Litigation Lawyers in Mission

"Civil procedure" refers to the wide variety of rules that govern the process of civil litigation in Mission, Kansas. It does not deal with the substantive rights that the litigation system is meant to protect, just the process by which it protects them.

The civil procedure rules in Mission, Kansas are designed around a few simple goals for the civil litigation system: efficiency, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and, most importantly, fairness.

Mission, Kansas's civil procedure rules can get pretty complicated, however. They govern every aspect of a civil action, from the filing of the complaint, to discovery, and all the way through trial and appeals.

Major Mission, Kansas Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The complaint is probably the most important document that the plaintiff will file in a Mission, Kansas lawsuit, and it is usually the first. The complaint contains all of the plaintiff's allegations against the defendant, as well as the relief that the plaintiff is asking the court to provide. Therefore, it can frame the tone, as well as the legal and factual issues, that will dominate the rest of the case.

Answer: The answer is usually the first document that the defendant files, and it is meant to serve as a direct response to the plaintiff's complaint. It usually denies all of the plaintiff's major allegations. It might also lay out affirmative defenses. An "affirmative defense" is a set of circumstances 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 proven, it would negate, or mitigate, his liability to the plaintiff.

Discovery: Once the complaint and answer have been filed in a Mission, Kansas court, the next major civil procedure issue comes up. Discovery is the process in which both sides of the lawsuit are required to disclose required evidence to one another. The lawyers for each side can submit written questions, which the other party is required to answer under oath, unless the information is privileged. Each side can also request any relevant documents, physical evidence, and can conduct depositions of witnesses and parties to the lawsuit.

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

How Can a Mission, Kansas Lawyer Help?

If you are dealing with a lawsuit in Mission, Kansas, it's almost certain that you will have to deal with issues concerning civil procedure.

It should go without saying that you should have a Mission, Kansas attorney on hand to deal with any civil procedure issues that you're almost certain to face, if you're involved in a lawsuit.