Do they have to attach exhibits to pleading

[GulfBreeze]

What is the name of your state? FL

Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
RULE 1.130 ATTACHING COPY OF CAUSE OF ACTION AND EXHIBITS​

(a) Instruments Attached. All bonds, notes, bills of exchange, contracts, accounts, or documents upon which action may be brought or defense made, or a copy thereof or a copy of the portions thereof material to the pleadings, shall be incorporated in or attached to the pleading. No papers shall be unnecessarily annexed as exhibits. The pleadings shall contain no unnecessary recitals of deeds, documents, contracts, or other instruments.

Does that mean that when they filed this case, that in the first original summons, their claim had to be supported with all necessary exhibits and evidence at that time and not added 2 months down the line as exhibits? their claim is breach of contract but in the summons, their exhibit A was just a statement they typed out what they were asking for and not any exhibit of evidence. would they be allowed to annex any evidence to support their plead/claim after the first summons?

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Though you posted in Small Claims, this is what The Rules for Federal Procedure require, just a short plain statement when filing a law suit. As the case progresses, then, various Motions, Attachments are filed!

 

[GulfBreeze]

Though you posted in Small Claims, this is what The Rules for Federal Procedure require, just a short plain statement when filing a law suit. As the case progresses, then, various Motions, Attachments are filed!

This case is filed in small claims court..thus, i would imagine that they have to follow the RCP concerning small claims rules..not federal procedures. thanks anyways.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Small claims discovery is lax to begin with, and if, as I suspect, you didn't object to the lack of exhibits before they were (eventually) submitted, you waived any objection you had.

 

[dcatz]

SHORTY offered a useful analogy when you omitted reference to Small Claims and any indication that FL SC was more circumscribed that your state’s general procedural requirements. It seems that he is also is correct about the requirements for a pleading by your state’s SC rules. It does not appear that your state’s rules require it.

The reason that you chose to emphasize the portion of the statute that you did is unclear. It would be helpful to know how FL courts have interpreted the language of the statute, if the question ever arose, but normal statutory construction suggests that nothing need be attached.

If the phrase “shall be incorporated in or attached” means incorporated by reference to an Exhibit, the remaining language – “or attached” – is redundant. That is inconsistent with rules of construction. If there is no inconsistency, it follows that the “charging language”, the “portions [of the contract] material to the pleadings” can simply be included in the allegations. Assume a 30-page contract and breach of Paragraph 10 is at issue:

“On or about January 1, 2007, A an B entered into a certain written agreement pursuant to which XXXXX. On or about February 1, 2007, B breached said agreement and specifically Paragraph 10 thereof. Paragraph 10 provides XXXX. In express contravention of the aforesaid obligation and undertaking, B willfully XXXX.”

If it’s a 1-page contract, it is probably more convenient for all concerned to attach it as an Exhibit, but if the contract is 10 times larger than the Complaint, there appears to be no impediment to raising the breach without it and reasons of convenience for the parties and the court to do so.

Ultimately, the contact and the breach will have to be proven for the plaintiff to prevail, but it need not be done as part of the initial pleading. That is what discovery is for. It would surprise me if FL courts has interpreted the rule any other way, but it would surprise me if the issue had been raised and went up on appeal. It’s a pretty simple rule: include what is needed to show a cause of action and omit anything extraneous.

Is this your own case, and is this the FL rule that prompted you to assert in another forum that a Complaint was fatally defective, if all supporting evidence was not attached?

If this is the rule on which you relied, you may want to go back and see how it has been construed. If it is not the rule on which you relied, then explain the differences between SC and your general CP rules when posting. Apparently only you know what they are. Don’t expect those who respond to study all of your statutes to answer your question when you know of distinctions. Is there Law & Motion? Is there discovery? SC normally involves only a simple statement of a claim with no evidence attached. Your question implies something different in FL.

You’re a member. You should know better than to put responders through a game of “20 Questions” to get to the heart of the matter.

 

[dcatz]

Reduce it down to essentials.

All documents upon which action may be brought, or a copy, or a copy of the portions material to the pleadings, shall be incorporated or attached.

No papers shall be unnecessarily annexed.

Question:

Does that mean that, in the original summons, their claim had to be supported with all necessary exhibits and evidence?

Answer:

No. However, I know you think differently, despite being told this before, and I wonder why you would ask:

Originally Posted by GulfBreeze
As for the attachment....cant have a complaint without the evidence attached. Dance around that one....lol Its the LAW.

Good luck.

 

[dcatz]

SHORTY LONG –

For what it is worth, the member apparently forgot to include Sub-section (b) to the afore-referenced Rule. That reads:

(b) Part for all Purposes. Any exhibit attached to a pleading shall be considered a part thereof for all purposes. Statements in a pleading may be adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading, in another pleading, or in any motion.

