Lawsuits: Civil Cases Part 1

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Author’s Note: The article below is a chapter or excerpt from the book “Law, Lawyers and Your Case: A Dollars and Sense Examination” (2003, Graduate Group*). Please also be sure to read the very important and limiting disclaimer at the end of this article. David Dixon Lentz, Author. It is being republished here because much if not most of it remains valid and true today. This article/blog appearing in www.reasonandbalance.com is subject to Copyright 2021 and 2003. David Dixon Lentz. All Rights Reserved. .

[In an earlier blog on courts we describe what a “Court of Record” and a “Lower Court” is. However:

If you live in Virginia, in the Commonwealth’s (that is, the state’s) court system, the Lower Courts are the General District Court and/or the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The Circuit Court is the Court of Record. The Virginia Supreme Court and the Virginia Court of Appeals are appellate courts. The United States District Court in the federal system is a Court of Record and the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (much like the United States Supreme Court) is an appellate Court.]

[* Unfortunately, the Graduate Group has since gone out of business and therefore ceased publication]]

COURT CASES: Understanding Civil Cases Part I.

The author, David D. Lentz, is an attorney who practices law in Richmond, Virginia. You can find out more about him at http://www.davidlentzlaw.com

This is the first part. With 2 parts to follow.

[This article is only for very generalized informational purposes and is not intended to provide and does not provide particularized legal advice to anyone in a particular case. In part, this is because this article may not cite current law in all jurisdictions. All readers must consult a licensed lawyer in his/her jurisdiction in order to obtain proper legal guidance.]

The Procedure; Civil Cases.

Suppose that a state legislature passed a law that stated as follows: “ John shall win his lawsuit against Jane and obtain a judgment for $1,000 against her provided that John follows all of the procedural rules necessary to obtain a judgment against Jane.” In other words, the substantive law says that John is entitled to a judgment against Jane for $1,000. Under the statute, all that John has to do in order to obtain this judgment is to satisfy the court’s procedural requirements. In short, the substantive law is on John’s side and he feels that his cause is justified.

Suppose further, however, that John goes to a lawyer and discovers that the procedural requirements of the case are such that John would have to spend $800 to hire an expert witness to testify on his behalf. In addition, John learns that he will have to pay his lawyer an additional $400 to help him satisfy these requirements. Suppose that he also discovers that Jane cannot be compelled to pay his attorney’s fees and costs even if he wins. To add to this, John further learns that the court’s docket is crowded and that it will take a year to resolve the case. Moreover, John does not feel competent enough to handle the case himself. Under these circumstances, John may feel very differently than he did after he first read the statute that seemed so favorable to him. In fact, there is a good chance that he won’t even bother to bring the suit because the cost of doing so exceeds his expected recovery.

Suppose further, however, that the lawyer says that he “thinks, but he’s not sure” that he can satisfy the court’s procedural requirements even if he doesn’t use an expert witness. He adds, however, that this will only give John a 75 percent chance of convincing a court that he’s satisfied the court’s procedural requirements because the rule on the necessity for the expert witness is not totally clear in John’s case. Would John’s attitude be any different? The answer is probably yes because “the numbers” appear to be a little more favorable to John. This is because he’s dramatically cut his costs and he still has a greater likelihood of winning than he does of losing. In other words, he is more likely to make money by suing Jane than he is of losing money by doing so.

The point of the foregoing example is to show the critical importance of procedure. Cases do arise where one party feels that the law is on his side and that he has a strong case against the other party insofar as the substantive rights and liabilities of the parties are concerned. The example above, however, illustrates that sometimes the procedural requirements of a case can have as much effect on the outcome of a case as the substantive law itself. This is because procedure affects time, money and decision-making. It can also affect the probable outcome of the case even if it goes to trial. Naturally, not all cases present situations where the procedural requirements totally overwhelm all other considerations and thus frustrate the “ends of justice”. But it does happen.

