Litigation Lawyers in Grand Rapids

"Civil procedure" refers to the wide variety of rules that govern the process of civil litigation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. 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 Rapids, Minnesota'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.

Civil litigation, however, is inherently confusing. So, there is no getting around the fact that the civil procedure rules in Grand Rapids, Minnesota are also going to be somewhat intricate and obtuse (or at least parts of them are). Remember, these rules govern every single thing that happens in a civil lawsuit, from the first complaint, to the last appeal.

Major Grand Rapids, Minnesota Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The first, and perhaps most important, part of filing a lawsuit in Grand Rapids, Minnesota is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Grand Rapids, Minnesota 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: After the plaintiff files the complaint, the defendant has to act. While they have a few options at this stage of the game, most defendants elect to file an answer. The answer is the defendant's first direct response to the plaintiff's allegations. Sometimes, the answer contains a general denial, in which the defendant simply denies everything the plaintiff alleges. It might also contain a point-by-point addressing of every allegation the plaintiff makes, denying some, and admitting some.

Discovery: Once the complaint and answer have been filed in a Grand Rapids, Minnesota 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 Grand Rapids, Minnesota to go to trial. Grand Rapids's civil procedure rules truly discourage trials, and alternatively 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 Grand Rapids, Minnesota Lawyer Help?

If you're suing someone, or are being sued, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, dealing with issues of civil procedure is going to be a fact of life for quite some time.

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