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Hi all: I was asked to draft a motion to dismiss on my own. While I'm very excited about the opportunity, it's my first time drafting a substantive motion entirely on my own and I'm a bit nervous about it. I understand that I will need to start with an outline etc. But is there a book/article/blog/website that you would recommend that addresses drafting a motion to dismiss step-by-step? Many thanks in advance!!

Pull precedent on the system, preferably an example from the senior or partner that assigned you the brief. That should give you the best guidance on structure and all that stuff.

glitched wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:38 am

Pull precedent on the system, preferably an example from the senior or partner that assigned you the brief. That should give you the best guidance on structure and all that stuff.

Make sure you find something from the same jurisdiction too.

Got it. Thank you both so much!

Talk to your coworkers about your work when you have questions — don't default to asking strangers on the internet!

If you have access to Westlaw, some of their secondary sources also have form motions. It won't be useful for the actual argument, but it will give you a sense of some of the little tricks of phrasing and how to order/format the filings as a whole.

Go on Westlaw/Lexis and find a few cases in your jurisdiction where the court granted a motion to dismiss on the same issues. You can then pull the underlying motion to dismiss from PACER, Lex Machina, or sometimes Practical Law Connect. (Tip: I do this anytime I need to draft a motion to dismiss or MSJ, as sometimes these motions include additional arguments or citations that the court didn’t address. It’s also nice to see how someone else structured the argument. No need to reinvent the wheel.)