Chapter 24: Litigation

Litigation

the process of moving a lawsuit through the court system

Civil

all forms of law except for criminal law

Criminal

statutes that make certain behaviors crimes and provide punishment for their commission

Plaintiff

the part that initiates a lawsuit against someone else

Defendent

the party who is being sued by the plaintiff

Complaint

plaintiff files this, initiating the lawsuit. THey allege that the defendant has done some wrongful act and asking the court for some form of relief.

Service of process

in-person delivery of a copy of the complaint to an appropriate representation of the defendant, or to the defendant themself if the defendant is an individual

Default judgement

if defendant fails to respond to complaint, the court will enter this in which the plaintiff is granted everything it asked for in the complaint.

Answer

the defendent admits or denies all of the factual allegations in the c

Litigation Process

1. complaint

2. service of process

3. answer and/or counterclaim

4. discovery

5. trial

6. appeal (if applicable)

pleadings

1. complaint

2. answer

3. counterclaim

Discovery

exchange as much info as possible between parties so no one questions what the case is about during trial

deposition

bring in a witness to ask them questions. answer under oath. purpose is to get them locked into what their testimony is.

request to produce

send a letter to other party, asking for all their relevant documents.

interrogatories

questions you ask the other side. they answer and send back

request to admit

statement of facts that you ask the other side to admit or deny

types of discoveries

1. request to produce

2. request to admit

3. mental/physical examination

4. interrogatories

mental/physical examination

can be a person or thing

Motion

one party asking the court for something (asking for a 10 min recess in court).

types of motions

1. motion for summary judgement

2. motion for judgment on the pleadings

motion for summary judgement

a pre-trial request asking a judge to decide all or part of a case without a trial because there are no genuine disputes of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

motion for judgement on the pleadings

a pre-trial request asking the judge to decide a case immediately based only on the complaint and answer. It argues that even if all the opponent's facts are true, the law dictates a win for the moving party, making a full trial unnecessary

Trail

1. pretrial hearing

2. jury selection

3. opening statements

4. cases in chief

5. rebuttal

6. closing arguments

7. jury instructions and verdict (decided by court)

8. judgement

pretrial hearing

parties and judge have a hearing to set forth rules

jury selection

civil: mix between jury and bench

criminal: always jury

bench trial

judge decides everything on their own

jury

must have no bias in either party’s side

opening statement

each side does it. plaintiff then defendent. not presenting an evidence yet

cases in chief

1. plaintiff makes case

2. defendant makes case

closing argument

rehash of opening statemnts

jury instructions and verdict

very important and case sway a case

judgement

judge enters this and case is done

Appeals

each side has the right to appeal the verdict… even if you won.

not a new trail so new evidence is allowed.

notice of appeal

document that informs appellate and trial court that an appeal is coming

appellate briefs and hearings

whatever facts come out at trail court are carried over to appellate court