Factual Allegations – Complaint

If you are injured in an accident where some else is at fault you may be eligible for compensation. Such compensation is made available by way of a personal injury lawsuit. In a personal injury lawsuit, the first document to be filed is called a complaint. This is filed by the plaintiff. This article will discuss the complaint in a personal injury lawsuit – factual allegations.

According to one source the complaint is:

“the pleading that starts a case… a document that sets forth a jurisdictional basis for the court’s power, the plaintiff’s cause of action, and a demand for judicial relief.”

Basically, the complaint is what lets the court know that the injured person is seeking legal remedy for their losses.

There are three key elements that must be found in a complaint. These elements are, allegations:

1. jurisdictional
2. factual, and
3. legal

Factual Allegations

These are basically the plaintiff’s chance to tell their side of the story as to how the injury happened. The only difference is that it must be told as simple facts. It is during the retelling of your version of events that you begin to plead in your favor. Pleading in your favor is done with regards to fault for the accident.

The factual allegations can be specific or vague; this depends on what you or your lawyer think is necessary. In personal injury cases it’s important that the facts with regards to your actual injury are included in the complaint. This allows for these facts to be interpreted in the proper context. However, giving too few or too many factual allegations may have a bad effect on your lawsuit as the case goes forward. They should basically tell your story without sticking you into a corner or giving the defendant too much breathing space.

Therefore, it is important to have a strategy as to what you put in as factual allegations.