Litigation and Alternatives for Settling Civil Disputes

•  Legal disputes that cannot be resolved informally by the parties may end up in court as a lawsuit.

•  Litigation (a lawsuit) is expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. Also, the person being sued may be judgment proof. Therefore, if you become involved in a legal controversy, you should try to settle out of court. 

•  Litigation involves several stages. It begins when the person who is suing after visiting an attorney files a complaint with the appropriate court and the defendant files an answer soon after receiving the complaint and a summons to appear in court to answer the complaint. After suit is filed, the discovery process takes place. Discovery narrows the legal issues and may reduce the duration of the actual trial if the case is not otherwise settled out of court. 

•  If there is an actual trial, the petit jury is selected and the trial is held.

•  The time, trouble, frustrations, and expense associated with trials have led individuals and business to resort to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods. 

•  The common ADR methods are arbitration, mediation, minitrials, private trial, and negotiation (an informal settlement) between the parties.