Legal Research, Writing & Civil Litigation: PLG-108-2109

Caroline, a resident of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, files a lawsuit against Zoe, who lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. Caroline files her action in North Carolina state trial court. Her complaint reads, in whole:

“The Plaintiff alleges:
1. On or about April 5, 2021, Zoe walked into Caroline’s office and there illegally and feloniously assaulted and battered Caroline , thereby causing to Caroline great pain and suffering.
2. On or about April 5, 2021, Zoe caused Caroline to be unlawfully confined in a bound area, causing great physical and emotional suffering on the part of Caroline.
3. As a proximate result of Zoe’s wrongful and unlawful conduct, Caroline suffered physical and emotional injuries worth the sum of $200,000.
Wherefore, Plaintiff demands that Zoe be forced to pay to Caroline the sum of $200,000 in compensatory damages, $1,000,000 in punitive damages and any other relief that the court deems just and proper.”

The complaint is properly captioned, signed and served on Zoe.

1) Zoe moves to dismiss the action on the ground that the complaint was not specific enough and therefore must be dismissed because it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Under North Carolina case law, is Zoe correct? This part of the assignment should be answered in essay/ IRAC form.

2) Do you see anything else that is missing from the complaint that makes it defective? If so, what? (and yes, you can infer from the question that there is something else that makes this complaint defective beside the issue addressed in question #1.) This part of the assignment can be answered in as little as one sentence.