It’s not always worth it to pursue civil litigation. Oftentimes small claims courts don’t offer enough compensation to pay for the actual damages necessary.
This means you either get left hanging or take your case to the next level in the process of civil litigation.
Both of these situations require you to pay higher costs, and you’re going to take more risk (after all the time, hard work and expense there’s a chance the judge won’t award you anything).
First, take a good hard look at how much money you can realistically win if you go to court. If your case is best heard in small claims court, then take a look at what limits your state imposes on small claims awards.
It’s easy to find this information. Make a quick phone call to the courts (listed in the phone book), or take a look on the Internet. Government rules can change at anytime, so make sure the source you use is as current as possible.
Civil litigation isn’t going to be worth it if the compensation you are likely to receive isn’t enough. If the judge can’t legally award you an amount close to what you want, there’s no point in pursuing it. This option is only worthwhile if the stakes are particularly high. In most states, the difference between small claims limits and the amounts you can win from going to formal civil court can be quite substantial.
If you decide to pursue a case in civil court it can be very expensive. In fact, it can sometimes cost more than you originally wanted to ask for compensation. If you have a lawyer handling your case (you should if you’re filing a formal lawsuit), court expenses will be subtracted from the whole settlement amount, then the lawyer will take his fee (usually somewhere between 30-40%), then you get what’s leftover. If your case falls into this category, you might want to look at arbitration as an alternative.
With civil litigation, there is always a chance you’ll end up with nothing, no matter the limits you might be faced with. This is why it’s so important to look at your case very carefully and make sure it’s worth it before you file final papers in court. Go over your side of the story and make sure that your claims are valid. Make sure you can show without a doubt that the other party is truly liable for damages.
No matter the proof you have, make sure you can present your case in as short a time as possible. Practice in front of friends or family if you have to and see how much of a convincing argument you can make in just a few minutes.
Take a look at the other side’s case too. Is their argument sound? Can you counter their arguments? Will the other side be able to make you look bad in front of a judge? If you weigh these factors and still feel confident that you can get a higher award from a judge than from the adjuster, take the next step.
Now it’s time to see a lawyer. A lawyer might be able to help make your case more airtight and come up with good arguments as to why you deserve compensation. Nonetheless, make sure your case is good, because a lawyer won’t even want to consider it if he doesn’t think you can win.
Civil litigation is a lawsuit whereby a party seeks damages against another party. The damages can come in the form of money or the modification of some type of conduct. For instance, one can sue for breach of contract if another party fails to live up to the terms of a written agreement. One can also sue for a restraining order to bar a competitor from using various business property such as intellectual property rights. Importantly, civil litigation is not a criminal matter, to wit, the party that loses the case does not go to jail.
The first stage of civil litigation is the pleading stage. The pleading stage simply refers to the filing of the complaint against the party that is the defendant. The defendant then has the right to contest certain elements of that complaint. The defendant can object on the grounds that the complaint does not state a cause of action against them or frivolous matters are included in the language of the complaint, to name a few arguments. At this point, the court will either find a complaint to be with or without merit. If the Court throws out the plaintiff’s complaint, the plaintiff is usually allowed to amend the language and refile it.
The next stage of civil litigation is discovery. Discovery is simply the process of learning what evidence each side has regarding the dispute. Typically a party can ask to see any supporting documents the other side has and ask them questions. Questions can be asked in written form through a legal document known as interrogatories. Questions can also be asked orally by the party’s legal counsel in a process known as a deposition. Other methods of discovery also include request for admissions, special interrogatories and various other methods specific to your state. Yep, all the rules are set forth by state in most cases.
Once discovery comes to a close, the defendant will often file something known as a motion for summary judgment. A summary judgment motion is simply an argument by the defendant that the evidence provided by the plaintiff in the case does not support a claim against the defendant. In moving for summary judgment, the court considers the law on the books and the evidence provided by the plaintiff. It views the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff before making the decision. If the court finds in favor of the defendant, the lawsuit is over. At this point, the plaintiff can either abandon the lawsuit or file an appeal to have a higher court review the matter.
Assuming the plaintiff survives a motion for summary judgment, the next technical step of a lawsuit is to actually go to trial. Before that happens, however, the parties are usually sent to an arbitration hearing in which a mediator tries to cut a deal between the parties. This process is also known as a settlement conference. If they settlement cannot be reached, the court will then set the matter for trial and off you go.
At the end of the day, the average civil lawsuit will take a while to get from filing of the complaint to trial. The exact time is dependent upon the state you live in and how busy the courts are. Criminal matters tend to take precedent over civil matters, so you can often be waiting awhile. In fact, it can often take a year or more before a civil matter goes to trial.
At one point in your life, you might probably be involved in circumstances where the need for a civil litigation lawyer arises. In this case, you must know just who and what a civil litigation lawyer is.
If you are involved in any sort of dispute that does not fall under the rulings of the criminal law, then the legal expertise that a civil litigation lawyer could provide is the particular legal service you need to resolve such. A litigation lawyer has the ample knowledge in the civil rights laws and other aspects involving civil issues like personal injury, business, and employment.
A litigation lawyer can be expected to represent a client, group of clients or an entity’s interests in a lawsuit on trial before the court in order to achieve the verdict of a panel of jury or a judge. Moreover, if an issue can be resolved or settled without having to go through a trial in court, the litigation lawyer can also be counted on in negotiating for agreements or settlements outside of court.
It is possible that one litigation lawyer has expertise in the different aspects and areas of civil litigation. However, there are lawyers who specialize and become experts in only one area of such.
For a civil litigation lawyer to be considered an expert and competent, he or she must have the proper training and pertinent experience in handling the particular areas he or she is specializing on.
When looking up for the legal services of a litigation lawyer in Chicago or Phoenix, you can go to see The Nathanson Law Firm which is a civil litigation law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona. Here the attorneys concentrate the practice entirely on trials and appeals in diverse areas of law.
The lawyers are licensed in Illinois, Arizona, and New York. Nathanson Law Firm has represented individual and corporate clients in trial court and appellate court cases for plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts. In the course of nearly 30 years of practice, The Nathanson Law Firm has pursued novel legal questions and issues of first impression at trial and on appeal. The Nathanson Law Firm’s successful verdicts and appellate results – in groundbreaking cases – have been publicized in the media and legal journals.
Representing individuals and commercial enterprises with nationwide business interests, The Nathanson Law Firm’s trial attorneys are regularly involved in complex litigation, which typically falls into three broad categories:
* Business & Commercial Disputes: Breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder and partnership conflicts, defamation of character, violation of trade secrets, non-compete issues, and other business cases
* Professional Negligence & Malpractice: Medical, legal, accounting, and other professional malpractice and negligence and wrongful death issues
* Will, Trust & Estate Controversies: Contested wills and contested trust cases.
When you are faced with a foe in the legal arena, whether by your design or in self-defense, the attorneys at The Nathanson Law Firm stand ready to take on the challenge, no matter how formidable the opponent.
Americans place crucial importance in a litigation lawyer, especially since we pursue legal matters more often than any other people all over the world. Thus, it is important to understand the function of a litigation lawyer and the qualities we need to look for in them before bestowing our trust.