The prospect of filing a lawsuit can be daunting, and it’s no surprise why: A civil lawsuit is often a complicated process. The prospect of paying thousands of dollars in legal fees to a lawyer doesn’t make it any easier.
If you’re considering filing a lawsuit, you may not be able to handle the entire legal process without an attorney or Holding Redlich – Corporate Law Firm. Here are five tips that will help you get started and prepare for what lies ahead.
- Understand the type of legal case you have
The first step in filing a lawsuit is figuring out what type of case you’re dealing with. Most cases fall under one of three categories:
Contract disputes – This involves two parties who agreed to certain terms and one party didn’t deliver on their end. For example, if a landscaper agreed to install new sod for your yard for $2,000 but did shoddy work instead, this would likely be considered a contract dispute.
Personal injury – These types of lawsuits involve physical harm or injury caused by another person or business. If someone slipped and fell at your restaurant because your floor was wet, this would likely be considered a personal injury case.
- Do Your Homework
You don’t want to be the attorney who files a lawsuit against “ABC Corporation,” only to find out later through discovery that there’s no such company. Nor do you want to sue someone in federal court if they live on the other side of the country (unless your client’s claim exceeds $75,000).
- Do You Have a Legal Basis for Your Complaint?
You’ll need to identify an actual legal rule that has been violated, including statutes, regulations or common law concepts such as breach of contract or negligence. If you don’t have a legal basis for your claim then no lawsuit should be filed at all.
- Can You Prove It?
You’ll need evidence in order to prove your case in court. This might include documents, photographs or expert testimony from witnesses who can verify key facts of your claim. If you lack sufficient evidence to support your claim then the lawsuit will almost certainly fail.
- Identify the Defendant(s)
If you think someone else is liable for a problem, you’ll have to identify who that is. This may be obvious, like when you’re injured by a car accident caused by another driver. In personal injury cases, the defendant may be an insurance company, not an individual.
In some cases, it’s not so obvious who caused the harm — like when you’re exposed to toxic chemicals and don’t know who owns or released them. You may have to do some investigating to identify all of the parties who are responsible for your injuries. Once you identify them, you can move onto the next step: determining where and when to sue them.
- Determine Where and When You Should Sue
You may think your case belongs in federal court because of something you heard on TV or from a friend, but filing in federal court isn’t always necessary or even allowed.
Federal courts handle specific kinds of cases, such as those concerning patents or civil rights violations by government officials. Although federal courts hear many kinds of cases, state courts hear far more — most cases belong in state court and are decided there.
