Complaint for Declaratory Judgment (Litigation Checklist)

This post on filing a Verified Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Temporary Restraining Order is part of my Colorado Litigation Checklist approach to litigation knowledge management and litigation strategy.  This checklist is part of my series on Injunctive Relief, which also includes checklists on filing a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction and filing a Brief in Support of Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction.
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Checklist:
- A Verified Complaint is required, which simply means that you must attach a notarized verification (signature page) from the client/plaintiff stating that the facts set forth in the Verified Complaint are true to the best of  the plaintiff's knowledge, information, and belief.
- Set forth the parties and that jurisdiction and venue requirements are met as you would in a legal complaint.
- Set forth factual background required to support legal and equitable causes of action.
- Set forth legal causes of action, if any.
- For each equitable cause of action, set forth:
 -- Factual allegations supporting the "wrong" that grounds the requested injunction.
 -- State that continuation of these actions will result in real, immediate, and irreparable injuries.
 -- State that there is no plain, speedy and adequate remedy available at law, and where applicable state briefly why this is the case.
 -- State that the requested injunctive relief to stop these wrongs will serve the public interest, and state why this is the case.
 -- State that the balance of the equities favors the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction to allow the parties and the court to determine the merits of the case.
 -- Where true, state that a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction will preserve the status quo pending a determination of the merits of the Complaint.
- In the requested relief, along with other requests, ask for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, and state precisely what actions should be enjoined.
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Thoughts & Best Practices:
- Injunctions normally issue to preserve the status quo.  If you are requesting the court order affirmative action on the part of the defendant, or enter an injunction that will alter the status quo (both are "mandatory injunctions"), it will be an uphill battle.  Mandatory injunctions are rarely entered because, if the harm is truly irreparable, then it's too late because it's already happened, and where it can be partially remedied courts tend to prefer money damages.  One of the few areas where mandatory injunctions are routinely entered is to remove a continuing trespass--for example, to remove an obstruction wrongly placed on plaintiff's property.  See, e.g., Hunter v. Mansell, 09CA0799 (Colo. App. Mar. 4, 2010).
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Jeff Vail is a business litigation attorney in Denver, Colorado.  Visit www.vail-law.com for more information.
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This post on filing a Verified Complaint for Declaratory Judgment is part of my Colorado Litigation Checklist approach to litigation knowledge management and litigation strategy.