that a fact in your file corresponds to a material fact in a reported case, adopt the language used by that court to report or characterize your fact. As no clinics operate in Weaver Township, we can use that fact to allege element (5), and adopt the language of English by using the verb exist in the sample complaint: The proposed use is needed within Weaver Township, where no medical clinics exist, because: a. Weaver Township needs neighborhood medical clinics that serve persons who may not be able to afford the private medical offices located in their neighborhood. b. Weaver Township needs a neighborhood medical clinic that structures its fees according to the income of the patient, providing free medical services to patients with income below a designated level. c. Weaver Township needs a neighborhood medical clinic that provides reproductive health services.
12 d. Weaver Township needs a medical clinic where abortions may be performed in accordance with Michigan law. e. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against women living in the region containing Weaver Township who need a medical clinic that provides reproductive health services, including legal abortions, while structuring its fees according to the income of the patient. f. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against women living in the region containing Weaver Township who need a medical clinic that provides legal abortions in a relatively safe area. g. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against low- and middle-income persons living in the Seven Mile Road area, who need geographically accessible medical clinics. Because abortions are so controversial, the term "abortion clinic" does not appear in the allegation of element (5). The second prong of Eveline Township states that "the use is appropriate for the location." 45 In English, in its application of the second prong from Eveline Township, the Court of Appeals occasionally uses the synonym "suitable." 46 The recent decision of Bell River Assoc. v. China Charter Township 47 uses "appropriate" and "reasonable." 48 This allows the drafter a choice. Choose one of the three words, and stick to it. I have chosen "suitable" because it can be written as a verb: (6) Plaintiff's land suits the proposed use. Suitability of the land for a mobile home park was evaluated in detail in English, while the land in Bell River Assoc. was distinguished fact by fact from English, to justify a conclusion that the land did not suit a mobile home park. 49 A Michigan court, therefore, will not find an exclusion unless the facts demonstrate that the land in litigation is suitable for the use proposed. The analysis in English produces one fact adaptable to Planned Parenting's case: "The local roads were found sufficient to handle the proposed development." 50 Planned Parenting has provided services to the public from the location in controversy for over twenty years. That fact should be alleged in element (6): The described premises suit the proposed use. a. Services have been provided to the public on the premises for more than twenty years. b. A clinic may be constructed inside the building on the premises in compliance with state and township codes. (7) The proposed use is otherwise lawful. I have copied the third prong from Eveline Township. Because abortions are controversial, their legality has already been alleged in connection with element (5). But for element (7), the complaint must allege any enabling or protective statute or constitutional provision: The proposed use is protected by... [Cite constitutions, and cite statutes allowing and regulating medical clinics.] A complaint would open not with element (1) of its template, but rather with facts identifying the parties and establishing subject matter jurisdiction and venue. Element (1) of the template for exclusionary zoning does, conveniently, establish venue as well as standing. The plaintiff owns or leases land that the complaint must identify. Thus:
13 (1) Plaintiff owns [or leases] certain land withing the [defendant] municipality. Element (1) presents the municipality as a location rather than a defendant: Since 1975, Planned Parenting has owned a parcel of land and the building thereon at Seven Mile Road, Weaver Township, Toronto County, Michigan, described as: [Quote the recorded property description unless in your judgment, an address sufficiently identifies the parcel for litigation in which title or right to the land is not contested.] 6. An Element May Name a Requirement for Pleading Element (2) allows a transition from who plaintiff is to why the plaintiff has come into court: (2) Plaintiff proposes to the court [i.e., pleader alleges] a use for plaintiff's land that plaintiff proposed to the defendant municipality. Continually through its opinion in English v. Augusta Township, the Court of Appeals refers to the "proposed use" and mentions details of the plaintiffs' proposal where pertinent to its analysis. 51 In every exclusionary zoning case brought by a landowner, the landowner has already proposed a use for the land. The proposal before the court began as part of the event leading to litigation; the landowner proposed something. Some elements provided by case law are about actions a plaintiff must take during litigation. 52 The verb "propose" signals a requirement for pleading. References in English to the "proposed use" comprehend an event of the litigation as much as the event of proposing a use to the municipality. Therefore, element (2) consists of proposing a use to the Court, and alleging that the use had been proposed by plaintiff to the defendant. The term "use," while potentially a verb, can be left in subject form, as a term of art in land use planning and zoning law. In the sample problem, as in many such cases, the municipality denied a request for a building permit. Because recent denial of a permit has precipitated the lawsuit, that event may be alleged for the sake of the narrative; but that event does not contribute to any of the elements. 