LINKER LAW FIRM
To help you out!
Info to help you understand Civil Lawsuits:
Some steps in a Civil Case:
- Hire a lawyer
- Plaintiff's lawyer files a complaint
- Court send the defendant a summons to appear in court at a given date and time
- Defendant responds to the charges by filling an answer to the complaint
- Discovery phase
- Plaintiff then the Defendant present their sides of the case in court
- Court issues a verdict.
Common used words in Civil Lawsuits
- Plaintiff- a person who brings suit in a court of law; against the defendant
- Defendant- a person or company who the charges are being brought against.
- Complaint- the starting of the action made by the plaintiff
- Summons- a legal document stating the day and time the defendant must be at court
- Pleadings- statements made by the plaintiff and the defendant until the issue is joined
- Pretrial Conference- a conference held before the trial to bring the parties together to define the issues that need to be tried
- Meditation- the two parties meet with a third party to make a decision on the case
- Arbitration- when a dispute is resolved and the two parties have agreed this is the final and binding
- Trial- a judicial examination of facts between two parties who are against each other
- Preponderance of evidence- more convincing evidence
- Verdict- the final decision on the case
- Appeal- if the defending side thinks something went wrong or the case was not fair then they can appeal it to a higher court to see if the trial was right and fair