1. STATEMENT OF FACTS; IMPLICIT ARGUMENT
    1. YOU MUST MAKE AN IMPLICIT ARGUMENT
      1. EXPLICIT v. IMPLICIT
        1. ex·plic·it (k-splst) adj. 1. a. Fully and clearly expressed; leaving nothing implied. b. Fully and clearly defined or formulated: "generalizations that are powerful, precise, and explicit" (Frederick Turner). 2. Forthright and unreserved in expression: They were explicit in their criticism. 3. a. Readily observable: an explicit sign of trouble. b. Describing or portraying nudity or sexual activity in graphic detail.
        2. STATES THE BECAUSE WHY CLEARLY.
        3. im·plic·it (m-plst) adj. 1. Implied or understood though not directly expressed: an implicit agreement not to raise the touchy subject. 2. Contained in the nature of something though not readily apparent: "Frustration is implicit in any attempt to express the deepest self" (Patricia Hampl). 3. Having no doubts or reservations; unquestioning: implicit trust.
        4. DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION: "WHY?" THIS IS FOR YOUR READER; READER DRAWS CONCLUSIONS; READER ANSWERS THE "WHY".
        5. ARRANGE & EMPHASIZE FACTS LEAD THE READER TO YOUR DESIRED CONCLUSION
        6. Well Plead Complaint; SHORT PLAINT STATEMENT Survive a Rule 12(b)(6) DISMISSAL
        7. NO CONCLUSORY ALLEGATIONS
    2. Any argument, whether implicit or explicit, is an answer to the question "why". The answer to these and other "Why?" questions is an argument.
      1. WHY?
        1. Why should the jury disbelieve that witness?
        2. Why should the judge exercise his discretion in your client's favor?
        3. Why should the appellate court extend that principle of law?
        4. If the answer to the question "Why?" takes the form "because"
        5. THEN THE ONLY ANSWER CAN BE:
        6. NEVER ASK A QUESTION IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER.
        7. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE ANWER: DISCOVERY
        8. WE DON'T ANSWER "WHY". WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT.
        9. TRIER OF FACT DRAWS ALL CONCLUSIONS
        10. BECAUSE:
        11. appellate court, precedent, public policy, and logic;
        12. DEMAND IT
      2. "TRUTH"
        1. STATEMENT OF FACTS (AS CONTAINED IN THE RECORD)
        2. UNREBUTTED FACTS STAND AS TRUTH
        3. T.K. PICKS HIS NOSE AND EATS HIS BOOGERS
        4. ETHICS
        5. RULES OF COURT
        6. FEAR
        7. OPPONENT'S ANSWER
        8. I was afraid he did, but not anymore.
        9. SANCTIONS OR OTHER CONSEQUENCES
        10. MOTIVES
        11. GOOD FAITH; BAD FAITH
      3. ARRANGE & EMPHASIZE FACTS TO LEAD THE READER TOWARD THE DESIRED CONCLUSION
    3. STRATEGY (WHAT)
      1. The first job of any writer is to keep the reader reading. A Statement of Facts, like any other piece of writing, does you no good if it is not read. Therefore, make your writing interesting and easy to read.
      2. Since the Statement of Facts is probably your first chance to show the court that you are indeed candid and trustworthy, the Statement of Facts should contain extensive and scrupulous citations. Every fact must be cited -- and cited correctly -- or otherwise supported (e.g., by a footnote explaining that the court can take judicial notice, etc.) If the citation does not obviously support the fact, explain the citation or rework the fact.
      3. LEGAL ACTORS
      4. 5
      5. DID NOTHING WRONG
      6. DID SOMETHING WRONG
      7. WERE WRONGED
      8. WITNESSES
      9. LEGAL TEST OR CONSTRUCT
      10. ?
      11. WHO ARE YOU OPPOSING?
      12. WHO IS A PARTY?
      13. WHO IS A DAMAGED PARTY?
      14. WHICH PARTY'S STORY BEST PRESENTS YOUR THEME?
      15. WHOSE POINT OF VIEW BEST ADVANCES YOUR THEME?
      16. Enforce your conception of the legal actors by consistently referring them functionally, descriptively, or in terms that will bring to mind how you want them thought of. A person whose youth or immaturity you want to emphasize could be consistently referred to by his or her first name or nickname (e.g., "Mikey"), a person whose status you wanted to boost could be consistently referred to by "Mr." or "Ms." or a title, a person whose crucial aspect was the power to hire and fire could be referred to as "the Supervisor", a party that you wanted the court to think of as a massive business entity could be consistently referred to as "the Insurance Company" or "the Corporation", etc.
