Declaration or affidavit
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Name] Decl. ¶ [paragraph], [entry/exhibit] ([date]).
Capture from the source
Declarant; date; paragraph; filing/attachment; qualification
Check before you use it
Read qualifications and identify whether the declarant claims personal knowledge.
Common error: A citation does not resolve admissibility or credibility.
Completed example
Declarant, events, declaration, qualifications, docket, and attachments are fictional. No real evidence ruling, credibility judgment, or personal-knowledge determination is asserted.
Rowan Decl. ¶ 7, docket entry 41-2 (June 4, 2025) [TRAIN-D50].
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-D50 includes Mara Rowan's declaration dated June 4, 2025, filed as attachment 2 to docket entry 41 in a training case. Paragraph 6 describes records Rowan says she reviewed. Paragraph 7 states that she personally observed the first inspection; paragraph 8 reports what another employee told her about the second. The assignment asks for her account of the first inspection. A draft combines both inspections into one sentence asserting that Rowan witnessed them. The packet includes the declaration's qualifications and signature but no ruling about admissibility or credibility.
Why this works
The name, document type, paragraph, and attachment identify the relevant statement. Frame the sentence to reflect that Rowan declares she observed the first inspection. Do not extend her asserted personal knowledge to the second event, which the supplied declaration attributes to another person. Read the qualifications and surrounding paragraphs rather than treating the signature as proof that every statement has the same basis. The source card should preserve the declaration date and filing identity, because those can differ. A precise citation facilitates evaluation of the statement; it does not resolve whether the statement is admissible, credible, or sufficient for a particular legal purpose.
When the facts change
If discussing the second inspection, cite paragraph 8 and accurately identify the reported source of the information. If a corrected declaration changes paragraph 7, inspect the correction and determine which version the argument uses. If the declaration incorporates an exhibit, cite the exhibit's particular locator for its contents and the declaration for any separate authentication statement, keeping those source roles distinct.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.