Litigation Lawyers in Bay City

"Civil procedure" refers to the wide variety of rules that regulate the process of civil litigation in Bay City, Michigan. It does not deal with the substantive rights that the litigation system is meant to safeguard, just the process by which it protects them.

Like all laws, the rules of civil procedure in Bay City, Michigan reflect particular values that society, through its elected representatives, wants to encourage. So, the rules of civil procedure have the stated goal of ensuring that the justice system is fair, cost effective, efficient, and accessible to everyone who has a legitimate legal grievance.

Civil litigation in Bay City, Michigan is almost never a simple process. So, the rules controlling this process can't always be simple, either. Remember, civil procedure governs every single step of the civil litigation process, which can drag on for years.

Major Bay City, Michigan Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The initial, and perhaps most significant, part of filing a lawsuit in Bay City, Michigan is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Bay City, Michigan that's responsible for handling civil trials. It lists everything that the plaintiff (the person who is suing) alleges against the defendant (the person the plaintiff is suing). Normally, but not always, the end of the complaint will contain a "prayer for relief." The prayer for relief is just a statement of what the plaintiff is asking the court to do to remedy the harm that the defendant allegedly caused.

Answer: The answer is normally the first document that the defendant files, and it is meant to serve as a direct response to the plaintiff's complaint. It normally denies all of the plaintiff's major allegations. It might also lay out affirmative defenses. An "affirmative defense" is a set of reasons that negate the defendant's liability even if their conduct would ordinarily be unlawful. For example, in a lawsuit for battery, a defendant might admit that he struck the plaintiff, but claim that he acted in self-defense. If that can be shown, it would negate, or mitigate, his liability to the plaintiff.

Discovery: The civil procedure rules in Bay City, Michigan were written with the purpose of, among other things, preventing surprises. For that reason, everyone immersed in a lawsuit goes into trial with a pretty good idea of what evidence the other side has. This is largely because of the discovery procedure, during which the attorneys for both sides are obligated to disclose (with some exemptions) all information relevant to the trial which they have in their possession. These disclosures come in several forms, such as simply sending boxes of documents, deposing witnesses, or submitting written questions to the other side, which the recipient is obligated to answer under oath.

Trial: It's quite rare for lawsuits in Bay City, Michigan to go to trial. Bay City's civil procedure rules really discourage trials, and rather have designed the system so that it's almost always more cost-effective to settle out of court. Nonetheless, if this is not possible, the matter will go to trial, where a judge and/or jury will decide the factual questions, and then award the appropriate relief (if any) to the prevailing party.

How Can a Bay City, Michigan Lawyer Help?

If you are dealing with a lawsuit in Bay City, Michigan, it's almost given that you will have to deal with issues regarding civil procedure.

Civil Procedure in Bay City, Michigan can be pretty difficult. It's always a good idea to have a lawyer who can advise you on how best to deal with these civil procedure issues.