Motion or memorandum
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Party's document title] at [page], [ECF entry] ([filing date]).
Capture from the source
Party; document; case; entry; page system; date
Check before you use it
Distinguish the party's argument from the court's disposition.
Common error: A requested remedy is not a remedy the court granted.
Completed example
Case, party filings, page systems, and disposition are fictional. This example illustrates argument attribution and does not state any actual evidentiary ruling.
Defendant's Memorandum in Support of Motion to Exclude Appendix C at 11, docket entry 28, Meridian Archive v. Flint Works, No. TRAIN-CV-25-29 (filed May 5, 2025) [printed pagination].
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-D49 contains a defendant's Memorandum in Support of Motion to Exclude Appendix C, filed May 5, 2025, as docket entry 28 in Meridian Archive v. Flint Works, No. TRAIN-CV-25-29. Printed page 11 argues that the appendix should be excluded entirely. The court later enters an order excluding only two identified pages. The PDF's filing-system header uses page 13 for the memorandum's printed page 11 because a cover and contents page precede it. The assignment asks the writer to describe the defendant's argument, not the court's ruling.
Why this works
The document title and party attribution identify whose position is being cited. The sentence should say that the defendant argued for complete exclusion, reserving the court's narrower disposition for its own order citation. The explicit pagination note makes the chosen coordinate clear where the record contains two page systems. Use the receiving convention consistently and ensure that another reader can locate the passage in the delivered file. A motion title can describe the requested remedy without proving that the request was granted. Keep the motion, supporting memorandum, exhibits, and order as separate document identities.
When the facts change
If the receiving court requires filing-system page numbers, inspect the relevant header and revise the locator to that system, rather than applying an assumed offset across every attachment. If the proposed sentence concerns the ruling, cite the later order and its operative passage. A citation to counsel's memorandum cannot be repurposed as the court's disposition merely by removing the words defendant argued.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.