53 The act of wrongdoing commenced in 1980 when the municipality passed a zoning ordinance that continues to exclude the proposed use, not when the municipality recently issued a decision pursuant to that ordinance Narrative Continuity and Sequence Element (2) has been alleged to include facts providing narrative continuity: On the described premises, Planned Parenting has continuously conducted its business, which consists of providing professional services related to a woman's reproductive system, and charging fees structured according to the income of the patient or client. Planned Parenting proposes to construct a portion of the premises into a medical clinic, built in compliance with state and township codes, in which licensed health care professionals would provide reproductive medical services to women. The defendant was informed by Planned Parenting of the proposed use on August 29, 1997, when Planned Parenting applied for a building permit. The defendant denied Planned Parenting a permit on September 7, On February 7, 1998, the defendant's Zoning Board refused to permit the proposed use. The final paragraph contains more than one sentence. It is useful to remember that an allegation is a paragraph. The court rule requires paragraphs. A paragraph may state a set of circumstances, not just a single circumstance. No court rule requires that allegation paragraphs be written as a single sentence.
14 The three sentences of the final paragraph of element (2) narrate a sequence of circumstances within that element. Sequences within a set of circumstances may be written as consecutive sentences of a single paragraph. Do not use subparagraphs. Subparagraphs subordinate analysis to the narrative of the main paragraph. None of the circumstances in a sequence are subordinate to the other circumstances. They are to be narrated in chronological order, not put into a hierarchy. Writing the verb "proposes" to introduce the proposal will lead you to specify, in element (2), the use first proposed to the municipality and now proposed to the court. The allegations constituting element (2) also constitute element (3): (3) The proposal for use of plaintiff's land is specific. Specificity must be demonstrated by the pleader, not used as a word in the complaint. The element requiring the proposal to be specific comes from English, following the Michigan Supreme Court opinion in Schwartz v. Flint. 55 Schwartz is the leading case prescribing the cause of action and the relief allowed for the unconstitutional application of a zoning ordinance to a particular parcel. Schwartz limits relief to an injunction rather than re-zoning. 56 Applying this limitation on relief to exclusionary zoning cases, English holds that a landowner who proves exclusionary zoning may be allowed an injunction prohibiting the municipality from interfering with the proposed use of the land. 57 As a prerequisite for relief, English applies the "specific reasonable use" standard from Schwartz v. Flint, which holds that for an injunction to issue, "[a] plaintiff's proposed use must be specific, but it need not amount to a 'plan.'" 58 Although the element of a specific proposed use is part of the standard in Schwartz requiring a "specific reasonable use", both English and Bell River Assoc. treat the requirement that the proposed use be "reasonable" as equivalent to the prong requiring that plaintiffs' property be appropriate or "suitable." In Bell River Assoc., the Court of Appeals uses "unreasonable" to mean unsuitable. 59 The reasonableness requirement of Schwartz, therefore, is covered by element (6) on suitability. D. The Exclusionary Zoning Complaint Let me pull the complaint together. The allegations drafted above are now preceded by three paragraphs identifying the parties and alleging the facts of subject matter jurisdiction. 1. The plaintiff, Planned Parenting, is a non-profit Michigan corporation with its principle office in Lansing, Michigan, and an office located on premises specified below, in Weaver Township, Toronto County, Michigan. 2. The defendant is Weaver Township. 3. Planned Parenting seeks injunctive relief from a zoning ordinance of Weaver Township, and from the zoning of the Planned Parenting's premises in Weaver Township. 4. Since 1975, Planned Parenting has owned a parcel of land and the building thereon at Seven Mile Road, Weaver Township, Toronto County, Michigan, described as: [Quote the recorded property description, unless you are satisfied that an address sufficiently identifies the parcel for litigation in which title or right to the land is not contested.] 5. On the described premises, Planned Parenting has continuously conducted its business, which consists of providing professional services related to a woman's reproductive system, and charging fees structured according to the income of the patient or client. 6. Planned Parenting proposes to construct a portion of the premises into a medical clinic, built in compliance with state and township codes, in which licensed health care professionals would provide reproductive medical services to women. 7. The defendant was informed by Planned Parenting of the proposed use on August 29, 1997, when Planned Parenting applied for a building permit. The defendant denied Planned Parenting a permit on September 7, On February 7, 1998, the defendant's Zoning Board refused to permit the proposed use.
