Litigation Lawyers in Allegheny County

"Civil procedure" in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania is a very broad term, and it refers to the wide variety of rules that control how civil litigation is conducted. It is to be distinguished from substantive law, which governs the rights that civil litigation is meant to vindicate.

The rules of civil procedure in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania are designed to make the process of civil litigation as efficient, affordable, simple, and fair as possible.

Civil litigation in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania is almost never a simple process. So, the rules governing this process can't always be simple, either. Remember, civil procedure covers every single step of the civil litigation process, which can drag on for years.

Major Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The first, and perhaps most important, part of filing a lawsuit in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 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 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 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 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 an Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 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: Although the trial is arguably the most dramatic element of civil procedure in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, it is really extremely rare for civil lawsuits to make it this far. Civil procedure in Allegheny County is designed to encourage early settlement of cases, or dismissal of cases that don't have any legal or factual merit. However, in the rare cases when the case is not dismissed, and the parties can't reach a settlement, the matter will go to trial. A trial is the most visible aspect of civil litigation, and it is the stage when all of the legal and factual questions raised by both parties are resolved by a judge and jury, respectively.

How Can a Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

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

In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, procedural complications can derail an otherwise-valid case. They can also be some of the most obtuse and convoluted issues in the whole case. Thus, you should not go into something like this without the counsel of an attorney.