The case Dorite v. City of Lyons Legal Writing

The case Dorite v. City of Lyons is going to trial in two weeks. The Plaintiff’s attorney, Rich N. Moore, asks that you write a trial brief for Judge Dan Patch who is notorious for favoring the government side of a case. Moore tells you the key issue is whether the facts in the Dorite case establish that the City owed a duty to Plaintiff to maintain the street where she fell. He tells you to use the three cases you used for your internal memorandum of law. Those three cases are Curatola v. Niles, 154 Ill.2d 201, 608 N.E.2d 882 (1993), Gutstein v. City of Evanston, 402 Ill. App.3d, 929 N.E.2d 680 (App. Ct. 2010), and Vaugh v. City of W. Frankfort,166 Ill.2d 155, 651 N.E.2d 1115 (1995). He asks that you limit your trial brief to four pages, (not including the APA cover page and reference page) because Judge Patch is busy and often does not read more than that in any brief submitted to him. As you leave his office, he reminds you that a trial brief is an advocacy document.

Mr. Moore tells you that in the Circuit Court of Wigmore the local rules for a trial brief require only the following component parts.

1. Caption of the case with court number 2016 L 1234 (See Ex. In PPP in the pdf upload, slide #42);
2. Name of the Document- (See Ex. In PPP in the pdf upload, slide #43);
3. Table of Authorities (See Ex. In PPP in the pdf upload, slide #44-45);
4. Introduction or preliminary Statement; (See slide #46);
5. Statement of Facts (See slide #48-51);
6. Statement of Issue (Use the 123 Method—Slide #52)(To frame a legal issue in one sentence using the 123 Method follow this 3 step formula:

1.using the word “under” state the law;

2.using the word “whether” state the legal question; and

3.using the word “when” state a key fact);

7. Argument (Consider using format suggested at slide #53-55);

8. Conclusion (Slide #56);

9. Signature and Date (See Slide #57);

10. Certificate of Service on B.G. Brothers, Stahl & Beetum PC, 13 Legal Ave., Wigmore, IL 00001 (See Slide #58-59)

Please make sure to follow the requirments on slide #40 for this assignment.

The uploads below will help you with this assignment as well. The trial brief docx has some links in it to get you started on how to do the brief. There is a website that will help you out!