BU315 Ch. 4: Resolving Disputes

I may have no horse in this race but I'm gonna try to sue you anyways

Civil Litigation

The resolution process of civil/noncommercial cases in public courts

Standing

The plaintiff must be directly effected by the defendant; must show

1. that they have suffered injury in fact

2. the harm is direct, concrete, and individualized'

3. there’s a legal remedy to address this harm

Statute of Limitations

Time limit in which a law should be filed

Complaint

Sets out the plaintiff’s version of facts for the case, usually leads to a summons delivered to the defendant, followed by an answer from the defendant

Counter-claim

Often given with the Answer, this is when the defendant believes the plaintiff also caused them damages as a result of the same set of facts from the initial complaint

Cross-claim

Filed when defendant brings a third party into the litigation as a new defendant, believing they are partially or fully responsible for damages done

Motion

A legal document filed by one party requesting the court to take a certain action.

(This includes actions to dismiss, for summary judgement, to compel discovery, to dismiss for mistrial, for a directed verdict, or for judgement as matter of law.)

Discovery

The stage where evidence for the trial is collected, laid out by the Rules of Civil Procedure must be either

• Inculpatory - tends to prove a criminal offense or civil wrong

• Exculpatory - tends to prove innocence or non-liability

Deposition

Oral questions asked of either party or witness. Anyone can have it taken, though if it’s relevant information, a party may request a subpoena - a court order to have a person testify in front of a judge

Types:

Interrogatories

Written questions to the parties that must be answered in writing (only the parties to the litigation are truly required answer these)

Request for Admissions

Narrow and helps to determine which facts both parties agree as truth and which facts are in dispute

Request for Production

Wide and used to request evidence, covers all documents, reports, notes, hard drives, etc.

Pretrial Conference

A meeting between both attorneys and the judge, with goals being settlement and resolving outstanding motions

Trial

The judge as the finder of law and the jury as the finder of fact. When the judge is both, it is considered a Bench Trial.

Jury selection

Asking people to become jurors while reveling if there may be any prejudice, a questioning known as voir dire.

Direct Examination

Follows Opening Statements, this is when the plaintiff’s attorney questions their witness list. The defendant’s attorney will then do a Cross-Examination that only touches on what was asked by the plaintiff’s attorney.

Closing Argument

A summary of the case by the attorneys so the judge can proceed with the charging of the jury, where the jury is given instructions on how to make a decision. The standard by which they should decide a case is called Preponderance of the Evidence (evidence that is most likely to be true)

Deliberations

A private discussion between jurors to determine their verdict. If they cannot come to a conclusion, it is known as a hung jury and requires a retrial with a new jury.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Nonjudicial methods to resolve disputes through third parties rather than the court system. The main methods are Mediation and Arbitration.

Informal ADR

Negotiations to arrive at an agreeable solution. These may include a settlement agreement, where money is exchanged to not sue, as well as the agreement to cancel or revise a contract.

Arbitration

A method of Alternative Dispute Resolution where an individual performs a hearing; the rules of evidence don’t apply here. This method is more formal than Mediation.

Mediation

A method of Alternative Dispute Resolution in which a mediator tried to settle the dispute between two parties by learning the facts and negotiating a a solution.

Expert Evaluation

When a dispute relates to a complex matter, an independent expert can be called in to help settle the issue.

Med-Arb

A hybrid form of ADR between Mediation and Arbitration, where both parties submit to Mediation and turn to Arbitration if it doesn’t work. The goal is to reach a conclusion with the least formality as possible.

Summary Jury Trials

A shorter trial is conducted before a jury in front of a sitting or retired judge where the decision is nonbinding. This occurs mainly in federal courts.

Mini-Trial

A shorter trial where each side of top management presents their facts and a neutral party conducts. The purpose is for both sides to hear one another and come to an agreement to avoid litigation— not necessarily for the third party to make a decision.

Pleading

Anything that’s recorded, such as a complaint, petition, summons, answer, counter-claim, any possible motion, etc.