Rule 11.01 Captions

Every court order needs certain basic information at the top, called a caption. This helps everyone know exactly what case the order belongs to and what it's about.

The caption must include the name of the court handling the case, the case number, and the name of the judge assigned to the case (listed right below the case number). It also needs the case style, which is typically the names of the parties involved, like "John Smith v. Jane Doe." Finally, the caption needs a short heading that explains what the order is about, such as "Order Granting Motion to Dismiss" or "Order Setting Trial Date."

This rule makes sure that anyone looking at a court order can quickly identify the case, the judge, and the general purpose of the order without having to read the whole document first.