Attorneys - Legal Information On Filing A Lawsuit

The constitution was put in place to protect your rights as a human being, occasionally people are treated wrongfully and need to protect their own rights. You do this by filing a lawsuit against those who have wronged you. Filing a lawsuit has many steps to take to accomplish what you want so knowing those steps is the best way to approach your case.

The very first step in filing a lawsuit is filing the original complaint and the issuing of a summons. These two things will outline what it is that has happened to you, who it is you are filing the lawsuit against, and also what you are wishing to receive from the court system as a sort of relief or payment for your grief. After these two things are filed and issued the clerk of courts then informs the person that is being issued the lawsuit of the suit. After informed the defendant is informed of this they will give their answer to the summons which will most likely be an acceptance of the lawsuit or a countersuit where they will claim that the matter was actually caused by the prosecution.

After the defendant has filed their answer with the courts the case is officially opened and the discovery process begins. The discovery process is when both sides will begin to gather evidence to back up their side of the matter. This evidence must be registered and exchanged so that both sides are protected in a lawful way and may not be ambushed by hidden evidence or a secret withheld witness.

At this point something called a pretrial conference may be held with the judge that will be presiding over the lawsuit. The pretrial conference is set in place to minimize delays in the courts and is usually set around a week before the trial actually starts. The pretrial conference is also used so that a settlement may be negotiated if that is what both the prosecution and the defense want.

After all these different steps have happened the trial is able to begin. Witnesses are able to be questioned from both the prosecution and the defense. And the evidence is presented from both sides so that the proper outcome may be decided. The judge will then give the jury instructions on how to deliberate on the matter. The jury will then decide and the case will either reach what is called a verdict or a deadlock.