WHAT IS LITIGATION AND HOW IS IT USED IN COURT?

WHAT EXACTLY DOES

LITIGATION MEAN?
Litigation, in its simplest form, is the process of bringing in a court to enforce a particular
right. It’s the act of bringing in a lawsuit to resolve any disputes that may arrive before a
court.

When a member of the public begins a civil lawsuit, this person is entered into the process
called litigation. Due to the rules of Civil Procedure, something which governs actions that
are used in State and Federal courts, litigation is a process of steps (this can lead to a court
trial and eventually a resolution of the matter at hand).

Before reaching a point of a lawsuit, the plaintiff (which is the person who starts the lawsuit)
will demand a set of actions from the person they believe to have caused alleged injury or
damage (the defendant). Given the demand is refused or ignored by the defendant; the
plaintiff can proceed with the lawsuit by delivering a summons and complaint on the
defendant, whilst filing this complaint with a civil trial court. The body of the complaint must
summaries the state of the alleged injuries, linking them to the defendant, whilst ultimately
requesting relief through money or other services.

Litigation will affect us all at some point

Given that the complaint does not resolve any of the issues raised in the settlement, the
plaintiff will then begin a process called discovery. This is where the plaintiff will send
interrogatories (written questions) to the defendant that seeks information regarding the
dispute. The plaintiff has the right to request a copy of the completed documents for later
review. Once litigation begins, the defendant is also given the right to learn more regarding
the plaintiff’s case. They are permitted to begin a discovery process of their own and this is
something that may be conducted in a matter of weeks, sometimes years, depending on
how complex the case is and what level of cooperation exists between the parties involved.
After the discovery process is completed by the parties, most courts will require both the
plaintiff and the defendant to attend a conference in which they hope to reach a settlement
before pushing the case onto a trial. Depending on the outcome, an agreement will be
reached or given that the parties can’t reach a settlement, the litigation will then continue
onto a trial. Close to the day of the trial, any side of the involved parties may often make a
settlement offer in order to avoid court proceedings, something which can be costly,
dragging out the process for a number of months. Given a settlement is reached, litigation is
ended.

Given that the parties are still unable to settle their differences, a trial will be held. At the
resulting trial both sides are given permission to bring forward evidence that they feel
relevant, allowing them to try and prove to the courtroom/jury the truth behind any
complaints made. If the plaintiff brings forward a convincing case, the defendant can look to
end the case immediately. Alternatively, if the case of the plaintiff is weak, the defendant
may ask the courtroom to dismiss the specific case. Given neither is put forward, the trial
will proceed to a conclusion and either the judge or the jury will must decide which party
prevails over the other.

Given that the defendant loses the lawsuit, the party can now ask the courtroom to throw
out the verdict if they feel that the evidence did not warrant the decision, or the defendant
can alternatively ask that any damages awarded to the plaintiff be lowered. The court has
the right to grant or refuse these kinds of requests made by the defendant.

Once a final decision is made, litigation will end. The winning party is given the right to
collect any outstanding damages from the losing party. After the losing party gives the
agreed relief, the party is then entitled to receive a satisfaction of judgement from the
prevailing party. This is filed with the trial court and attest to the happiness of the winning
party, signifying the end of the case.