Lessons · Law foundations · a claim is a list of elements
A claim is a list, and every line has to be ticked
Every claim is made of elements, and the party bringing it has to show every single one; miss one and the rest do not save it.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
A partner reads a draft and asks one question: which element is missing? A file that answers that in ten seconds gets worked on. A file that answers it with a story about how badly the client was treated gets handed back, because a court does not tick a box for how bad it was.
How to think about it
Write the elements down the left of a page, one per line, before you read a single fact. Then take the facts one at a time and put each one against the line it goes with. The empty lines are the work.
Worked example
List the elements first, one per line, straight down the page.From the claim itself, not from memory of the story. The list is the shape of the claim.
Element 1: yes, and here is the fact that shows it.Name the document or the witness beside it. An element with nothing beside it is not shown.
Element 2: nothing yet.This is the finding. Write it plainly rather than hoping it fills in later.
Every line has something beside it, or the claim does not get there.A strong showing on three lines and an empty fourth is not three quarters of a claim; it is a claim with a hole in it.
Your turn
Three of four elements are shown and one has nothing against it. Write what happens to the claim.
Three shown, one with nothing against it: the claim
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Grading the facts instead of the elements. A page of terrible behaviour that touches only two of the four lines leaves the same hole as a page of nothing, and it hides the hole better.