The 9 Basic Stages of Civil Litigation

These are the basic stages of civil litigation:

1. The plaintiff files a complaint with the court.
2. The defendant(s) are served a summons as well as a copy of the complaint and they have a certain period of time to respond to the complaint.
3. If the defendant does not answer the complaint within the time period, a plaintiff may apply to the courts for a default judgment against the defendant.
4. If the defendant responds to the complaint, the next stage of the process involves discovery (the process by which each party seeks to obtain relevant evidence from the opposing party).
5. Along with discovery is motion practice, which is a request for relief from the court.
6. The case can settle at any time, it can go to alternative dispute resolution, or it can go to trial.
7. If it goes to trial, a court will decide a judgment.
8. If the plaintiff wins the judgment, the court will enforce the judgment.
9. A defendant may be able to appeal a judgment, but the plaintiff is usually still able to enforce a financial judgment.

If both parties agree to alternative dispute resolution, they could use either of these two common and more cost-effective methods instead of full litigation:

1. Arbitration: A panel of one to three arbitrators will hear the dispute and issue a binding decision on the case.
2. Mediation: A mediator may be used to assist two parties informally in reaching a compromise and settlement on a dispute.

For more information about the civil litigation process, send us a message.