15 8. The defendant's ordinance, the Weaver Township Zoning Ordinance of 1980, [citation], zoned the area containing Planned Parenting's parcel R The defendant's zoning ordinance provides that... [describe the provisions defining R-1, R-2, R-3 and "R zoning; the provisions excluding a clinic from R zoning; the provisions defining CM zoning and listing "clinic" as a permitted use; the provisions locating the CM zones; and the provision defining a physician's office]. [Cite the provisions.] These provisions are attached as Exhibit A. 10. By prohibiting clinics in the areas zoned R-1, R-2, R-3 and AR, and by limiting all clinics to the two commercial strips zoned CM, the defendant's zoning ordinance, in effect, excludes neighborhood medical clinics from Weaver Township. 11. The defendant has a policy of excluding medical clinics for low-income families, which is accomplished through the zoning ordinance's prohibition of clinics in the areas zoned R-1, R-2, R-3 and AR. 12. The proposed use is needed within Weaver Township, where no medical clinics exist, because: a. Weaver Township needs neighborhood medical clinics that serve persons who may not be able to afford the private medical offices located in their neighborhood. b. Weaver Township needs a neighborhood medical clinic that structures its fees according to the income of the patient, providing free medical services to patients with income below a designated level. c. Weaver Township needs a neighborhood medical clinic that provides reproductive health services. d. Weaver Township needs a medical clinic where abortions may be performed in accordance with Michigan law. e. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against women living in the region containing Weaver Township who need a medical clinic that provides reproductive health services, including legal abortions, while structuring its fees according to the income of the patient. f. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against women living in the region containing Weaver Township who need a medical clinic that provides legal abortions in a relatively safe area. g. The defendant's zoning ordinance discriminates against low- and middle-income persons living in the Seven Mile Road area, who need geographically accessible medical clinics. 13. The described premises suit the proposed use. a. Services have been provided to the public on the premises for more than twenty years. b. A clinic may be constructed inside the building on the premises in compliance with state and township codes. 14. The proposed use is protected by...[cite constitutions, and cite statutes allowing and regulating medical clinics.] The body of the complaint would conclude with a section on relief. E. An Additional Element to Anticipate a Defense In researching your case, you may learn of an affirmative defense which the defendant would be likely to raise. Under the law of your jurisdiction, there may be facts beyond the elements of your cause of action which, if eventually proven, would rebut the anticipated defense. If so, you may decide to anticipate the defense by alleging such facts, even though the rules of pleading may not require anticipating affirmative defenses. 60 But do not name the affirmative defense in your complaint. For a claim of exclusionary zoning, the optional element consists of facts that would establish an absence of "special circumstances." The Michigan Court of Appeals, elaborating on the element of exclusion in English,
16 stated: "An ordinance that has the effect of totally prohibiting a particular land use within a township is impermissible in the absence of special circumstances." 61 Facts composing any "special circumstances" likely to be alleged by a municipality could be found in paper that the municipality generated during its efforts to block the proposed use of the land. When the Weaver Township Zoning Board ruled on Planned Parenting's administrative appeal, it expressed the following concern: The Board notes the concern of neighbors that this particular kind of clinic will attract protesters who will create noise, obstruct traffic on streets and sidewalks, and perhaps even commit acts of violence. Such disturbances are likely to cross over into Silo Township; and this Board considers itself obligated to recognize the effect of its zoning decisions on neighboring municipalities. The stated concern, while not a factor in the present decision, does demonstrate the soundness of Weaver Township's zoning ordinance, which limits neighborhood medical offices to the traditional practices of physicians committed to their community. The stated concern may amount to a special circumstance that would support the defendant. But it has already been anticipated in the subparagraph alleging that women need "a medical clinic that provides