Litigation Lawyers in Grand Haven

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

Grand Haven, Michigan's government strives to make the civil justice system fair, efficient, and accessible. The rules of civil procedure are designed to advocate those goals, to the greatest extent possible.

Grand Haven, Michigan's civil procedure rules can get pretty intricate, however. They regulate every aspect of a civil action, from the filing of the complaint, to discovery, and all the way through trial and appeals.

Major Grand Haven, Michigan Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The first, and perhaps most important, part of filing a lawsuit in Grand Haven, Michigan is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Grand Haven, 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). Typically, but not always, the end of the complaint will contain a "prayer for relief." The prayer for relief is simply 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 typically the first document that the defendant files, and it is meant to serve as a direct response to the plaintiff's complaint. It typically 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 both sides have fired their opening volleys in the form of the complaint and answer, the next process in civil litigation in Grand Haven, Michigan is discovery. Under the civil procedure rules of most jurisdictions in the U.S., each side of a lawsuit is required by law to disclose relevant information to the other side. These disclosures come in the form of depositions, the production of documents, and answers to written questions submitted by opposing counsel.

Trial: It is truly quite rare for civil lawsuits in Grand Haven, Michigan to go to trial, since the rules of civil procedure in Grand Haven strongly encourage early resolution to cases by dismissal of lawsuits that have no merit, and negotiated settlement of those that do. However, when neither of those things happen, the case goes to trial. This is when a judge and jury decide the questions of law and fact, respectively, raised in the case. The jury then issues a verdict, based on the evidence presented to them.

How Can a Grand Haven, Michigan Lawyer Help?

If you're facing a lawsuit in Grand Haven, Michigan whether as the plaintiff or defendant, you will have to deal with your jurisdiction's civil procedure rules.

Because the rules of civil procedure in Grand Haven, Michigan are intricate, it's smart to have the counsel of an efficient attorney through every step of the process.