Q: As a plaintiff in federal court on a federal question, what is another word for, "Overpayment?"
I don't want to use the word "overpayment " because it sounds like I'm arguing a state issue, when I am not. I'm not sure how to get around using state terminology, because every time I start talking about my case, people think it is a state issue because I'm using state words. Now obviously I can just get a Thesaurus and what not...but this is really psychological, how do I get those in the legal system to focus on the main issues (the federal ones) instead of focusing on the minor issues (the state ones)... or maybe it's not me at all, they could just be consciously avoiding the main issues, for all I know.....How do you lawyers and attorneys deal with this situation? Thank you.
A:
When raising a federal question in federal court, I always cite and often quote the specific federal statute under which I am suing so that my pleading clearly shows that there is a federal statute that creates a federal cause of action under which I am suing.
The word "overpayment" in and of itself does not connote either a state or a federal question. For example, overpayment of Medicare reimbursement clearly can give rise to a federal lawsuit under a federal statute. It is most likely not the word "overpayment" which is the issue for people, but rather the context in which you are using it.
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