What Is a Statement of Facts?
A statement of facts is a chronological account of events, often with supporting evidence, that is submitted as part of a legal document, such as an affidavit, complaint or a brief in a court case. The purpose of a statement of facts is to provide both a cohesive and logical overview of the facts surrounding a given legal situation so that the judge or other decision-maker can better understand the facts when issuing a ruling. It can be particularly useful in situations where there are many complex facts that need to be disentangled to focus on the specific matters at hand . The statement of facts provides one, cohesive summary that is clear and easy to follow for those reading the relevant legal documents.
A well-written statement of facts is typically very brief, at least when compared with the other portions of the document in which it is contained. It should focus only on the most crucial details that are believed to affect the outcome of the case. Everything in a statement of facts should be directly related to the case, excluding any extraneous matters. The facts should be listed in a logical sequence of events, allowing for an easy overview from beginning to end of how things transpired.
Major Components of a Statement of Facts
A properly crafted statement of facts contains four basic sections:
- (1) Background information
- (2) Undisputed facts
- (3) Disputed facts
- (4) Conclusion
Prior to presenting any facts in your brief, it is imperative to provide the Court with your client’s background. This part of the statement gives the Court a sense of where your client is coming from. You may lead the Court into your next section, which is your undisputed facts. Here you will convey an account of all the facts that are not being disputed by the opposing party. You want to keep this area as complete and as up to date with new facts that may have arisen during the appeals process. The next section is your disputed facts. This area will keep you diligent in the protection of your client. You will counter the other party’s claims and assertions that are deemed incorrect, inflammatory, untrue or exaggeration. Finally, in your last section, you will present a conclusion to your statement of facts.
The Structure of a Statement of Facts
As the name suggests, a statement of facts is your opportunity to present the pertinent facts of your case in a factual and logical manner. Your statement of facts should not be argumentative or suggest that the facts lead to a specific conclusion. Neither should it provide only the legal conclusions that the judge and your opponent will need to find. In addition, it should also not be an argumentative, undifferentiated string citation of cases with a citation for each sentence. You must provide the facts in a coherent way that leads to the conclusions you want the judge to reach.
In general, your statement of facts will be the section of your brief in which you put the facts that support the legal argument(s) made in the argument portion of the brief. If you are challenging a fact specific finding of the lower court, you will want to address the facts supporting your position and are surely to stress the facts that support your contention that there was no basis for the trial court’s finding. A petition for review will include an introduction section and will also include a section for jurisdictional issues you want to address with the Supreme Court. The petition will then have a statement of facts that puts those two together to explain why the case should be reviewed. Your statement of facts will typically serve to support supplemental briefing of particular issues.
A common structure for a statement of facts is as follows:
Title
Introduction
Jurisdictional Issues
Opposing Party’s Statement of Facts
Petitioner’s Statement of Facts (in contrast)
Conclusion
As discussed above, a statement of facts is not argumentative, but its organization is arguable: what goes where? How much detail? Order of importance? Logical flow?
How to Write an Effective Statement of Facts
- Keep to the facts – Avoid creating a stenographic record by beginning every sentence with "On July 1, 2014 at 3:08 p.m.," etc. This will merely make it clear that there is no argument on the facts, while also making it difficult for your reader to discern what the relevant facts really are. Instead of reciting every fact, a brief (preferably one-paragraph) introduction will suffice. An example: Pursuant to the appellate court’s September 5, 2013 order and December 21, 2013 order in this matter, the parties were directed to submit post-trial findings of fact. Appellant’s findings of fact are supported by the evidence adduced at trial. Appellant does not contest any of the facts as set forth in Appellee’s findings of fact.
- Burden of proof – Remember that you have the burden of proving the facts you assert. Therefore, you must back every assertion of fact with the evidence. This means that you must review all of the evidence adduced at trial and note which piece of evidence supports each factual assertion. This is required so that the appellate court need not review that evidence in the record in order to uphold your factual assertions.
