Civil pleadings
Draft a pre-trial brief on the 2019 contents.
A pre-trial brief is filed in a case that is already pending. It is not a complaint, and it is not a motion. Under Rule 18, Sec. 6, as amended in 2019, it has a fixed set of contents, and failure to file it has the same effect as failure to appear at the pre-trial. The 1997 headings — a statement of willingness to settle, and a manifestation on discovery — are no longer contents of the brief.
How to draft this
Four steps from a sentence to a Word file.
- 01
Describe the document in one sentence
Type what you need in plain language — "draft a pre-trial brief" plus the facts you already have. No template to hunt, no blank Word file to start from.
- 02
Generate the first draft
BatasDB matches the request to a pre-trial brief and writes it against the 9 required elements on this page, citing only authority retrieved from the library.
- 03
Fill the marked blanks
Names, dates, amounts and other facts you did not supply come back as marked blanks, counted at the top of the draft. Rewrite freely in the editor.
- 04
Export to Word or PDF
Export with the unfilled blanks highlighted. Editing, exporting and duplicating are free — only generating a new draft uses credits.
Drafted from
Rule 18, Sec. 6, Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC (2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure)
This is the retrieval hint BatasDB searches the library with, and the anchor for the checklist below. It is never emitted into your draft as a citation: the draft may cite only what retrieval actually returned, plus any provision you named yourself.
The checklist
What a pre-trial brief has to contain.
These are the elements BatasDB drafts against — injected into the generation itself, not checked afterwards. Where you have not supplied what an element needs, the draft leaves a marked blank instead of writing something plausible.
- 01
Whose brief, and the pre-trial date
Plaintiff or defendant, and the date of the pre-trial. The brief has to be filed and served so the adverse party receives it at least three calendar days before that date.
- 02
Statement of the case
A concise statement of the case and the reliefs already prayed for in the filer’s own pleading. Those reliefs stay in that statement. They are not re-prayed here.
- 03
Admissions and proposed stipulations
Facts already admitted, kept separate from facts now proposed for stipulation. An admission the user did not supply is not written in.
- 04
The issues
The main factual issues and the main legal issues, stated separately.
- 05
Referral to commissioners
Whether referral of factual issues to commissioners is proper, and why — or that it is not. The heading is required either way.
- 06
Evidence to be marked
Each document or object to be marked, and the purpose of marking it.
- 07
Witnesses
The name of each witness and a summary of that witness’s testimony. The judicial affidavit is a separate document. This brief carries the name and the summary only.
- 08
Points of law
A brief statement of the points of law. Citations are limited to authority the corpus actually returned for this draft.
- 09
The prayer
That the brief be noted, and that pre-trial proceed on the matters stated. Not a re-prayer of the reliefs of the case.
Not written by the AI
The formal parts are assembled, not generated.
The scaffolding a pre-trial brief needs is appended by the app from the rule that requires it. The drafting model does not write these and is explicitly told not to, so they cannot drift, be paraphrased, or come out subtly wrong.
- the ordinary civil caption
- the prayer, "RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED", and counsel’s signature block
- copy furnished
What it leaves to you
The gaps are marked, not filled.
Facts you did not supply
Every name, date, amount, docket number and address you did not give comes out as a marked blank — [FACT NEEDED: …] — rather than as a plausible invention. They are counted at the top of the draft and highlighted in the Word and PDF exports.
Assertions it made on its own
A gate reads the drafted text for concrete assertions that trace back to nothing you said and nothing that was retrieved, and rewrites each as [CONFIRM: …] for you to check before you sign.
The judgment
Every draft carries a standing notice: AI-generated draft — review before filing or signing. Not legal advice. It is a first draft for a lawyer, not a filing-ready document.
FAQ
Pre-Trial Brief: questions lawyers ask.
- What happens if the pre-trial brief is not filed?
- Failure to file it has the same effect as failure to appear at the pre-trial. For the plaintiff and counsel, that is dismissal of the action, with prejudice unless the court orders otherwise. For the defendant and counsel, the plaintiff may present evidence ex parte within ten calendar days from termination of the pre-trial.
- When does it have to be received?
- At least three calendar days before the pre-trial. The 2019 Amendments made the count calendar days, so weekends are included.
- Does it still need a statement of willingness to settle?
- No. That heading, and the manifestation on discovery, were required under the 1997 Rules and were removed by the 2019 Amendments. Settlement is taken up by the court at the pre-trial. It is not a heading of the brief.
- Is a criminal pre-trial brief the same document?
- No. This format is the civil brief under Rule 18. A criminal pre-trial brief is a different instrument, and BatasDB will not draft it on this form.
Start from a draft that already read the rule.
Describe your pre-trial brief in a sentence, fill in what only you know, and export it to Word or PDF.
Uses 5 credits from your monthly allowance — editing and exporting are free. See plans →
Draft this document