casemark/complaint-breach-of-contract

Complaint for Breach of Contract

Generates a litigation-ready plaintiff-side complaint structured around the four breach-of-contract elements with jurisdiction-appropriate procedural compliance.

Prerequisites

Collect before drafting:

1. Governing contract — executed agreement with amendments, exhibits, attachments
2. Correspondence — emails, letters, cure/notice communications (chronological)
3. Performance evidence — invoices, delivery records, payment confirmations
4. Breach evidence — documentation of defendant's failure, cure notices, responses
5. Damage calculation — itemized losses with supporting documentation
6. Filing court — jurisdiction, division, and applicable local rules

Quick Start

1. Identify filing court and confirm jurisdiction (federal diversity/question vs. state general)
2. Extract party details, contract terms, and breach facts from uploaded documents
3. Draft complaint sections in order: caption, jurisdiction/venue, parties, facts, cause of action, relief
4. Verify procedural requirements (jury demand, verification, Rule 11) against local rules

Complaint Sections

1. Caption

• Full court name with division/department
• Case number (if pre-assigned)
• Complete legal names and capacities of all parties
• Jurisdiction-specific formatting per local rules

2. Jurisdiction & Venue

| Element | Federal | State | |---|---|---| | Subject matter | Diversity: 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (complete diversity + AIC > $75K) or federal question: § 1331 | Statutory/constitutional general jurisdiction | | Venue | 28 U.S.C. § 1391: defendant residence, contract performance, or breach location | Defendant residence, place of business, or performance/breach location |

State amount in controversy when jurisdictionally required.

3. Party Identification

• Individuals: legal name, address, contractual role
• Entities: legal form, state of organization, principal place of business, registered agent
• Representative parties: capacity and source of authority

4. Factual Background

Chronological narrative covering:

• Formation — date, place, consideration, essential terms
• Plaintiff's performance — dates, amounts, deliverables
• Defendant's breach — obligations unperformed, breach date, cure notice status
• Defendant's response — acknowledgment, dispute, or silence
• Resulting harm — causal link from breach to damages

Ground all allegations in uploaded documents with specific dates, amounts, and quoted contract language.

5. Cause of Action

Allege each element with dedicated factual paragraphs:

1. Valid enforceable contract — parties, subject matter, consideration, mutual assent; address statute of frauds if applicable
2. Plaintiff's performance — conditions precedent satisfied or excused/waived
3. Defendant's material breach — provisions violated, manner, date
4. Resulting damages — causal link to quantified harm

Incorporate contract-specific provisions: notice requirements, cure periods, liquidated damages, attorney's fees clauses. [VERIFY jurisdiction-specific element variations beyond standard four elements]

6. Prayer for Relief

• Compensatory damages (itemized where calculable)
• Consequential/special damages (allege foreseeability at contracting)
• Specific performance or injunctive relief (where legally available)
• Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest (cite applicable rate/statute)
• Costs of suit
• Attorney's fees (if contract or statute authorizes)
• Punitive damages (only if jurisdiction permits and facts support bad faith)
• General relief catch-all

7. Procedural Requirements

• Jury demand — include in body or file separately per local rules
• Rule 11 certification — good faith factual and legal basis for all allegations
• Verification — sworn verification if required by state court
• Signature block — attorney name, bar number, firm, address, phone, email

Pitfalls & Checks

• Number all paragraphs consecutively for cross-reference in motions
• Keep factual, objective tone — no inflammatory language; reserve argument for briefs
• Ensure factual narrative preemptively addresses likely affirmative defenses: statute of frauds, waiver, impossibility, accord and satisfaction
• All allegations must be supportable by documents in counsel's possession at filing
• Verify local rules for page limits, margins, font, and spacing before finalizing