Consequently, the purpose of this chapter is to give you a general outline of the procedural rules that pertain to civil law suits. Hopefully it will enhance your case decision-making capabilities. When reading the following consider the effect of each procedure on the amount of time it will take to resolve your case, and, just as importantly, the cost involved.

Civil Litigation.

As previously noted, for purposes of this book, civil litigation includes any matter in which no one faces the possibility of imprisonment or of being criminally fined by the federal, state or local government. It includes any case that is not either a criminal or a traffic case. In other words, civil litigation includes any case where one party is suing another party for some form of relief. This includes cases in which one party is suing another party for money damages, such as in personal injury, medical malpractice and products liability cases. It also includes breach of contract cases, divorces, child custody and support cases, discrimination cases, construction contract cases, insurance cases, consumer protection cases, landlord-tenant cases, contests over wills and estates and any case where a court is being asked to divide property or to determine title to it. It also includes any business or commercial litigation. It even includes cases in which the state or federal government is suing or being sued in which no one faces the possibility of being imprisoned or criminally fined. Suits in which one party is asking a court to require another party to do, or not to do, something by way of injunction or by suit for specific performance are also included in the definition of civil litigation. Naturally, there are also other types of civil cases.

The Parties.

In its simplest form, a civil law suit involves two parties, a plaintiff and a defendant. The plaintiff files the suit and requests the court to grant him some form of relief. Often the plaintiff requests the court to award him a judgment against the defendant for a certain amount of money damages. As noted, however, the plaintiff can request other types of relief such as a divorce, support, an injunction requiring one party to do or not to do something or an order determining the rights of the parties to certain property.

Depending on the nature of the relief sought and the type of lawsuit that is involved, plaintiffs in various jurisdictions are also called or known by other names, such as “complainants” and/or “petitioners”. This is typically true in child custody cases, divorce cases, estate cases and in cases filed in “equity” or “chancery” in which the status of the parties or the title to property is to be determined. To simplify matters, however, for purposes of this book all complainants, petitioners and other parties who initiate or start a lawsuit will be referred to simply as “plaintiffs”.

Similarly parties being sued are often known by various names other than “defendants”. For example, they are often called “respondents”. However, for purposes of this book, all respondents and other persons who have been sued will be called “defendants”.

As will be seen below in the section on counterclaims, cross-claims and third-party practice, in more complex litigation, persons named in a lawsuit can act in several different capacities. In other words, they can be both a plaintiff and a defendant within the same lawsuit. Moreover, if new parties are brought into a lawsuit by a defendant they can be known as “third-party defendants”. All of this will be discussed more fully below.

Sometimes, especially in cases involving the status of a person, cases are styled in one name only. In these cases, the name (or style) of the suit may be “In re: John Q. Brinkman” (if the case concerns John Q. Brinkman). These cases normally seek to have the status or rights of the named person determined. Alternatively, they may seek to establish the rights of other parties with respect to that person. For example, such cases often involve petitions to change someone’s name or to determine one’s mental capacity. Bankruptcy cases are also styled in the debtor’s name in this manner.

The Filing of a Law Suit by the Plaintiff; the Complaint.

All civil lawsuits whether filed in a Lower Court or in a Court of Record are started when the plaintiff files a pleading or paper setting forth a claim against the defendant for some type of relief. As noted, sometimes this claim can request a money judgment against the defendant. It may also request “equitable” relief such as a division of jointly owned property or an order requiring the defendant to do or to refrain from doing something. It may also request other relief, such as a divorce, against the defendant. This written request for the court to grant a judgment, order or some other relief is known by a variety of names depending upon the state or the court in which the lawsuit is filed. It may be called a “complaint”, a “motion for judgment”, a “bill of complaint”, a “petition”, a “warrant” or it may be called a variety of other names. For example, a child custody or a child support case is usually started by filing a petition in a juvenile court. For purposes of this book, however, and regardless of whether a case is filed in a Lower Court or in a Court of Record, all pleadings that start a lawsuit and which are served on the defendant will be referred to as a “complaint”.

