Drafting A Complaint: Causes of Action

A legal basis for relief is called a cause of action.  Sloppy complaints will list facts in this section, not properly label each cause of action, or not include the actual elements of each cause of action.

If you are suing someone, you need a basis.  Did they breach a contract, commit a tort, violate a statute? In the facts section, you described what happened, in the causes of action, you explain - in terms of the Law - why you are entitled to relief.

Each cause of action should be labeled.  By labeled, I don't mean just "first," "second," "third." Claims always arise under either a statute or an area of common law to which the Courts have assigned a name.  


If you think you are pleading a novel heretofore unrecognized cause of action, you are probably wrong. In the event you are correct, and you've come up with a never before seen legal theory,  the Court will probably dismiss your case and explain that you haven't pleaded a legally recognized cause of action. Even in the extremely rare situation where you are actually dealing with uncharted legal waters, the courts will still operate within certain legal frameworks based on precedent.  Where changes in society bring about new types of relationships, the conduct between those parties is still governed by either the common law of torts, a statute, a contract, equity, or some similar claim.

Most claims have "elements," meaning the items all of which must be proven to establish a claim.  In a Negligence action, for example, the elements are: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Other claims, especially equitable claims, rest on concepts like "fairness," where the court will weigh various factors, not all of which are required.  Asserting a cause of action, provided the facts are there to support it, is as simple as identifying each of these elements and linking them to the particular case.  When asserting a statutory cause of action, parrot the language of the statute.

Asserting causes of action also becomes more complicated when you are dealing with multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants.  Each cause of action should designate which plaintiffs assert what that claim against which defendants. In a shareholder's derivative case, for example, the business owner may assert claims both individually and on behalf of the company, but the court won't accept such a hybrid complaint unless the individual and derivative claims are clearly distinguished.

As a general rule, you want to be over inclusive with the causes of actions asserted.  It is easier to drop a cause of action than it is to amend the complaint to add one.


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