Legal Drafting, Pleading, and Judgment Writing
Legal Drafting, Pleading and Judgment Writing tests your ability to draft pleadings, applications and judgments with precision.
Core
- Plaint: Order 7 CPC - parties, jurisdiction, cause of action, valuation, relief and verification.
- Written statement: Order 8 - specific denials, set-off and counterclaim.
- Applications and affidavits: facts, grounds, prayer and verification.
- Judgment: issues, findings, reasons and decree.
- Drafting should be clear, chronological and free of argument.
- A judgment should record findings on each issue and the decree must follow the judgment; a decree without reasons is vulnerable in appeal.
Worked example
Suit for recovery of money. Reasoning: draft parties, jurisdiction, loan date, amount, rate, default, cause of action, limitation and prayer. Attach the pronote. Verify the plaint. Keep evidence out of pleadings.
Traps
- Vague prayers.
- Missing cause of action.
- Mixing facts and law.
- Failing to verify.
- Asking for relief not pleaded.