Motion Drafting Services
The full motion package: notice, memorandum of points and authorities, declaration, proposed order, and certificate of service, drafted to your court's rules.
Our motion drafting services cover dispositive, discovery, scheduling, post-trial, enforcement, and injunction motions, plus the oppositions and replies that answer them. Law firms route motion practice to our bench under Model Rule 5.3 and counsel of record signs and files. Self-represented litigants get the same drafting bench, review the package, and sign and file it as the party. We draft; we never appear in your case.
FRCP · State Civil Rules · Local Rules
Local rules pulled before drafting starts, on every motion
Ten Motion Workstreams the Bench Drafts End to End
Drafting a motion here means the whole package, not a memo in isolation. Every workstream below is delivered as a filing-ready set: the notice, the memorandum, the declaration with its exhibits, the proposed order, and the certificate of service, matched to the destination court's rules.
New to motion practice? Start with what a motion is and how motion forms are structured, or walk the free motion to dismiss template before you commission a draft.
Dispositive Motions
Motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b) and their state analogues, and motions for summary judgment under Rule 56 with the separate statement where the local rules require one. Element-by-element argument built against the pleadings or the discovery record.
Oppositions and Replies
Opposition packages answering a motion already served on you, and reply memoranda closing the loop on your own motion. Drafted to the local-rule response clock, with the evidentiary objections and counter-declaration the opposition needs.
Discovery Motions
Motions to compel with the FRCP 37(a)(1) good-faith conferral certification, motions for protective orders, and motions to quash or modify a subpoena. The conferral record is built into the declaration so the certification survives scrutiny.
Continuances and Extensions
Motions for continuance and motions for extension of time under Rule 6(b): good cause shown before the deadline, excusable neglect after it. The lightest engagements on the bench, drafted fast because they are usually needed fast.
Motions in Limine
Pretrial evidentiary motions excluding or admitting specific evidence before the jury hears it, drafted to the pretrial order's motion-in-limine schedule and the judge's standing order on format and count limits.
Post-Trial Motions
Motions for new trial under Rule 59(b), renewed motions for judgment as a matter of law, and motions for reconsideration under the local rule or Rule 54(b). Post-trial clocks are short and jurisdictional; the deadline is confirmed at intake.
Vacate and Default Practice
Motions for default judgment on a defendant who never appeared, and motions to vacate a default or a judgment under Rule 60(b): mistake, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud, or a void judgment, each ground with its own record.
Enforcement Motions
Motions for contempt and orders to show cause when a party violates an existing order: the order violated, the proof of violation, and the relief sought, assembled so the court can act on the papers.
Injunction Papers
Temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction motions under Rule 65: the four-factor showing, the supporting declaration, the bond posture, and the proposed order with the specificity Rule 65(d) demands.
Amendment and Venue Motions
Motions for leave to amend a pleading under the Rule 15(a)(2) liberal-amendment standard, motions to strike under Rule 12(f), and motions to transfer venue, each with the proposed amended pleading or transfer analysis attached.
Federal Motion Clocks: Timing, Conferral, and the Rule Anchor
The table below is the federal operational frame our drafters work from. District local rules and judge standing orders layer page limits, hearing mechanics, and additional conferral requirements on top, and state courts run their own clocks entirely; the operative local rule is confirmed per matter before drafting starts.
| Motion | When It Is Filed | Meet and Confer | Rule Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motion to dismiss | Before the responsive pleading is due | Not required by the federal rule; some districts require it | FRCP 12(b) |
| Motion for summary judgment | Any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery | Not required by the federal rule | FRCP 56(b) |
| Motion to compel discovery | After the discovery response is due or deficient | Required: good-faith conferral certification | FRCP 37(a)(1) |
| Motion for extension of time | Before the deadline (good cause) or after (excusable neglect) | Courtesy conferral expected in most districts | FRCP 6(b) |
| Motion for new trial | No later than 28 days after entry of judgment | Not required | FRCP 59(b) |
| Motion to vacate judgment | Reasonable time; 1 year max for mistake, new evidence, fraud | Not required | FRCP 60(c)(1) |
| TRO / preliminary injunction | When irreparable harm is imminent | Notice required unless Rule 65(b) ex parte showing | FRCP 65 |
| Opposition to a motion | Set by local rule, commonly 14 to 21 days after service | Not applicable | Local civil rules |
What our bench does not do
Our drafters do not appear on any docket, do not sign filings, do not argue motions at hearings, do not give legal advice on which motion to bring, and do not file anything with any court. An attorney client's counsel of record owns those calls under ABA Model Rule 5.3; a self-represented client makes their own decisions, signs as the party, and files their own papers. What we deliver is the drafted package.
