Defendant's, Jon Doe, Motion for Extension of Time

[LawGirl305]

I am doing an internship at a law firm. I drafted a motion for my boss, who told me I needed to correct my apostrophes. Which is correct?
1. Defendant's, Jon Doe, Motion for Extension of Time
2. Defendant, Jon Doe's, Motion for Extension of Time

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[White Hat]

My language experience tells me it's the second, but I'd also remove the commas here.

 

[Skrej]

The second one correctly shows possession if you're including the name. The first would be okay if you didn't include the defendant's name.

Regardless, you have pervasive issues with capitalization and punctuation beyond the apostrophe.

 

[emsr2d2]

Regardless, you have pervasive issues with capitalization and punctuation beyond the apostrophe.

I'm not sure there's anything wrong with the capitalisation. A Motion for Extension of Time appears to be the official name of the motion. See here.

 

[Tarheel]

Defendant's Motion for Extension of Time

Or

Defendant John Doe's Motion for Extension of Time

You're welcome.

 

[jutfrank]

You can tell your boss there's nothing wrong with your use of apostrophes. It's your use of commas that's the problem!

I'll have to presume you have a reason to use capital letters though it's not obvious to me what it is. Is it a heading?

 

[LawGirl305]

Thank you for your insights. In the legal industry, it's traditional to capitalize "Defendant" and the title of the motion, such as "Motion for Extension of Time." Additionally, naming the defendant is crucial, especially in cases with multiple defendants. Given this context and based on your feedback, it seems "Defendant John Doe's Motion for Extension of Time" is the correct phrasing. This aligns with the suggestion Tarheel provided. Would you agree? I appreciate everyone's time and guidance.

 

[probus]

I'm not a lawyer, but long ago I earned my living doing tax consulting at Deloitte's, one of the big accounting firms. That required us to read and interpret both the income tax statute and the reasons for judgment in many tax cases. Bssed on that experience I share your opinion on phrasing and capitalization.