Litigation Lawyers in Lake Forest Park

Residents of Lake Forest Park, Washington who suffer legal wrongs are normally legally entitled to compensation for harm they incurred as a result. This compensation is normally obtained by filing a lawsuit.

If you wish to file a lawsuit, there are many things you need to consider, and the decision to sue someone should not be made without the counsel of a Lake Forest Park, Washington civil litigation attorney.

Once you have hired an attorney in Lake Forest Park, Washington, he or she will be able to help you devise a strategy on how to proceed, which will hopefully maximize your chances of success in your lawsuit. Your lawyer can also give you a rough idea of how much the lawsuit is likely to cost, taking into account court fees, expert witness fees, and other costs.

Steps for Filing a Lawsuit in Lake Forest Park, Washington

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

Drafting The Complaint: Once you decide that pursuing a lawsuit in Lake Forest Park, Washington civil court is worth your time and effort, you need to file a complaint. The complaint can set the tone, and frame the issues, for the rest of the litigation process, which can drag on for months, or even years (and decades, in some cases). This is because the complaint lays out all the allegations against the defendant. It also normally asks the court for specific relief, should it rule in the plaintiff's favor.

Serving The Defendant: After you draft your complaint, and file it with the court, you have to let the defendant know that they're being sued. The law of Lake Forest Park, Washington requires that the defendant be given advance notice of the lawsuit as a matter of basic fairness: if you were being sued, you'd want to be given time to find a lawyer and prepare your defense strategy, right? So, with that in mind, the law prefers that defendants be served personally, typically through the use of a paid process server.

Await The Response: The defendant has a specific amount of time to respond to your lawsuit, once they confirm that they've been served in Lake Forest Park, Washington. 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. Usually, 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 specific period of time, they are in "default," and basically lose the case automatically.

How Can A Lake Forest Park, Washington Tort Lawyer Help?

As you can see, it can be a complex and difficult process to file a lawsuit in Lake Forest Park, Washington, and it is, in fact, much more complex than the basic outline you just read.

If you have suffered a legal wrong in and decide to sue the person who you believed wronged you, you should talk with a qualified Lake Forest Park, Washington attorney.