      17. THEME
      18. DETERMINED BY:
      19. SUBSTANTIVE LAW
      20. POLICY
      21. EMOTIONAL CONTENT
      22. TYPES OF PARTIES INVOLVED
    4. TACTICS (HOW)
      1. Maintain to the extent possible the point-of-view you have chosen. If necessary to maintain your point-of-view, you may even use the passive voice rather than the active.
      2. PASSIVE v. ACTIVE VOICE
      3. To emphasize the action rather than the actor: After long debate, the proposal was endorsed by the long-range planning committee.
      4. To keep the subject and focus consistent throughout a passage" The data processing department recently presented what proved to be a controversial proposal to expand its staff. After long debate, the proposal was endorsed by . . . .
      5. To be tactful by not naming the actor: The procedures were somehow misinterpreted.
      6. To describe a condition in which the actor is unknown or unimportant: Every year, thousands of people are diagnosed as having cancer.
      7. To create an authoritative tone: Visitors are not allowed after 9:00 p.m.
      8. RULE OF PROPORTIONALITY
      9. Emphasize those facts that are important to you. Remember that matters on which you spend a lot of time will seem important and matters on which you spend only a little time will seem unimportant. Make this Rule of Proportionality work in your favor, rather than against you. Traditional methods of emphasis include quotation from the record, extensive (rather than sketchy) description, and repetition. More innovative methods of emphasis include reproduction of exhibits (such as photographs or documents) and presenting facts in chart or graphic form.
      10. Describe, don't characterize. (Or, as the novelists say "Don't tell 'em, show 'em.") This rule is a consequence of the maxim that the Statement of Facts is an implicit, not an explicit, argument. Thus, instead of saying "Mrs. X was shocked when she received the telegram. (R. ...)", say: "When Mrs. X received the telegram, her face turned white, she clutched at her heart, and she screamed 'My God, my God, my God'. (R. ...)".
      11. Use one-word arguments to acknowledge and diminish your opponent's facts. Although explicit arguments are not permitted in the Statement of Facts, one-word arguments such as "although", "nevertheless", "however", and "even though" (I know, that's two words) are accepted. The beauty of these one-word arguments is that they meet your ethical responsibility to candidly state your opponents facts while simultaneously diminishing them: "Although defendant denied making the statement (R. ...), three non-party witnesses, Smith, Jones, and Adams, all testified that they heard defendant make the statement. (R. ...) Smith testified that ...."
      12. Use facially non-argumentative headings to help enforce your conception of the facts. Headings can be used in the Statement of Facts, too. Although your headings will be facially non-argumentative, you should draft them to divide up the story the way you want it divided, emphasize the facts you want emphasized, and thus advance your implicit argument.
      13. FACTS IN CONTEXT;
      14. Begin the Statement of Facts with a short, perhaps teasing, introduction of the crucial facts, e.g.: "When the police found the murder victim's body, it was covered with blood, which turned out to be her own, and with bloody fingerprints, which turned out to be those of the defendant. (R. ....)"
      15. OR
      16. Begin the Statement of Facts with a one- or two-sentence introduction that is not facially argumentative, e.g.: "This is an age-discrimination lawsuit resulting from the lay-off of Plaintiff, a sixty-three year-old, long-time employee of defendant. (R. ...) Plaintiff claimed that he was laid off even though younger, worse-performing employees with less seniority were not. (R. ....) The facts are as follows:"
    5. Now WRAP your MIND around THAT...
    6. CREATED 03.26.2013 by Lisa Stinocher O'Hanlon using XMind Software
    7. For More of my Maps: https://www.xmind.net/share/hennalady/
    8. For More of my Musings: http://angryjeweler.wix.com/write http://angryjeweler.wix.com/thehennalady
  2. by David L. Lee http://www.davidleelaw.com/articles/statemen-fct.html
    1. n fact, if you do all this, you may want to submit a brief with no Argument section at all -- just the Statement of Facts -- to see if all those writing instructors and writing books are correct. Let me know how it works!
      1. www.davidleelaw.com_articles_statemen-fct.pdf