FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BASICS OF USING FACTS
| Q. | How much can I characterize facts? |
| A. | Judges expect some “spin.” But if you materially distort facts, omit important facts, or manufacture facts, your credibility will be shot. A test: if the judge caught you, would you be embarrassed? If so, don’t do it. |
| Q. | Do I need to recount all of the facts that I use in my Argument? |
| A. | Usually, yes. But rather than, for instance, listing fifty provisions of a contract in your Statement of Facts, you might just tell readers that additional provisions are quoted later, in the Argument. Alternatively, if your case involves multiple parties or legal issues that rest on entirely distinct facts, you can provide a short Statement that applies to the entire case, and then add additional facts just before you discuss each party or issue. As Example 6.6 shows, very complicated cases sometimes benefit from saving facts for your Argument. |
| Q. | Should I organize my facts chronologically? |
| A. | Sort of. You should not bounce forward and backward in time. But you should tell a compelling, coherent story rather than begin with whatever fact happens to have occurred first in time. Consider using creative “flashback” techniques to avoid beginning with bad facts; for instance, you can wait until you describe what the trial court found before listing bad facts that would otherwise appear early in your Statement if you adhered to strict chronological order. |
| Q. | When you say that lawyers should disclose bad facts, does that principle apply to every bad fact in the case? |
| A. | No, that rule applies only to the ones that the court will need to consider or that the other side will use to bludgeon you if you fail to disclose them. |