There are generally a few phases to each civil case but the length of each depends on your attorney's strategy and the opposing side's willingness to cooperate. These phases include:
NEGOTIATION PHASE
Most cases are completed during the negotiation phase in the form of a settlement, mediation or arbitration.
- Settlement: is an informal form of negotiation where a case is usually settled before a lawsuit is filed. Legal fees are usually lower during this phase as there is no risk of a negative ruling from a judge or jury.
- Mediation: is generally court ordered in Superior Court (high dollar amount) case. The parties usually sit in separate rooms and the mediator travels between each room to try to reach common ground. If no agreement is reached, the parties move to a bench or jury trial.
- Arbitration: is court ordered in District Court (low dollar amount) cases. A neutral attorney hears each side's argument and makes a ruling. This ruling becomes a court order if neither side appeals it and you can, therefore, forgo trial.
LITIGATION PHASE
If the negotiation phase does not grant you the relief in which you were expecting, you must file a lawsuit. Once you have filed a lawsuit you have reached the litigation phase which includes:
- Discovery: Each side will ask the other a series of questions to gather more information about the case. Sometimes a settlement is reached once each party sees what they're up against.
- Hearings: Motions are generally filed to keep certain evidence out and to resolve the case without a trial. The court will hear each side's evidence in a "hearing" before ruling on these motions.
- Bench or Jury Trial: A trial is your final opportunity to convince a judge or jury that you were wronged. The length of the trial depends on the number of witnesses each side will question. In my experience, most trials last between 1-3 days. Remember, the final ruling in your trial is binding unless you appeal it to a higher court.
POST-JUDGMENT PHASE
So you've won your trial!! Now, you must find out how to collect the money. In the post-judgment phase, you must search for the losing party's property, assets, and real estate to sell if they do not pay the judgment you've won.
- Execution of Property: While the losing party will be permitted to keep some of their property, the non-exempt property can be seized by the sheriff to satisfy their debt to you.
- Other Post-Judgment Motions: Once you have received an order requiring the losing party to pay you, they may still refuse to pay. You may then file a Motion to Show Cause and Motion for Contempt where they face jail time and fines if there is no valid reason why they have failed to pay.
