Henihan & Avery
Ciara Henihan Module 7 Lesson 2 Mastery Assignment
Henihan & Avery: The Best Law Firm for You
With offices and locations scattered all over the nation, from coast to coast, we're confident we can offer you the best legal counsel and defense. We're pleased to offer you the best, whether you're the plaintiff or the defendant; and our lawyers are highly specialized, so you can rest easy knowing you're working with an expert in their respective field. Most importantly, we promise you justice.
Why Henihan & Avery is Right For You
Unsure about whether our firm is the best for your civil court case? Let's walk you through it.
Has someone broken a contract with you? Have personal injuries been inflicted upon you? Have you sustained damages of any kind?
Beginning of Your Civil Court Case...
- If you decide to go to court, you become the plaintiff, a person who brings charges against another person. The person you sue/go against is the defendant.
- Once you hire us, we file a complaint with the proper court. A complaint is a formal statement naming the plaintiff and the defendant and describing the lawsuit, and it is made by your lawyer. Your civil court case has just begun.
- After that, the court will send a summons to the defendant. A summons is a legal document informing the defendant of the charges against him or her and ordering him or her to appear in court on a certain day at a certain time.
- If you are the defendant, your Henihan & Avery lawyer may then "answer" the charges. The complaint and the answer together are the pleadings.
What Happens Next?
- The lawyers on both sides gather evidence during the discovery phase. Our highly trained and experienced lawyers offer you the best in the legal world when it comes to finding evidence that supports your argument. Due to our extremely successful lawyers, most cases are settled out of court.
- Preponderance of Evidence: A standard of proof that must be met by a plaintiff if he or she is to win a civil action (definition from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Preponderance+of+Evidence)
- It's important to remember that it is the responsibility of the plaintiff to prove guilt in a civil case. However, our lawyers are the best at their job, so they'll get it done!
Why Settle It Out of Court?
Our lawyers strive to resolve your case before trial for several reasons.
- Outcomes at trial can be difficult to predict. Our lawyers can negotiate a settlement for you that can give some predictability in the case, which is one benefit of settling instead of moving on to the trial phase.
- Courts often have a backlog of cases, so your case could have to wait for as long as years to be heard.
- Trials are expensive, and so is legal assistance. By choosing our firm, you're choosing the best of the best and therefore paying for the best of the best. We recognize that it's a financial inconvenience for clients sometimes, and it benefits both sides economically to end the spending as soon as possible.
Alternate Dispute Resolution
For clients who wish to settle disputes out of court, two forms of Alternate Dispute Resolution are widely used:
- Mediation: a confidential legal process in which a neutral third party is selected to act as the facilitator of an agreement, but not the decision maker. It's informal and does not follow the strict rules of a trial. The mediator stimulates discussion to help the negotiation process, but the power is held by the disputing parties, who ultimately make the decision. However, mediation is a non-binding process, unless otherwise agreed by the two parties
- Arbitration: a confidential legal process in which a neutral third party acts as a judge, reviews the case, and makes a binding decision for both parties. This process is generally more formal than mediation.
Additional information courtesy of: http://www.umbaugh.com/mediation-vs-arbitration
If Your Case Goes to Court...
- If your case goes to court, the pre-trial discussion/conference is next. The judge might have both parties in a meeting to discuss the case, help clarify differences, and prepare for the trial. Once again, our lawyers are also here to support you and prepare you for this important legal move.
- Next, the trial begins.
- In court, the plaintiff and then the defendant present their sides of the case.
- The court then issues a verdict, a statement usually stating whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.
- If for whatever reason you lose the verdict in a civil case, you can appeal to a higher court. This means that you can take your case to a higher court to be looked over/tried again, in the hopes of a different verdict.
CONTACT US
Further Questions? Interested in Choosing Henihan & Avery for Your Civil Court Case?
Call today at (910) 294 560 or visit our website: www.henihanandavery.com for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!