A court filing, also known as a motion, is a document that asks the court to take a certain action known as an order. James Lovett discusses the Black’s Law Dictionary definition of a court motion in the video. He also covers some of the reasons why an attorney or someone filing as a pro se litigant (someone representing themselves) would file a motion with the court.
For the court to hear your argument, plea, or other request for a judgment, the correct type of motion needs to be filed. In the event someone is seeking relief from child support payments, they or their attorney has to file a motion requesting the reduction. A court filing has to be made for the court to hear oral arguments from the parties involved in the lawsuit. This is why it’s important to draft a proper court filing, as the judge has to be able to make sense of the basis for the arguments.
An improper motion, or one that’s poorly written, can be filed with the court and accepted for the hearing. However, the judge reserves the right to entertain the motion or not. In the event the court filing isn’t clear or strays too far from the facts of the case, the judge may toss the motion and require the plaintiff or defendant to start again.
