Filing a Lawsuit in Rockville, Maryland

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Litigation Lawyers in Rockville

If you live in Rockville, Maryland and think that you might be the victim of a legal wrong, you may decide that it's worth suing over, to recover compensation from the person who wronged you.

If you think that filing a lawsuit is a good option in seeking redress, you should not rush into this decision. A lawsuit is a time-consuming and expensive process. You should not make a final decision without speaking to a Rockville, Maryland attorney.

Once you hire a Rockville, Maryland litigation attorney, he or she will be able to advise you on your chances of succeeding in your lawsuit. Furthermore, your lawyer can inform you on what a lawsuit is likely to cost, both in time and money. Obviously, your lawyer has some control over what it will cost you, based on their fees, and whether they bill an hourly rate, or charge on a contingency rate.

Steps for Filing a Lawsuit in Rockville, Maryland

Consultation with your attorney: Before you file a lawsuit in a Rockville, Maryland court, you need to meet and confer with a local lawyer. You lawyer in Rockville, Maryland can advise you on whether or not your lawsuit has merit, and how likely it is to succeed.

Drafting a Complaint: Once you have decided to go through with filing a lawsuit in a Rockville, Maryland court, you need to draft a complaint, with the help of your lawyer. A complaint is usually the first step in actually filing a lawsuit. The complaint is the plaintiff's first opportunity to lay out the allegations against the defendant. If a complaint doesn't allege facts that add up to a valid lawsuit (that is, even if everything alleged in the complaint is true, the defendant has still not committed a legal wrong that the court can compensate), the case will have to be dismissed. When a case is dismissed for this reason, the court usually gives the plaintiff a chance to re-submit the complaint, with the errors corrected.

Serving the Defendant: When you have decided that you want to file a lawsuit in Rockville, Maryland, and have drafted the complaint, your next major step is to file the complaint with the court, and serve it on the defendant. The defendant must be given at least several weeks' notice that they're being sued, and as much time to review the complaint. This is a matter of basic fairness and due process, and allows the defendant to hire a lawyer and get to work on a defense. The law requires that the defendant be served in a few specific ways. The first choice is to give it to them in person. This has to be done by a person who does not have any direct involvement in the lawsuit. If that isn't possible, the defendant can be served by giving the complaint to another adult member of their household; this is called substituted service.

Await The Response: The defendant has a certain amount of time to respond to your lawsuit, once they confirm that they've been served in Rockville, Maryland. The defendant will probably respond with an answer to your complaint. An answer is a document in which the defendant admits or denies the specific factual allegations made by the plaintiff. Typically, the defendant will admit the allegations that are not seriously in dispute (for example, if the lawsuit concerns a car accident, they'll probably admit that an accident did, in fact, take place), but deny the more serious allegations (they'll probably deny that they were responsible for the accident). If the defendant fails to respond within a set period of time, they are in "default," and basically lose the case automatically.

How Can A Rockville, Maryland Tort Lawyer Help?

Filing a lawsuit in a Rockville, Maryland court is a bit more complicated than the basic outline laid out above.

If you have suffered a legal wrong in and decide to sue the person who you believed wronged you, you should consult with a qualified Rockville, Maryland attorney.

Talk to a Law Attorney now!

Life in Rockville

Rockville is located in Montgomery County, Maryland. It has a population of around 61,209 people. The city is surrounded by Gaithersburg and Bethesda.

Top employers include Westat, Human Genome Sciences, Wolpoff Abramson, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin Information Systems, United States Pharmacopeia, J. Craig Venter Institute, BioReliance, and Banner Life.

Some popular attactions include Glenview Mansion, Rockville Mall, and The Music Center at Strathmore.

Many attorneys have established small law offices in Rockville in order to tend to the legal needs or residents, small businesses, and neighboring cities.

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