legal abortions in a relatively safe area." Please remember that at this opening stage of litigation, neither party has to prove anything. The defendant does not have to prove special circumstances; nor does the plaintiff have to prove their absence. The complaint should not allege the empty legal conclusion that there is an absence of special circumstances. If the defendant is likely to allege special circumstances, the complaint may allege facts to anticipate that defense. II. THE SECOND SAMPLE PROBLEM: CIVIL APPELLATE MALPRACTICE (N.B. This problem, set in Pennsylvania, will rely on techniques already explained in the first sample problem, while presenting additional techniques.) The elements of civil malpractice at the appellate level have not been provided by the Pennsylvania courts. Nor have the courts, as of yet, listed the elements of civil malpractice, whether committed at the trial or appellate levels, as an action for breach of contract. Yet both appellate malpractice and malpractice as a breach of contract have been recognized as causes of action in Pennsylvania. 62 The writer of a complaint alleging either cause of action has the task of constructing its elements. In this second problem, I will construct the templates and draft a complaint for civil appellate malpractice in two counts, negligence and breach of contract. In 1985, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania noted that "[t]he Pennsylvania Supreme Court has acknowledged the legitimacy of an action in either assumpsit [i.e., contract] or trespass [i.e., negligence] by a client against his attorney for malpractice.... However, the supreme court has yet to address... the specific elements required to prove such causes...." 63 Subsequently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Rizzo v. Haines, 64 listed three elements for an attorney's negligence. Subsequent cases uniformly recite the Rizzo elements, which are: "(1) the employment of the attorney or other basis for duty; (2) the failure of the attorney to exercise ordinary skill and knowledge; and (3) that such negligence was the proximate cause of damage to the plaintiff." 65 Although the second and third elements specify negligence, Rizzo further defined the element of proximate cause in terms that allow for a cause of action in contract: "an essential element of the cause of action, whether the action be denominated in assumpsit or trespass, is proof of actual loss.'" 66 However, the precise elements of legal malpractice as a breach of contract have not been established in Pennsylvania. In Fiorentino v. Rapoport, 67 a 1997 case, the Superior Court acknowledged that malpractice as a breach of contract "requires the proof of different elements" than malpractice as negligence, but did not attempt to explain or even list all the elements of breach of contract. 68 The writer of a complaint should research for cases that hold a complaint for the same cause of action to be sufficient. In 1996, Pennsylvania's Superior Court held that a complaint for civil appellate malpractice sufficiently alleged causes of action for negligence and breach of contract. The attorney in Perkovic v. Barrett 69
17 had obtained a remand for his clients from the Superior Court in the underlying appeal, but "did not inform appellants [i.e., clients] of our reversal and remand[,] and subsequently judgment was entered against appellants." 70 Explicitly construing a contract providing that counsel "was retained for the purpose of 'perfecting... this appeal'", the Superior Court held that a breach of contract as well as a violation of duty were alleged sufficiently in the complaint. 71 By implication from Perkovic, a duty imposed by the contract and the breach of that duty might be substituted for the second element of the Rizzo list, failure of the attorney to exercise ordinary skill and knowledge. This reading of Perkovic is reinforced by Fiorentino, which states that "the attorney's liability must be assessed under the terms of the contract." 72 I have constructed the tort template for civil appellate malpractice in Pennsylvania into five elements, and the breach of contract template into four elements. As elements are already established for civil malpractice as a tort committed at trial level, the template for the tort should be constructed first. The negligence count should be Count I of the complaint for a similar reason; the law will be more familiar to the judge. The elements of the two templates have been gleaned from the following authorities: McMahon v. Shea, 547 Pa. 124; 688 A.2d 1179 (1997). Bailey v. Tucker, 533 Pa. 237; 621 A.2d 108 (1993). Rizzo v. Haines, 520 Pa. 484; 555 A.2d 58 (1989). Guy v. Liederbach, 501 Pa. 47; 459 A.2d 744 (1983). Lichow v. Sowers, 334 Pa. 353; 6 A.2d 285 (1939). Fiorentino v. Rapoport, Pa. Super. 