- Objectively neutral – For maximum impact, the statement of facts must be written in a judicially neutral tone, as though the pleading will be read by a judge. This means that the reader must not guess at the weight of the evidence or your opinion and must not be able to ascertain where you stand on the facts. Suppose two scenarios. In the first scenario, I have testified at trial that I was painted with the color red at 6:00 a.m. All of the eyewitnesses (including both parties’ witnesses) corroborated me. In your statement of facts, you assert, "Mrs. Brown’s own witnesses corroborated her testimony that she was painted with red paint." You’ve successfully buried the lead. No one needs to know that my witnesses said what I testified to. Instead, you should say, "In light of the trial testimony," etc. You should be neutral until the end of the statement of facts to avoid the appearance of bias.
- Exhibits – A cautionary note. If you can insert a relevant exhibit into your statement of facts, do so. Likewise, you should cite to the relevant pages in the record where evidence, even if not attached to your motion for a new trial, may be found. Remember: the appellate court does not have time to read everything in the appellate record. It will only read those parts it finds helpful. The more help you provide, the better your chances of maximizing your win at the court of appeals.
Common Errors
Drafters often make the mistake of submitting a brief-style statement of facts. The opposite of the primary appellate brief, the statement of facts section cannot advocate the appellant’s position. This is why the statement of facts section is so critical. Appellant’s theory of the case must logically flow through the statement of facts section, not through the appellant’s arguments portion of the brief.
Because appellants have this mistaken belief, the statement of facts section will devote pages and pages of space to irrelevant factual background . Rarely should the statement of facts be longer than 10 pages. When it is, the appellant is throwing in useless background material to try to override the harsh reality of his or her appellate frame.
Just remember that the statement of facts section is the basis for the appellant’s arguments. When preparing a statement of facts section, ask yourself: will my theory of the case ever come up on the statement of facts? If the answer is no, then you have gone awry.
Sample and Templates
Although there is no hard and fast rule for the format of a statement of facts in an appellate brief, I have found that the following are the preferred and most common formats to allow the reader to get a quick and accurate breadth of the facts on which the appeal is focused.
(1) Format under Rule 28(a)(6):
The central facts are as follows: [insert facts here (not argument)].
(2) Format under Rule 9.210(b)(5), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure:
In his first argument, Appellant asserts that [State the issue]. [Citation]. The central facts are as follows: [insert facts here (not argument)].
(3) Format under Rules 9.210(b)(4) and 9.210(b)(5), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure:
The central facts regarding [state issue] are as follows: [insert facts here (not argument)].
(4) Format under Rule 9.210(b)(4), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure:
The relevant facts are as follows: [insert facts here (not argument)].
(5) Format under subsection (b)(4), State rules of appellate procedure require the appellant to supply a statement of facts within the opening brief. The rules provide in pertinent part as follows:
(6) Format under Rule 28(C)(6), Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure:
C. Facts. The party requesting the appeal shall also number the pages of the transcript and include as a separate part of the brief the facts relevant to the issue or issues which the appellant desires to raise so that referred-to pages can be easily located. Facts should be presented in the same sequence in which they were introduced and proved at trial. The facts must be stated concisely, without argument and in chronological order.
The Significance of an Accurate Statement of Facts
Attorneys often overlook the importance of a well-written Statement of Facts. If you think it’s just going to be lost in all of the other papers filed in a case, think again. When an appellate court has just a handful of pages to read to decide a multitude of issues, the statement of facts is key in giving the appellate court a quick overview of the facts in the case. It is critical that the statement of facts provides a fair and accurate description of all of the important facts in the case, especially the facts that support your position. Even if the case is decided on a legal issue, an inaccurate statement of facts can lead an appellate judge to make an incorrect legal conclusion because the judge is mislead by an inaccurate or incomplete statement.
Another reason that the statement of facts is so important is that appellate courts frequently quote the statement of facts in their opinions . This is not the case in the trial court where the judge is required to consider all of the evidence and documents in the case. In the appellate court, however, the law requires the judge or judges to limit his or her review to the evidence presented to the trial judge. Therefore, the judges will often quote the statement of facts in their opinions because they themselves cannot quote from the testimony presented at the trial. An inaccurate statement of facts, as noted above, will lead the appellate judges to an incorrect conclusion. It is also easy for the trial judges to incorrectly quote or summarize the evidence in their opinions, leading to potentially devastating appeals.
A well drafted statement of facts will go a long way to not only help the appellate judge understand your case, but also to secure the deciding appellate judges vote. While one appellate judge may find the majority of the information in the brief of little help, another judge may find the strategic use of the statement of facts invaluable.