Litigation Lawyers in Gainesville

"Civil procedure" in Gainesville, Texas is a very broad term, and it refers to the wide variety of rules that regulate how civil litigation is done. It is to be distinguished from substantive law, which controls the rights that civil litigation is meant to vindicate.

Gainesville, Texas's government strives to make the civil justice system fair, efficient, and accessible. The rules of civil procedure are designed to promote those goals, to the greatest extent possible.

Gainesville, Texas's civil procedure rules can get pretty perplexing, 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 Gainesville, Texas Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The initial, and perhaps most significant, part of filing a lawsuit in Gainesville, Texas is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Gainesville, Texas 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). Usually, but not always, the end of the complaint will contain a "prayer for relief." The prayer for relief is just 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 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 reasons 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 shown, 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 procedure in civil litigation in Gainesville, Texas is discovery. Under the civil procedure rules of most jurisdictions in the U.S., each side of a lawsuit is obligated 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: Although the trial is arguably the most dramatic element of civil procedure in Gainesville, Texas, it is actually very rare for civil lawsuits to make it this far. Civil procedure in Gainesville is designed to encourage early settlement of cases, or dismissal of cases that don't have any legal or factual merit. Nonetheless, 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 Gainesville, Texas Lawyer Help?

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

The rules of civil procedure in Gainesville, Texas are not always simple or intuitive. With that in mind, it's very important to have a reputable attorney on your side, to help you through the process.