Legal memorandum template
A legal memorandum is a written submission a party or their lawyer files with the court, setting out their defence and requests in the case. The usual structure: court, circuit, case number and parties; the facts in brief; numbered pleas in order; principal and alternative requests; and a supporting document bundle.
The memorandum is written by the lawyer responsible for the case or the lawyer assigned to it and reviewed by a more senior lawyer before filing; the secretary then formats it, numbers the documents in the bundle and prepares the copies, and it is filed within the time limit the competent court sets and in the manner it specifies. The template below is the structure of a defence memorandum before a court of first instance; with small changes it serves for a reply to the opponent’s memorandum, comments on an expert’s report or a closing memorandum. It deliberately contains no ready-made legal authorities: the lawyer determines each plea and its basis from the facts of the case and from provisions whose force they have verified, and the template offers the order that makes the defence clear to the judge on first reading.
When do you need this template?
- When the court directs the parties to file memoranda within a time limit it sets.
- To reply to a memorandum filed by the opponent or to new documents they have lodged.
- To comment on the expert’s report once it has been filed.
- When the case is reserved for judgment with leave to file closing memoranda.
- Whenever the defence needs an organised written presentation beyond what oral pleading can hold.
What must it include?
- The competent court and circuit, the case number and year, and the date of the scheduled hearing.
- The parties’ names and capacities, and the name of the lawyer representing the client.
- The facts, briefly and in chronological order, with a reference to the document that proves each one.
- Numbered pleas: procedure and the form of the case first, then the merits, then the alternative defence.
- A reply to the points the opponent raised in their memorandum, in the same order they raised them.
- Precise final requests: the principal request, then the alternative.
- The bundle of documents, with a description of each document and what it shows in the case.
- The lawyer’s signature, name and registration number, and the date of the memorandum.
Memorandum of Defence
Submitted by: [Client name], as [Client’s capacity in the case], represented by [Lawyer name], Advocate.
Against: [Opponent name], as [Opponent’s capacity in the case].
[Client’s capacity] has the honour to set out before the Honourable Court their defence in the present case, as follows:
First: The facts
The facts, to the extent necessary for this defence, are in brief that [Summary of the facts in chronological order in one or two paragraphs, citing after each fact the number of the document in the bundle that proves it].
At the hearing of [Date of the previous hearing], the Court decided [Hearing decision], and [Client’s capacity] files this memorandum in compliance with that decision.
Second: The defence
[Client’s capacity] relies on the following pleas, each raised separately:
First plea: [Title of the plea, e.g. a plea concerning the procedure or the form of the case]
[The plea, in one clear sentence].
This is because [The legal basis identified by the lawyer: the provision or principle and its source].
Accordingly, as document No. [Document number] in the bundle of documents establishes that [The fact on which the plea rests], it follows that [The consequence the client asks the Court to draw from this plea].
Second plea: [Title of the plea on the merits of the case]
[The plea].
This is because [The legal basis identified by the lawyer].
Accordingly, as [The supporting document] establishes that [The fact], it follows that [The consequence].
Third plea: In the alternative
[The alternative defence, such as a request to appoint an expert to examine a specific technical question or to refer the case to an inquiry to prove a particular fact, stating why it is needed].
Third: Reply to the opponent’s defence
[Client’s capacity] replies to what the opponent stated in their memorandum filed at the hearing of [Hearing date] as follows: [A reply to each point in the order it appears in the opponent’s memorandum, with references to the documents].
Fourth: Requests
For the foregoing reasons, and for any sounder reasons the Honourable Court may see, [Client’s capacity] respectfully requests the Court to rule:
Principally: [The principal request following from the pleas].
In the alternative: [The alternative request].
In all cases: that [The opponent] be ordered to pay the costs.
Fifth: Bundle of documents
[Client’s capacity] submits with this memorandum a bundle containing the following documents:
| Document No. | Description | Relevance to the case |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Description of the document and its date] | [What the document proves] |
| 2 | [Description of the document and its date] | [What the document proves] |
| 3 | [Description of the document and its date] | [What the document proves] |
The legal authorities are for the lawyer to choose and verify as in force, and the number and order of the pleas depend on the case: this is a structure for drafting, not a text ready to file.
How to fill in the template
Read the file before you write
Start with the last hearing’s decision to know exactly what the court has directed, then the statement of claim, the opponent’s memoranda and documents, and the expert’s report if there is one. Write in one line what this memorandum must achieve before you write a word of it.
Write only the facts you need
Keep the facts to what serves the defence, in chronological order, and after each fact cite the number of the document that proves it. The judge has read the statement of claim; there is no need to copy it out for them.
Order and number the pleas
One plea per heading: procedure and the form of the case first, then the merits, then the alternative defence. Each plea has the same structure: the plea itself, its legal basis, the fact established by a document, then the consequence.
Answer the opponent in their order
If the memorandum is a reply, follow the opponent’s memorandum point by point in the order they wrote it, so the judge finds each answer next to what it answers, and leave no material point unanswered.
Make the requests mirror the pleas
Every plea has a consequence that appears in the requests: write the principal request, then the alternative, in precise wording the court could grant exactly as written, not in a general phrase.
Check the bundle and file on time
Number the documents with the numbers cited in the memorandum and state what each one shows; another lawyer then reviews the whole memorandum, it is filed within the time limit and in the manner the court specifies, and a copy is kept in the case file with its filing date.
Common mistakes
- Dwelling on the facts and copying out the statement of claim, so the defence that matters is lost in pages the judge does not need.
- Mixing pleas in a single paragraph or repeating them in different words, or raising a plea with no document to prove the fact it rests on.
- Final requests that do not match the pleas, or a single general request with no alternative.
- Citing a legal provision or a judgment without checking its number and that it still applies when the memorandum is filed.
- Filing the memorandum after the time limit the court set, or without the copies and filing method it requires.
Issue this document from your office’s data
In Murafe, a memorandum has a tracked cycle in the case file: it is created from the case’s “Memoranda” tab or from the “Memoranda” page, with its type, the lawyer assigned to write it, the reviewer and the filing date. It starts in the status “Being written”, moves to “Under review”, then “Ready to file”, then “Filed” with the actual filing date. As the filing date approaches, the assigned lawyer and the reviewer are alerted, and the number of memoranda being written appears on the dashboard and in the statistics. The details for the memorandum’s heading, from the court, circuit, case number and year to the parties and their capacities, are in the case file, and what the court has directed is recorded in the last hearing’s decision and in the requirements for the next hearing. After filing, the memorandum file is uploaded to the case’s “Documents” tab.