What Must be Sufficiently Alleged in a Complaint for it to Survive Attempts for Dismissal and to Proceed to Trial?


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This is in regard to a civil suit in the 3rd Circuit Court in New Jersey. It is against a municipality for selective enforcement and being denied my right to a speedy trial. It is against the town and their code enforcement people. The summons I received was for violating a ‘fill dirt ordinance’ that in fact does not exist. What must be sufficiently alleged in a complaint for it to survive attempts for dismissal and to proceed to trial? I am sure the town attorney will seek a dismissal for failing to properly plead my case. The proof I have is photographs of 23 other properties on my block at the same time who had more material brought in and were ignored for the same alleged offense. Only one other person got a warning. His warning was dismissed after the lawyer for his business recommended that he talk to a different lawyer who got his matter dismissed. His business lawyer was also the town Judge. Three others are close neighbors of the town engineer who instructed the code enforcement agency to issue a summons to me, but none to his neighbors or any others on my block. I am forced to proceed without a lawyer because I am broke from being out of work for 10 years. I lost 5 jobs due to trials taking insane amounts of time. My case was always dead last on the docket.

In regard to your question about what must be alleged in the complaint, you will need to speak with an attorney for advice for your particular situation. Generally, you must allege a viable cause of action supported by facts in which you incurred some type of loss as a result of defendant’s conduct. Further, you must state what type of remedy you seek (monetary or injunction) to compensate you for the loss.

If you do not have the financial means to hire an attorney, contact a local law clinic or an attorney that represents people pro bono in your area.