The Importance of the Complaint.

The plaintiff’s complaint must set forth a brief statement of the facts and the legal theories upon which the plaintiff intends to rely in requesting the court to grant him a judgment or some other form of legal relief. In other words, the complaint sets forth the basis upon which plaintiff’s case will be heard. It must provide the defendant with reasonably fair notice of what the plaintiff’s claims are so that the defendant has a fair opportunity to respond and to prepare any defense that he might have. In this regard, the complaint must set forth some violation of the plaintiff’s rights or some breach of some duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff. For example, plaintiffs in divorce cases will often allege that the defendant was guilty of physical and mental cruelty. The complaint also usually contains a statement of when the events giving rise to the case took place. For example, in a personal injury case, the plaintiff’s complaint will typically allege that the defendant negligently operated his motor vehicle on a certain date at a certain intersection and that he therefore collided with the plaintiff thereby causing the plaintiff to sustain personal injuries. In any event, if the complaint does not contain sufficient information so as to set forth a legally recognized claim upon which a court can grant relief, there is a possibility that the case will be dismissed, if not permanently, then at least temporarily.

The complaint is very important because it sets forth the basis upon which the trial will be conducted. In other words, facts or evidence that are not relevant to the facts and legal theories set forth in the complaint (no matter how meritorious or valid they are) will not be considered by the court at trial. Consequently, if a basis for relief is not set forth in the complaint, it will not be considered at trial because the defendant will not be deemed to have been given sufficiently fair notice of the claim so as to allow him time to prepare a defense. Thus, if the plaintiff files a complaint and omits certain claims or does not provide fair notice of the facts on which he intends to rely, he will not be allowed to later change his mind at trial and make claims based upon facts or legal theories that he did not originally include in the complaint. For example, if the plaintiff seeks recovery against the defendant on the grounds of negligence, he will not be allowed to go to trial and show that the defendant also breached a contract unless the court grants him permission to amend his complaint prior to trial to allege the breach of contract. In essence, the complaint is the foundation of the lawsuit. If the foundation has cracks in it then the suit is likely to crumble and fall.

Jurisdiction.

A court cannot render a valid and enforceable judgment unless it has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the suit. Subject matter jurisdiction deals with the power of the court to consider the claims made in the complaint and to render the judgment sought. For example, Lower Courts typically cannot hear cases in which judgments in excess of their jurisdictional limits are sought. Thus, and depending on the state, Lower Courts do not typically have subject matter jurisdiction to hear cases where the amount sued for is $50,000. In other words, if the plaintiff seeks a large monetary judgment, he must typically sue in the Court of Record. Also, certain specialized courts have jurisdiction to hear only certain cases. For example, a juvenile court may only have jurisdiction to hear juvenile delinquency, child abuse, child custody and child support cases, but it may not have jurisdiction to hear medical malpractice cases, or even divorce cases in many instances. Also, federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction to hear only cases involving federal law and cases where the parties are from different states (provided that the case also satisfies the amount in controversy requirements of federal law).

In addition to the foregoing, before a judgment may be rendered against any defendant, the court in which the case is filed must also have personal jurisdiction over the defendant. This is so that he can be validly served with legal process that requires him to respond to the suit if he wants to protect his rights. (Having said this, there are limited situations in which a court is said to exercise in rem jurisdiction to determine the status of or the title to something where personal jurisdiction over the defendant may not be necessary. That is a subject, however, that is beyond the scope of this book.)

