Procedures for Civil Cases
By: Megan McAbee
Welcome to the McAbee Lawfirm! :)
Here is some vocabulary you may not understand so before we get started, here are some words:
Plaintiff: a person who accuses or sues another person of a crime in court
Defendant: the person who committed the crime
Complaint: any formal or legal document that sets out facts and legal reasons
Summons: an order to appear before a judge or magistrate
Pleadings: every legal document filed in a lawsuit, petition, motion and/or hearing, including complaint, petition, answer, demurrer, motion, declaration and memorandum of points and authorities
Pretrial: a conference held before the trial to bring the parties together to outline discovery proceedings
Mediation: the attempt to settle a legal dispute through active participation of a third party (mediator) who works to find points of agreement and make those in conflict agree on a fair result
Arbitration: a settlement of dispute or controversy by setting up an independent person between two contending parties in order to aid them in a settlement of their disagreement
Trial: the coming together of parties to dispute, a judicial examination and determination of facts and legal issues arising between two parties
Prepondenerance of evidence: proof by information that, compared with information opposing it, leading to its conclusion
Verdict: the decision of a jury after a trial, which must be accepted by the trial judge to be final
Appeal: to ask a higher court to reverse the decision of a trial court after final judgment or other legal ruling.