If you are sued or need to sue someone else, you want your attorney to tailor the litigation strategy to your specific circumstances. Generally, for the average plaintiff, the litigation process goes something like this:
1. Preliminary Fact Investigation: The first step is to tell your story. You will meet with your attorney and provide him or her with all of the information you have, including documents, emails, or other electronically stored information.
2. Demand Letter: After collecting the relevant information, your attorney may recommend sending a demand letter to the other side summarizing how the other party has violated your rights or interests, and the relief to which you are entitled.
3. File a Complaint: If the other party does not respond favorably to the demand letter, the next step filing a complaint in court. Your attorney will align your story with the best legal theories under which you can recover.
4. Discovery: Once legal proceedings have officially begun, all parties can engage in “formal” discovery through the written interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and depositions.
5. Motion Practice: Throughout the litigation process, your attorney may recommend filing various motions with the court to try to resolve the case without going to trial.
6. Settlement: At a certain point, it may become clear that the parties can reach a resolution agreeable to both sides before trial. Settlement agreements are often preferred because they give both parties some control in the matter’s conclusion.
7. Trial: Once fact discovery is complete and the court has resolved all motions, the case may still go to trial. At trial, the jury (or the judge, if it’s a “bench trial”) decides issues of fact to determine who prevails. The Court then enters a legally binding order.
Although these are the “typical” steps in the litigation process, one does not need to litigate very long to conclude that there are very few “typical” cases. For example, sometimes people will go directly from a demand letter to a settlement negotiation. Other times, settlement negotiations would be a waste of time. Similarly, sometimes a demand letter or filing motions are a waste of time. But other times, the right motion at the right time is the key to your success.
At Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, our litigation team understands your circumstances are unique, and we work to tailor our litigation strategies to meet your specific needs. Questions about whether you have a case? Email Hallie Hamilton at
[email protected] or call (402) 392-1250.
