California business litigation is a long and complicated process. It is important to have an experienced litigator assess your case and review your lawsuit complaint to ensure that the process is done correctly from the start. This blog post goes over the process, and how an experienced California business litigation attorney can protect your company’s legal interests.
The Stages of Business Litigation
The first step in business litigation is to prepare a California business lawsuit complaint and file it with the appropriate court. The complaint should specify the exact legal harm that has been suffered and the relief sought by the plaintiff. This will generally take the form of an estimate of the financial damages suffered as a result of the legal harm. Once the complaint has been filed, the lawsuit has officially started. The complaint must then be served upon the opposing party. That party has a short window in which to file an official response to the complaint. If they fail to do so, the complaining party may ask the court for a summary judgment to get their requested relief. The vast majority of defendants answer lawsuits in a timely manner. Summary judgments on service grounds are, therefore, rare. Once an answer has been filed, the next phase of the lawsuit begins.
The next step in a lawsuit is usually the discovery process. This is a highly-regulated phase of gathering evidence in the form of documents, depositions, written interrogatories, and other types of evidence. Both sides make official requests, to which the other side must respond in a correct form and manner. Failure to do so allows the requesting party to ask the court for sanctions against the party who failed to respond appropriately. As evidence comes to light during the discovery phase, the case becomes more clear, and this allows many litigants to settle their cases with the other party. If the parties do not settle, the case proceeds through all preliminary pretrial matters such as scheduling, evidentiary objections, and any legal motions a party chooses to make. Ultimately, a trial date is scheduled. Upon the conclusion of the trial, a judgment is issued by the court. The parties may, with appropriate grounds, appeal the judgment in whole or in part.
California Business Case Assessment: Contact Our Attorneys for Your Business Litigation Needs
Trust the experience of Structure Law Group’s skilled business litigation attorneys. Our highly professional team can help your business resolve contract disputes, intellectual property conflicts, employment disputes, real estate matters, and many other types of business disputes. Call (408) 441-7500 or email slgadmin@structurelaw.com to schedule your consultation with an experienced California business litigation attorney.