693 A.2d 208, appeal denied, 701 A.2d 577 (1997). Kituskie v. Corbman, 452 Pa. Super. 467; 682 A.2d 378 (1996), appeal granted, 693 A.2d 967 (1997). Perkovic v. Barrett, 448 Pa. Super. 356; 671 A.2d 740 (1996). Gundlach v. Reinstein, 924 F. Supp. 684 (E.D. Pa. 1996)), aff'd mem., 114 F.3d 1172 (3d Cir. 1997) (listing elements for breach of contract in Pennsylvania). A. Two Templates for Civil Appellate Malpractice Template for civil appellate malpractice as an action in negligence (1) Plaintiff client [use name of client] employed the defendant attorney, [name], to represent plaintiff client in the appeal by plaintiff [or by the opposing party] of the Judgment [or other appealable order] of the Court of Common Pleas [or other court], dated [or filed] on [date] in [name of case, including client's name] ("underlying litigation"), case no. [docket], to the [appellate court] of [or for] [jurisdiction], case no. [docket]. A copy of the attorney-client attorney-client agreement, dated [date], is attached as Exhibit A. (2) During the representation of plaintiff [use name] on appeal, defendant [use name] had a duty under [court rule or rule of law] to [perform a certain task]. (3) Defendant violated such duty of care by neglecting to [omission]. [And if applicable:] Instead, defendant [negligent act]. (4) In consequence of that breach of duty, the [appellate court] [or court below after remand] in the underlying litigation ruled, by Order [and Opinion] dated [or filed] on [date], that [client lost for a particular reason]. (5) The breach of duty proximately caused actual loss to plaintiff, who would otherwise have prevailed in the underlying litigation, both on and after appeal. a. Plaintiff would have prevailed as appellant [or appellee] in the underlying litigation on the following
18 grounds: [i, ii, iii... If client was the appellant, list grounds that were raised or should have been raised by the attorney; but refrain from listing grounds on which the standard of review is only abuse of discretion. If client was the appellee, specify the grounds that had no merit.] b. On remand [or after appeal] in the underlying litigation, a judgment would have been entered for plaintiff. c. The Judgment entered in the underlying litigation [caused a particular loss]. The five elements of the tort have been arranged to outline the paradigmatic story for appellate malpractice. That story includes: background on what led the client to hire the attorney; the central event of the malpractice; and extrapolation of a result in the underlying case as if it would have happened. Written in prose, the story might be told as follows: The client was represented by an attorney at the appellate level of certain litigation in which: either the client had lost and appealed; or the client had prevailed and the other party appealed. On appeal the attorney either committed a procedural error or insufficiently presented the merits of the client's case. In consequence, the appeal was lost. On the merits of the appeal, the client should have prevailed. If prevailing on appeal would have entailed a remand to the lower court, then the client would have prevailed in the lower court as well. Template for civil appellate malpractice as an action in contract (1) For consideration, plaintiff client [use name of client] employed the defendant attorney, [name], to represent client in the appeal by plaintiff [or by the opposing party] of the Judgment [or other appealable order] of the Court of Common Pleas [or other court], dated [or filed] on [date] in [name of case, including client's name] ("underlying litigation"), case no. [docket], to the [appellate court] of [or for] [jurisdiction], case no. [docket]. A copy of the attorney-client agreement, dated [date], is attached as Exhibit A. (2) The client specifically instructed the defendant, in accordance with defendant's representation of the client, to [task or goal] by [manner]. OR: The attorney-client contract specified that the defendant was to [task or goal] by [manner]. OR: During the representation of plaintiff on appeal, a duty arose from the attorney-client contract for defendant to [task or goal] by [manner]. (3) Defendant breached such contractual duty by [omission]. Instead [act]. (4) Defendant's breach of contractual duty cost [or caused] the plaintiff contractual damages. B. Facts of the Second Sample Problem Your client is Katherine Monaghan, who lives in fictional Jenkinburgh, Limekiln County, Pennsylvania. Through local attorney William Rockey, Ms. Monaghan sued Exterminator, Inc., a pesticide service, for negligent contamination of her house. The case was tried in April 1997 in the Court of Common Pleas for Limekiln County. The jury found for Exterminator, Inc. Judgment was entered on April 30, Still representing Ms. Monaghan, Mr. Rockey appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, where the errors argued on appeal were held waived, and the Judgment affirmed, by reason of an appellate procedural error by Mr. Rockey. Ms. Monaghan had contracted with Exterminator, Inc., to treat her house for carpenter ants. She claimed personal injury as well as damage to the house and furnishings through Exterminator's excessive application of pesticide in July The state department of agriculture measured pesticide residue from the walls, furniture, and air ducts. A physician specializing in pharmacology and toxicology concluded that pesticides had contaminated the house. On the physician's advice, Ms. Monaghan moved into an apartment while the house was decontaminated. Decontamination, which was completed in May 1995, required discarding furniture,
19 removing carpeting, replacing air ducts, and reconstructing the interior of the house. At trial, Ms. Monaghan's psychiatrist testified to emotional consequences of the contamination. Instructing the jury on negligence, the trial judge said: "If the individual who's hurt is so odd and peculiar, idiosyncratic, that it is not foreseeable such a person would be hurt, then the defendant would not be negligent." Mr. Rockey objected to the instruction. As he would argue on appeal, this was not a defense to the cause of action against Exterminator, Inc. Rather, the jury had been charged on the defense of unusual susceptibility of plaintiff to a product the ordinary use of which would not harm a normal person. 73 In Morris v. Pathmark Corp., 74 which held that no duty to warn was created by an idiosyncratic sensitivity to a toiletry selected by the customer, the Superior Court distinguished its holding from "cases permitting recovery for... situations in which the seller has selected and/or applied the product for the consumer." 75 Exterminator, Inc. had been sued for negligently rather than normally applying pesticides; pesticides that its agents had selected. Nevertheless, the judge overruled Mr. Rockey's objection, and Ms. Monaghan lost the lawsuit. Mr. Rockey and Ms. Monaghan had entered into a contingent fee agreement dated the first of March On the day after the verdict, Mr. Rockey wrote to Ms. Monaghan that a transcript of the Exterminator trial had to be ordered from the court reporter to pursue an appeal, and that he would need an advance of $2,000 to pay the reporter. Ms. Monaghan immediately advanced him the money. Mr. Rockey ordered the transcript and appealed the Exterminator decision to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. As the chief claim of error, Mr. Rockey argued in his brief that the charge to the jury was erroneous and prejudicial. Other claims of error were based on evidentiary rulings. The Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that: "[t]he record on appeal, including the transcript and exhibits necessary for the determination of the appeal, shall be transmitted to the appellate court within 40 days after the filing of the notice of appeal." 76 Mr. Rockey filed the Notice of Appeal on May 5, Forty days elapsed on June 14, On that day or the next, the Common Pleas clerk would have forwarded the lower court record. The Superior Court docket reveals that on June 16, 1997, the record was received. The Court of Common Pleas docket reveals that on June 30, 1997, two weeks after the 40-day deadline of Pa. R. App. P. 1931(a), the stenographer's Notes of Testimony were filed. In a letter sent to Mr. Rockey in October 1997, Ms. Monaghan wrote: It has come to my attention that the Notes of Testimony of my trial are at the court house. I was told that the Notes would have been sent with my file if they had been available. Why were they not available when they were ordered in a timely manner? I did not order a Court transcript for it to languish, unseen by those who will decide if I am entitled to a new trial. Writing to Ms. Monaghan a few days later, Mr. Rockey replied : The entire record is in the possession of the Superior Court. A reproduced record has been filed in the Superior Court as part of an appendix and are available, in their entirety, for the Court to review. Mr. Rockey had confused the appendix with the actual trial transcript. 77 The direct consequence of his misunderstanding was a decision by the Superior Court, filed April 1, 1998, that all of Ms. Monaghan's claims of error had been waived. C. Drafting the Complaint for Civil Appellate Malpractice: Alleging Negligence Ms. Monaghan wishes to sue Mr. Rockey. As her attorney, you decide to file an action for civil appellate malpractice in the Court of Common Pleas for Limekiln County. You can allege malpractice in counts for negligence and breach of contract. You begin by constructing a template and drafting the count for negligence.