One Drafting Bench, Two Kinds of Client
For law firms and solo attorneys
Route motion practice out the way firms route document review and research out: a senior drafter produces the package inside the matter portal, a second drafter runs the citation and rule pass, and the set returns for counsel of record's Rule 5.3 review, signature, and filing under the firm's letterhead. Strategy, hearing argument, and the client relationship stay with the firm. For the wider workstream catalog, see litigation support services.
For self-represented litigants
If you are handling your own case, the motion is where format rules bite hardest: clerks bounce filings for a defective caption, a missing certificate of service, or a memorandum over the limit. We draft the complete package to your court's rules with every next step written out; you review it, sign it as the party, and file it yourself. Reading up first? Start with representing yourself in court.
How a Motion Engagement Runs From Intake to Filing Day
The same six-step flow runs whether the engagement is one procedural motion, a motion-and-reply pair, or standing motion practice across a docket.
- 1
Motion intake
Send the case caption, the court, the motion type, and the deadline. Upload the papers you are moving against or responding to. We return scope, the named drafter, and the timeline in one business day.
- 2
Local rules pulled first
The destination court's civil rules, local rules, and the judge's standing order are pulled before drafting starts: page limits, proposed-order requirements, conferral requirements, and hearing-date mechanics.
- 3
Secure matter portal
Your filings, exhibits, and drafts move through the matter portal, not email attachments. Protective-order and sealed-material designations on anything you upload are honored end to end.
- 4
Drafter assignment + theory of the motion
A senior litigation drafter is assigned and the theory of the motion is locked: the rule invoked, the elements to be met, and the record that proves each one, before the memorandum is written.
- 5
Full package drafted + checked
Notice, memorandum, declaration with exhibit references, proposed order, and certificate of service drafted as one set. A second drafter runs the citation pass and the local-rule conformance pass.
- 6
Returned for your signature
The package returns review-ready. An attorney client's counsel of record makes the strategy call, signs, and files under the firm's letterhead; a self-represented client reviews, signs as the party, and files it themselves.
Recent Matters From the Drafting Bench
A sample of recent litigation-drafting engagements, described generically to protect client confidentiality.
Written objection under Probate Code section 1043 for a self-represented objector in a conservatorship matter, drafted for the objector's signature and filed by the objector ahead of the hearing date, with the appearance mechanics explained step by step.
Petitioner's opening brief on a certified administrative record under CCP 1094.5, including a written review of the draft record before the certification deadline. Delivered inside the briefing schedule for the petitioner's own filing.
Opening brief across four claims of error with the record citations, tables, and word-count certificate built to the circuit's rules, returned for counsel's review and signature and filed on the appellate docket by counsel of record.
A litigant who had already written her own motion asked for it to be made stronger before the hearing: the argument was rebuilt around the governing standard, the declaration separated from the memorandum, and the package returned for her signature.
You Sign Every Motion; We Draft It Review-Ready
Every engagement is structured around one rule: the person with the right to sign the filing is the one who signs it. For a firm, that is counsel of record supervising the work under ABA Model Rule 5.3. For a self-represented litigant, that is you, signing as the party under the same signature obligations Rule 11 places on any filer. The drafting bench prepares the package and the second-drafter pass checks it; the decisions, the signature, and the filing are yours.
Legal Tank
- Pulls the destination court's local rules and standing orders first.
- Drafts the notice, memorandum, declaration, proposed order, and certificate of service as one set.
- Builds the conferral record into discovery motions so the FRCP 37(a)(1) certification holds.
- Runs a second-drafter citation and rule-conformance pass on every package.
- Writes out the filing and service steps so nothing dies at the clerk's window.
The Filer
- Decides which motion to bring and owns the strategy.
- Reviews the package and signs it: counsel of record for a firm, the party for a pro se matter.
- Files it with the court and serves the other parties.
- Argues the motion at any hearing the court sets.
For the memorandum as a standalone product, see legal brief writing services. For appeals, see appellate brief writing services. For the full drafting catalog beyond motions, see legal document drafting services. Responding rather than moving? Start with opposition to a motion.
Questions People Ask About Motion Drafting
What is drafting a motion?
Can I file a motion in court without an attorney?
What is the correct way to make a motion?
How to format a motion for court?
How much does a motion drafting service cost?
How long does it take to draft a motion?
What is the difference between a motion and a brief?
Put Your Next Motion on the Drafting Bench
Send the court, the case posture, the motion type, and the deadline through our quote form. We return scope, the named drafter, and the delivery date in one business day.
Quotes return same business day on intakes received before 5 PM ET