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Litigation Law Lawyers Attorneys Free Legal Information Free Advice Law Advice Insurance Advice Community Law Advice Free Case Evaluation Ask a Lawyer Q amp A Legal Topics All Legal Topics Accident Law Bankruptcy Law Business Law Criminal Law Employment Labor Law Estate Planning Family Law Financial Law General Practice Government Law Immigration Law Insurance Law Intellectual Property Litigation Malpractice Law Personal Injury Real Estate Law Tax Law Small Claims Admiralty Maritime Aviation Law Litigation Topics All Litigation Topics Lawyers Law Firms ProceduresCivil Law SuitsLegal RemediesArbitrationMediationAppealsClass Actions Litigation Litigation Litigation Topics Select a Topic raquo Lawyers Law Firms ProceduresCivil Law SuitsLegal RemediesArbitrationMediationAppealsClass Actions Free Advice Law Advice Litigation Litigation Information Litigation refers to the process of carrying out a lawsuit Trial attorneys who represent clients in lawsuits are sometimes referred to as litigators while parties themselves are referred to as litigants The plaintiff in a lawsuit who is the party that brings the claim against a defendant generally begins a lawsuit by alleging that he or she has suffered a financial or other type of harm as a result of the defendant's actions Litigation is a very complex process in which specific rules outlined in laws of state or federal rules of civil procedure must be strictly adhered to In addition particular courts usually have their own rules to guide the litigation process Litigation can become even more complicated if multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants are involved or if the parties involved in the litigation don't live in the same state The stages of a lawsuit are pleading pretrial discovery trial entry of judgment appeals and enforcement In the pleading stage of litigation the parties submit their initial legal arguments for the judge rsquo s review The plaintiff uses a summons and complaint and the defendant has a certain amount of time to respond to the complaint Once the details of the lawsuit have been worked out depending on whether the case was filed in federal or state court the discovery process begins During discovery the parties collect evidence relevant to their claim or defense from each other If the defendant has financial records relevant to the plaintiff rsquo s claim for instance the defendant may be required by law to disclose those records to the plaintiff through discovery During trial the attorneys present their case to a jury who must reach a majority decision reflecting which party has proved their case by a preponderance of the evidence The trial judge will then enter a judgment which the losing party may seek to appeal If the appeal fails the prevailing party may then enforce the judgment Each state has highly unique rules regarding enforcement Among the more common methods of enforcement include a judgment lien against real property sheriff attachment of bank assets or a judicial order to garnish wages Be sure to check your local rules regarding enforcement of judgments Litigation usually continues only if alternative dispute resolution ADR has failed Litigation is extremely expensive and time consuming so for most would be litigants one of the ADR approaches is usually preferable For instance a judge may schedule a series of meetings with the opposing attorneys in an effort to reach a settlement prior to trial This is known as a judicially supervised settlement conference Other forms of ADR include arbitration in which an arbitrator hears both sides and then renders a binding decision and mediation in which a mediator encourages the two parties to reach a mutual agreement to settle their dispute without proceeding to trial In most states more than of lawsuits are settled before trial even if litigation has already begun For more information on litigation and the various ADR alternatives please visit the topics on this page Litigation contains Articles 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