1. Civil Cases
Chapter 16 Section 1

2. Civil Cases
Plaintiff claims to have suffered a loss or injury and seeks damages/$$$$
Defendant argues that either loss or injury didn’t occur or is not their fault
Negligence- loss, damage, injury, or death due to someone else being careless
Lawsuit- legal action when a party sues to collect damages from harm that is done

3. Process of Civil Suit Complaint Summons Plaintiff files a complaint
Complaint- statement naming the
plaintiff and defendant and describing the lawsuit
Summons
Defendant is sent a summons
Summons- court document announcing that the defendant is being sued and sets a date and time for appearance in court

5. Civil Procedure Continued
Answer
Defendant’s lawyer may respond and file an answer
Answer- admit to the charges or offer reasons why the defendant is not responsible
Pleadings
Lawyers obtain the pleadings
Pleadings- complaint and answer

6. Process cont Discovery Pre-Trial
Discovery- lawyers for each side check facts, gather evidence, question witnesses, etc.
Pre-Trial
May decide to drop case if it looks weak, or proceed if it looks strong
Settlement - Chose one of the following options
May reach a settlement
Settlement- both parties agree on a amount of money the defendant will pay to the plaintiff
May decide on mediation
Mediation- both parties present their argument and a trained mediator helps them come up with a solution
May use arbitration
Arbitration- both parties present their argument to a professional arbitrator who acts a judge and resolves the dispute
May use small claims court
Small Claims Court- civil court used for smaller amounts of money, no lawyers or jury
May decide to go to trial

7. Process cont NOTE: MOST CASES END HERE AND DO NOT GO TO TRIAL!! Trial
Both sides present their argument to a judge (or jury if the desire)
Plaintiff only has to present a “preponderance of evidence”
Means plaintiff must convince the judge/jury that the defendant “more likely then not” was responsible for the incident

8. Process cont Verdict If the plaintiff wins… If the defendant wins…
Judge/jury considers the case and decides on a verdict in favor of one party
If the plaintiff wins…
A remedy is set
Remedy- payment for damages or injury the defendant must pay the plaintiff
If the defendant wins…
The plaintiff gets nothing and must pay court costs for both sides

9. Process cont
Appeal
The losing party may choose to appeal if errors were made or injustice took place (most usually do)
Appeals are a long and tedious process
Winning plaintiffs may have to wait years before seeing any money

10. Types of Civil Cases Personal Injury Tort Property Consumer Housing
Physical and emotional pain and suffering (negligence)
Property
Damage to property, disagreement over ownership of property
Consumer
Legal agreements and contracts between buyers and sellers
Housing
Landlords vs. tenants
Domestic
Family relationships such as divorce, child custody, child support, etc.
Probate
Wills, division of estate of the deceased