Some Things You Must Know If You Have Plans of Filing a Lawsuit
The constitution has been established to ensure that every right of every human being is protected at all times. And yet, there are several people who do not get the right treatment that they deserve; thus, they need to be able to protect their own rights. Filing a lawsuit against the person or group of people who have done you wrong is one way of ensuring that your rights as a human being are properly protected. When you talk about filing a lawsuit, you have to remember that such a process involves several steps that must be followed. You are guaranteed to win your case if you know and learn these steps throughout the process.
When it comes to filing a lawsuit, the first step that you must take is to file your primary complaint and then issue a summons. Both these actions provide a summary of what has happened to you leading you to file a lawsuit against someone, the person responsible for it, and what you want to receive from the court of law as compensation for the wrongdoing that has been inflicted upon you, When both these things have been filed and issued, the clerk of the court of law will then contact the person being filed a lawsuit and inform him or her of the case. When the defendant has already been informed about what he or she is up against, he or she will then answer the summons. Now, their answer usually comes in two ways: first, the defendant may accept the lawsuit or second, the defendant may file a countersuit where they will claim that such an incident was actually caused by the one filing the lawsuit.
Once the defendant has provided the court of law his or her answer, the case will then officially open and the process of discovery then takes place. The discovery process is the time when both the side of the prosecutor and that of the defendant find enough evidence as back-up of their side of the story. These evidences must always be exchanged and be registered by both parties so that either party will be protected by the court of law for cases where a secret witness or any hidden evidence is surprisingly presented.
This is typically the time that the judge that will take part of the case will call upon a pretrial conference together with the prosecutor, defendant, and their respective lawyers. Such a pretrial conference is done to avoid any form of delay in the court of law. It is usually being held and done about one week before the official trial takes place. It is also during this time that a settlement may be reached by both parties if this is what they want to happen.
The trial now starts after all of these steps are done. During the trial, witnesses as well as evidences from both parties are presented. After hearing both sides, the judge will then give the jury time to deliberate on the case until they have reached a sound decision.
Citation: official statement