You are likely to recognize that Sub-section as having its counterpart in FRCP 10(c), but the member may not have any familiarity with the FRCP, and thus the dismissive reply.

However, the member also said:

“This case is filed in small claims . .thus, i would imagine that they would have to follow the RCP concerning small claims rules . . not federal procedures.”

This is odd, because the afore-referenced Rule is not a FL Small Claims Rule; it is a general Civil Procedure Rule. FL Small Claims Rules have their own Title beginning at Rule 7.010 et seq. They incorporate general RCP, including Rules 1.280-1.380 and 1.560 pertaining to discovery and “in any particular action, the court may order that action to proceed under 1 or more additional Florida Rules of Civil Procedure on application of any party or the stipulation of all parties or on the court’s own motion.”

One hopes that the member’s omission was not intentional but, until he gains sufficient understanding of his own state’s laws to handle his own litigation, one also hopes that he will not be as dismissive of advice and counsel.

 

[GulfBreeze]

Actually...my statement that I said:

"As for the attachment....cant have a complaint without the evidence attached. Dance around that one....lol Its the LAW."

was talking about that if they didnt submit any evidence to support their claim or complaint, they didnt have much of a case to prove anything.

What I am asking is, if the part about:

"No papers shall be unnecessarily annexed as exhibits."

But anyways, thx for the effort.

 

[dcatz]

"As for the attachment....cant have a complaint without the evidence attached. Dance around that one....lol Its the LAW."

was talking about that if they didnt submit any evidence to support their claim or complaint, they didnt have much of a case to prove anything.

Agreed. BUT, to respectfully reiterate a point made by another member, it does not follow that all evidence must accompany the Complaint. This point is affirmed by your general Rules and, by analogy, to the FRCP.

In my opinion, this issue exceeds the scope of any forum on FA but seems to go to the heart of your question. Allow me to briefly comment and invite you to PM for further specific discussion.

A Complaint frames the issues. It is not *the case*, unless the defendant defaults. In that instance, the plaintiff must prove to the court that the essential elements of the cause(s) of action are satisfied. Having read your general Rules and the requirements for seeking summary adjudication, I believe they are in accord. "No papers shall be unnecessarily annexed as exhibits" is an admonition that nothing shall be included beyond what is needed to frame the issues. Further evidence, if necessary, is to be presented to the court in support of summary adjudication or developed by way of discovery, as circumstances dictate.

If the language leads to the conclusion that all existing evidence must be attached to the Complaint, I believe that interpretation is incorrect. Being mindful that this Rule applies to all cases, not just to yours, permit me to offer a hypothetical to highlight the problem presented by a contrary interpretation:

Assume a case alleging a fraudulent transfer (Fla. Stat. 726.101 et seq.). Regardless of the outcome, plaintiff is going to be required to try to prove that case almost entirely by circumstantial evidence. It is the nature of the beast. That evidence may comprise 100s of exhibits and 1,000s of pages of documents. The court does not expect or want that to be attached to the Complaint. It may be essential to prove the case, but it is unnecessary at that point.

Again, I feel further to this matter exceeds the scope of the forum, but the invitation to PM is still extended.

 

[GulfBreeze]

nah, that pretty much gives me what i needed...thx dcatz

 

[FlyingRon]

Just don't attach a hard boiled egg to the pleading.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/23/egged_on_by_inmate_judge_cooks_up_sour_reply/?p1=MEWell_Pos4

 

[SHORTY LONG]

SHORTY LONG –

For what it is worth, the member apparently forgot to include Sub-section (b) to the afore-referenced Rule. That reads:

(b) Part for all Purposes. Any exhibit attached to a pleading shall be considered a part thereof for all purposes. Statements in a pleading may be adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading, in another pleading, or in any motion.

You are likely to recognize that Sub-section as having its counterpart in FRCP 10(c), but the member may not have any familiarity with the FRCP, and thus the dismissive reply.

However, the member also said:

“This case is filed in small claims . .thus, i would imagine that they would have to follow the RCP concerning small claims rules . . not federal procedures.”

This is odd, because the afore-referenced Rule is not a FL Small Claims Rule; it is a general Civil Procedure Rule. FL Small Claims Rules have their own Title beginning at Rule 7.010 et seq. They incorporate general RCP, including Rules 1.280-1.380 and 1.560 pertaining to discovery and “in any particular action, the court may order that action to proceed under 1 or more additional Florida Rules of Civil Procedure on application of any party or the stipulation of all parties or on the court’s own motion.”

One hopes that the member’s omission was not intentional but, until he gains sufficient understanding of his own state’s laws to handle his own litigation, one also hopes that he will not be as dismissive of advice and counsel.

Thank you Dcatz for going that extra mile; you truly are a rare breed in today's time!