20 There can be no negligence without a duty. The sine qua non of an attorney's duty is the employment of that attorney, which is the first element under Rizzo and will be the first element of the template. 78 Begin the process of drafting with the element of employment, for it is where a malpractice attorney's evaluation of the case begins. In the allegation of element (1), the attorney's employment and facts identifying the underlying litigation constitute a single set of circumstances. The identifying details of the appeal include the title of the case and its docket numbers: (1) Plaintiff client [use name of client] employed the defendant attorney, [name], to represent plaintiff client in the appeal by plaintiff [or by the opposing party] of the Judgment [or other appealable order] of the Court of Common Pleas [or other court], dated [or filed] on [date] in [name of case, including client's name] ("underlying litigation"), case no. [docket], to the [appellate court] of [or for] [jurisdiction], case no. [docket]. A copy of the attorney-client attorney-client agreement, dated [date], is attached as Exhibit A. 1. Finding the Verb The principle of using verbs to name acts can be applied to name an act of the plaintiff-if by that act the plaintiff became entitled to defendant's performance. Therefore, the noun "employment" from Rizzo's first element becomes the verb "employed" in element (1) of the template. Although the plaintiff had appealed in the underlying action, "appeal" is written as a noun. Employing, not appealing, was the act by plaintiff that created a duty in the attorney. Nor should the act of appealing be ascribed to the attorney; it was not a wrongful act. Ms. Monaghan and Mr. Rockey entered into a contingent fee agreement dated March 1, That agreement should be referenced in element (1) as an Exhibit. The agreement was supplemented when Mr. Rockey obtained the $2,000 that he solicited from Ms. Monaghan for the trial transcript in his letter of May 1, The letter should be referenced as an Exhibit, too. Failure to deliver to the Superior Court a transcript he had solicited constituted Mr. Rockey's negligence. In Ms. Monaghan's complaint, element (1) may allege more than a prerequisite for duty; it may allege the very event with which a narrative of negligence can begin. By a contingent fee agreement and, subsequently, upon Mr. Rockey's solicitation and receipt of moneys from Ms. Monaghan for the purchase of a transcript of trial proceedings, Ms. Monaghan employed Mr. Rockey to represent Ms. Monaghan in her appeal of the Judgment of the Court of Common Pleas for Limekiln County, dated April 30, 1997, in Katherine Monaghan v. Exterminator, Inc. ("the underlying litigation"), case no Jan. Term 1996, to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, case no PHL The contingent fee agreement, dated March 1, 1995, is attached as Exhibit A. The letter of solicitation, dated May 1, 1997, is attached as Exhibit B. The breach of a duty and its immediate consequence will be narrated by elements (2), (3) and (4) of the negligence template. Those elements, however, are not the next step of your analysis, nor of your drafting. The order of the allegations in the complaint need not reflect the order in which you approach and draft them. "Composing is not a linear process, though what it creates has linear form." Alleging Harm: Using Subparagraphs for Analysis A malpractice attorney next examines whether there was any actionable harm. As Rizzo states, "an essential element of the cause of action... is proof of actual loss.'" 80 Expanding on that proviso, the Superior Court, in Kituskie v. Corbman, explains that: "until the client suffers appreciable harm as a consequence of his attorney's negligence, the client cannot establish a cause of action for malpractice.'" 81 Actual harm in the attorney's handling of litigation requires scrutiny of the case-within-a-case. "[T]he plaintiff must be able to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she would have prevailed in the underlying litigation." 82 Thus, the writer must allege facts to show that the client would have prevailed in the underlying case.
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