Litigation
While much of the publicity on legal matters focuses on the verdict or end result of a lawsuit, many people understand the many stages involved in the litigation process. Litigation is the broad and encompassing term that describes the process of garnering information and resolving legal disputes in court. Through litigation, individuals and businesses resolve a variety of disputes ranging from insurance payouts for personal injuries to trademark questions to contractual disputes.
With the wide array of legal issues being litigated in today's courts, it is important for businesses and individuals to understand the critical points of the litigation process. This article provides a broad overview of the litigation process, including how the process of filing pleadings, obtaining discovery, and seeking summary judgment shape the litigation process and how cases can be won, lost, and ultimately resolved before they go to trial.
Pleadings
Pleadings are essential to litigation, for they set forth the initial claims, allegations, and defenses to factual and legal issues to be brought before the court. These documents also help to narrow and define the issues that will ultimately be litigated. Pleadings must be carefully written, and at times, revised to properly establish a party's legal claims.
A lawsuit begins with the plaintiff filing a complaint with the court, and serving a copy of the same on the defendant(s). The complaint will state whether the plaintiff is seeking money damages and/or equitable relief, and what the legal and factual bases for seeking such relief are. Through the practice of notice pleading, plaintiffs need only give a short and plain statement of their claims showing that they are entitled to relief, and not a complete account of all the facts.
Once the defendant receives the complaint, he or she needs file a response (called an "answer") explaining the legal and factual defenses to the plaintiff's claims, including any challenges to the court's jurisdiction over the defendant or the matter in question. The answer is vital to a defendant's case because it establishes which issues will be litigated and whether the case will likely depend on the disposition of factual or legal questions.
Discovery
Discovery encompasses the process of obtaining pertinent information through the exchange of documents, testimony, and related information, which allows each party to learn about and analyze facts that may support (or weaken) its case.
While many things may be discoverable, courts regularly enforce the Rules of Civil Procedure to protect irrelevant and "privileged" information from being discovered, ensure that each party is given a full and fair opportunity to discover evidence, and promote an efficient and effective judicial process.
Discovery serves a number of functions by allowing parties to fully disclose facts and information (as well as the existence and location of such facts), secure evidence for use at trial, clarify key issues, and ensure adequate trial preparation.
Interrogatories
Interrogatories are sets of formal written questions that are served onto a party during the course of discovery. Interrogatories are often the first step in the discovery process, and are used to determine facts, obtain evidence, and secure information that will support a party's legal claim. Interrogatories usually set a platform upon which attorneys will craft deposition questions and develop a strategy to prepare the case for trial.
When answering interrogatories, a party must be truthful, because the response under oath. The Rules of Civil Procedure govern how interrogatories are to be written and served, and establishes limits on the number of questions that can be included. The rules also establish who may be served with interrogatories, as well as who may answer.
Depositions
Depositions are informal hearings outside of court where attorneys take sworn testimony from witnesses and related parties about the facts of a particular case. The process of taking depositions serves an important function, as with any discovery proceeding, in allowing parties to obtain information in preparation for trial. The spontaneity and depth of a deponent's answers gives the attorneys a fair preview of the evidence, so that a "level playing field" is achieved and surprise is avoided at time of trial.
Another benefit of depositions is to preserve and analyze a witness' recollections while they are still fresh. In most cases, many months (and sometimes years) may elapse between the disputed event and the eventual trial. With that, memories of a specific event can become clouded as time passes, or they can fade away altogether. A deposition serves to give a witness the opportunity to verify what he or she saw or remembers, and to make a record of such recollections.
In the event a witness passes away or is otherwise unavailable for trial, his or her deposition testimony may be read into the record. Also, depositions may be videotaped in anticipation of the witness not being available to testify at trial.
In most cases, after a number of witnesses have been deposed and the attorneys have analyzed their responses, the parties will have sufficient information to reasonably predict the outcome of a prospective trial. After which, the parties may decide to arrive at a compromise settlement, thus avoiding trial and preventing additional litigation costs.
Summary Judgment
Summary judgment is a pre-trial motion where a party seeks a decision on one or more issues in the case, thus making a trial unnecessary. The basic idea behind summary judgment is that if a fact is undisputed, there is no need for a trial on that issue. The lawyers would not have to argue undisputed facts before a jury, and the court can issue judgment based on the facts set forth in the pleadings.
If the moving party can successfully argue that the undisputed facts and law make it clear that the other party cannot prevail at trial, the court will award summary judgment, thereby ending the lawsuit.
What qualifies as an undisputed fact is not absolute. The non-moving party (the party defending the summary judgment motion) will argue that factual issues exist for a jury to decide, thus meriting a trial. If the court believes that the non-moving party has a chance of prevailing at trial, it must preserve the party's right to have a jury review and evaluate the evidence. Essentially, if a trial could result in the jury ultimately finding in favor of the non-moving party, summary judgment would be inappropriate, and the court will deny the motion.
Summary judgment is appropriate to resolve questions of law and actions involving unambiguous contracts. However, it is generally not appropriate for issues involving motivation, intent, credibility, or other subjective facts central to the underlying case.
The Trial
When the case does not reach a settlement and proceeds to trial, there are many procedural rules involved. The witness testimony, evidence, and the parties' arguments will be presented to a judge, a panel of judges, or a jury. When all of the evidence has been presented and closing arguments given, the judge or jury will deliberate and give a decision, call a verdict if a jury decides, and a judgment if a judge or panel judges decides. When a final judgment is entered, the losing party may have an opportunity to appeal one or all of the issues litigated.
For legal advice regarding a litigation issue, or to discuss the specifics of your case, contact an experienced litigation attorney.
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