In Pro Per
How to Know if You Have a Case

What is Your Cause of Action?

Any act (action) by any one, real or artificial, that grieves you is actionable.

A lawsuit is known as a complaint. The complaint is where the Plaintiff (the person filing the lawsuit) lists all the causes of action, which are the legal grounds/basis for the lawsuit.

Lawyers are practiced in the art of shooting their opponent out of the water before the boat leaves the dock. They do this by going over the complaint with a microscope critiquing every dotted "i" and crossed "t" to see if you made a mistake.

When they find something , they use it to get the court to throw your lawsuit out. The most common mistake lawyers and pro per people make is not listing the correct causes of action. Below is how one victim learned attorneys' secrets for getting the causes of action correct.

Books titled Causes of Action are plentiful. They provide what acts commonly cause a grievance and give some guide to bringing the action against the offending party.

Today, as most of these have been made statutory, you do not need to rely solely on tort law. Also, you do not need to purchase a book. You go to the statutes that are available online.

See also United States Code for the same torts (aka grievances = wrongs, = causes of action) statutorized under federal law.

Look at Jury Instructions

By Linda S. of Colorado
WJFA Support Group
Oct.28, 2002

Yes, it's the sheet that the jury gets when they deliberate. There are two versions of jury instructions -- one with annotations and one without.

You submit the instructions without the annotations to the jury. Another good source for pro se's to prepare their case is to look at AmJur Proof of Facts. (Green books with red trim).

It itemizes the questions you have to ask in interrogatories or depositions to get the facts you need to prove the claim. If you look that up before you file the complaint you'll know what "Facts" you have to aver. It's really fun to use these sources because you'll never again get a dismissal right off the bat for "failure to state a
claim".

Pro se's know what they mean but rarely say it until their opponent motions for dismissal based on the fact that the elements of the claim haven't been averred in the complaint.

Jim C. of L.A.
WJFA Support Group

That has to be the best kept secret. Do the instructions detail a cause of action for every possible scenario? I'm trying to get a mental picture of what the item is.

Is it what the judge would read to the jury or what the lawyers say, or is it written instructions given to the jury before they decide on a case?

Linda S
WJFA Support Group

The jury instructions are usually behind the reference desk at the law library (either a school or a state court library) because it's the most frequently pilfered volume in library.

WJFA nor anyone representing it interprets law or provides legal advice. All information on these pages were provided by victims of fraud denied justice and this section is only meant as an insight for other victims having to undo a crime in civil court.