Steps in a civil lawsuit

General information

This is an outline of the general steps in a typical civil case. Every case is different and this is provided as an overview. Your case may have more or fewer steps.

Your case may also involve attempts to settle before filing a lawsuit. You may want to send a demand letter to the opposing side, letting them know you have a legal claim and inviting them to settle the issue without going to court.

These materials to help you visualize and learn about some possible steps in a lawsuit:

There are a many things to consider before filing your case. See the before starting a civil lawsuit page for more information.

Starting the case

The case (lawsuit) begins when the plaintiff (the person filing the case) goes to court and files a complaint and summons against the defendant(s) (the persons or entities being sued). The complaint explains what remedies the plaintiff wants the court to order which are often monetary damages. However, the plaintiff may seek other remedies such as an injunction to require the defendant to do or stop doing something, a declaratory judgment that decides rights in a situation, etc. The summons tells the defendant that a lawsuit has been filed and the deadline for responding to the complaint. The complaint and summons open a court file and begin the lawsuit. Additional documents will be needed depending on the type of case and the specific requests made.

In most situations the documents that begin a lawsuit must be personally served on the defendant. If certain circumstances are met, the plaintiff can request that the court allow alternative service such as mailing the papers to the defendant or publishing notice of the lawsuit in the newspaper. See the serving court documents page for more information.

Once the case is filed, it is up to the parties to move the case through the court system. Either party can move the case forward. The court will take no action on the case unless you provide the correct paperwork and schedule court time. If the case is inactive in the court system for too long, the court will dismiss your case. The Clerk's Office will mail a letter warning about this dismissal to the addresses on file for the parties.

See the starting a civil lawsuit page for more information.

Responses

The plaintiff is required to wait for a response from the other party. The defendant (the person being sued) has a limited number of days (usually 20) to file a response to the complaint along with other documents that may be needed. The response tells the plaintiff and the court what the two parties agree and disagree about.

See the responding to a civil lawsuit page for more information.

If the defendant does not respond to the case by the time limit, the plaintiff can ask the court for an order of default. This means that the plaintiff can get a court order giving them whatever they requested in the complaint because the defendant didn’t act. 

See the default judgment page for more information.

Pretrial motions and hearings

Either party can file motions, which are formal requests asking the court to make a ruling or issue an order. They are designed to resolve specific questions before a full court trial on all of the issues occurs. There can be considerable strategy involved in the use of motions.

Two common uses for motions are to ask for orders to be in place while the case is moving through the court system, or for orders involving the procedure of case.

Sometimes there is a need to ask for orders to be in place while the case is moving through the system, as it takes time to get to trial or to resolve the case through a settlement between the parties. One example is a motion for a preliminary injunction asking to preserve the status quo where there would be irreparable harm without an injunction.

There may also be a need for motions to address the procedure of the case, such as involving scheduling, evidence, or other court procedure. An example of a motion about scheduling is a motion for continuance to postpone the trial date if the party needs more time to gather evidence or the parties are negotiating a settlement. Examples of motions about evidence include motions in limine to exclude certain evidence or motions to compel if a party is not producing requested evidence. Examples of motions about court procedure include motions to dismiss the case, motions for summary judgment on claims when there is no genuine issue of material fact, or motions to strike a pleading or a piece of evidence.

If a party files a pretrial motion, they would also schedule a hearing so the judge can hear from both sides on the issues in the motion and make a decision. Hearings are brief, formal court proceedings as opposed to trial or arbitration where the final decision is made and the parties present all of their evidence.

See the hearings page for more information.

Collecting evidence (discovery)

After a lawsuit is filed, both parties can use various methods to gather information about the case. A variety of tools can be used to investigate the facts and the other side's position, and gather information to help move towards settlement or prepare for trial.

See the collecting evidence (discovery) page for more information.

Reaching a settlement 

After both parties have filed and served their documents it is up to the parties to try to come to an agreement (reach a settlement). Working out a resolution to their case removes the uncertainty of a trial or arbitration. If they do settle the case, they prepare the documents to finalize their case or dismiss their case and the court can issue final orders to reflect their agreement.

If the parties do not agree it may be possible to have a settlement conference with a judge to help resolve issues. A judge’s perspective can be helpful for parties to learn what is realistic for their situation.

See the settlement page for more information.

Going to trial or arbitration

If the parties do not reach a settlement, the lawsuit will proceed to trial or arbitration. The parties are responsible for filing the paperwork necessary to tell the court that they are ready for this step. The basic process of a trial or arbitration includes:

  • Each party offers an opening statement, explaining their side of the case.
  • Each side presents its evidence, and calling witnesses to testify. The plaintiff goes first.
  • Each side has the opportunity to question witnesses called by the other side (this is called cross-examination).
  • Each side offers a closing argument after all the testimony and evidence has been presented.
  • The judge or arbitrator considers all the information and makes a decision.

See the during a trial page for more information.

Finishing the case

To finish a case after trial or arbitration, the parties need to schedule a hearing, prepare the paperwork necessary to finalize the case, and provide these for the judge to sign. These final orders show the court's official decisions and would include a resolution of all of the issues in the case. Once the final orders are signed and entered into the file, along with any other documents needed, the case is resolved.

If the case requires one party to pay the other party money, it is up to the party who is owed the money (the creditor) to get the money from the person owing the money (the debtor). The court does not pursue collection on behalf of creditors.

See the after a trial page for more information.

Appealing a decision

Even though a case has been finalized, it may be possible to appeal a judge’s decision within a certain timeframe. A case should not be thought of as completely done until the time period for this has passed. There usually must be a legal basis for the appeal -- an alleged material error in the trial and not just the fact that the losing party didn't agree with the verdict.

See the appealing a decision page for more information.