Lawsuits can be an incredibly complicated process, and only lawyers experienced in the field can get the best result in certain cases. There are different types of lawsuits and different courts of law that handle each matter. For example, in criminal cases, the victim who was injured by an act of violence is not the one who brings the case to court. Rather, it is the prosecutor in the city, district, state or the United States federal government. Civil cases can be brought by individuals, but they may be brought into different courts. There are courts that deal with strictly civil matters, such as personal injury cases, or fraud lawsuits. But there are also family courts in which individuals can file divorces, or child support actions, among others. If you have a civil lawsuit, you should contact the experienced attorneys at Greenberg & Rudman LLP for a free consultation. Call them now at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO).
Civil lawsuits start out by one party filing a complaint, which includes information on why he is suing the other party, information on the incident that led to the lawsuit, and what he hopes to gain from the lawsuit. The party filing the complaint is referred to as the plaintiff and the party that he is suing is referred to as the defendant. Civil suits can take place in small claims court, which deals with cases that involve damages of up to $7,500 (in California; this amount differs among states), or they can take place in superior court, which handles all cases above the $7,500 limit. There are different requirements that need to be met, and that individuals who do not normally work in law may not know about. For instance, there is a certain deadline, called the statute of limitations, that you have to meet. The deadline varies in different cases, and if you have missed your deadline, there may be ways to still file your lawsuit. These are simple nuances in the case that an experienced attorney would know about, but the average layperson would not.
Once a lawsuit has been filed, it is up to the other party to respond to the lawsuit. If the other person does not respond back to the court within a certain period of time (usually 30 days), there may be a default judgment entered against them. A default judgment means that since the person chose to ignore the lawsuit, or did not do what he was required to do, then the amount that the party filing the lawsuit requested in his complaint may be awarded to him. However, this is not always the case because it depends on the circumstances of the lawsuit and the different defenses that the other party may have. The attorneys at Greenberg & Rudman LLP have been practicing law for over 50 years. We know the ins and outs of filing a lawsuit and the different issues that you may face in a suit. Give us a call now at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO), and get a free and confidential consultation from one of our attorneys. Go to our website, www.alawpro.com and read more about our practice areas.
Would you like to know more about the lawsuit process? Go to Part 2: LAWSUITS MAY BE TOO COMPLICATED FOR AVERAGE PERSON—CONSULT AN EXPERIENCED SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY FOR HELP IN YOUR CASE (Part 2 of 2)