Litigation is often regarded as a time-consuming endeavor and reserved for the diligent. The United States of America is known as the land of the free and the home of the lawsuit. In this country, you can sue another party for any reason that you see fit. While this is true, a stupid lawsuit will be tossed out as quickly as it was concocted. The court system does not like to waste time and will only hear cases that have a legitimate rationale behind them. A lot of people sue individuals for the possibility of receiving a settlement to better the life in which they are living. This is certainly not the majority; however, as many people sue because they have an actual grievance, they would like settled by an objective third party. When you begin learning about the law, a litigation timeline template can help you understand all of the steps of this process. Litigation can be a short process depending on the case, but it is often drawn out.
Litigation Timelines
The first aspect of a lawsuit involves one party filing a complaint against another. The party that files the complaint becomes the plaintiff, and the other party becomes the defendant. Generally, an attorney is responsible for filling out this document, so you will not have to worry about doing this yourself. If this information is not filled out correctly, it will be thrown out, and you will have to start the claim process over. After this is completed, filing the complaint and summons with the court begins the legal process. While it is not common, there are jurisdictions where the plaintiff can serve the defendant personally. This is generally not permitted due to the conflict in interest and the potential altercations that can arise from these situations. Courts want to make sure that these procedures happen without violence involved.