A court of a state has jurisdiction over defendants who reside in the state in which it sits. Nonresident defendants including nonresident individuals and corporations pose potential difficulties here. If a defendant is a nonresident of the state in which the case is filed, then the defendant must have, at least, a sufficient amount of “minimum contacts” with that state in order to make it fair to require him to appear and defend himself in the case. In order to satisfy the minimum contacts requirement for jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant, it is usually necessary for the defendant to have had some presence in or connection with the state where the case is filed. A nonresident’s ownership of real estate in the state where a case is filed is usually one example of sufficient minimum contacts to give a court jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. In addition, jurisdiction over a nonresident is also almost always proper if a nonresident defendant committed the wrongful act in the state where the case is filed. For nonresident defendants who are either corporations or businesses, having minimum contacts normally means that they must have done business, or at least solicited business, in the state where the case is filed.

Regardless, however, of whether the defendant is a resident or a nonresident of the state where the case is filed, in order for a court to effectuate its jurisdictional power over the defendant it is necessary for the plaintiff to have the defendant “served with process” before his lawsuit can go forward. In other words, a court can do nothing in a case until the defendant is served with process.

Service of Process: Getting a Defendant to Court.

Upon the filing of the complaint by the plaintiff with the clerk of the appropriate court a lawsuit is formally started. Plaintiffs who file suit must also, however, pay the appropriate fees to the clerk to file the case and to have the local sheriff, a private process server or an otherwise qualified person serve “process” upon the defendant. The process papers that are served normally consist of a copy of the complaint along with a command issued by the court that the defendant appear or file a response within a certain period of time. The process papers also normally state that if the defendant does not do so he will suffer an adverse judgment (which is usually known as a default judgment). These papers are served on the defendant because every defendant has a constitutional right to notice and opportunity to be heard. If process is not properly served, under applicable law, the defendant is under no duty to appear or to respond to a lawsuit. In other words, if the defendant is not given proper notice and opportunity to be heard, a valid judgment cannot be entered against him.

The rules as to what constitutes proper service of process are fairly complex and beyond the scope of this book. Briefly, however, defendants must be personally and physically given service by the sheriff or by some other person qualified to serve process. If the defendant cannot be personally served, many times, it is permissible to serve the defendant by having the sheriff give the process papers to an adult who lives at the defendant’s residence. If no one is present when service of process is attempted at the defendant’s residence, then service can often be effectuated by “posting” or tacking the court papers to the front door of the defendant’s residence. Under these circumstances, however, the plaintiff is may also required to mail a copy of the complaint to the plaintiff at the plaintiff’s home address. After one of these methods of service is obtained, the sheriff or other qualified process server must then file a certificate with the court informing the court as to the manner in which he effectuated service.

With respect to out-of-state individual defendants, service of process is usually effectuated by having the complaint served on the secretary of state or on the department of motor vehicles of the state in which the case is filed with accompanying affidavits showing the defendant’s out-of-state address. These state officials then mail the complaint to the defendant in his home state. This process is not valid, however, if the defendant does not have the sufficient “minimum contacts” that were noted above with the state in which he is being sued.

Usually, service of process on any general partner of a partnership is sufficient service for purposes of suing a partnership. Service of process on corporations and limited liability companies is usually proper if a qualified process server (for example, the sheriff) serves that corporation’s or company’s “registered agent” or president. This is true for both resident and non-resident corporations and businesses. The names and addresses of registered agents and presidents for corporations and businesses qualified to do business within a particular state are normally kept at the governmental department, agency or commission charged with that responsibility in the state where the case will be filed. If a non-resident corporation or company is not qualified to do business in the state where the case will be filed information may not be available as to whom to serve. A discussion of what to do in this situation or of how to serve a governmental entity named as a defendant in a civil suit is beyond the scope of this book.

Hard to Find Defendants; Service by Order of Publication.

In some instances, service of process can be made on the defendant by publishing a notice in the newspaper. Usually these newspaper notices state that the defendant has been sued or that he is a party to a lawsuit. They also typically give a brief description of what the suit is about. This type of service is usually valid, however, only if the address or whereabouts of the defendant are unknown and a certificate or affidavit to that effect is filed with the court after reasonable attempts have been made to locate the defendant. This process is called service by order of publication, because the plaintiff normally has to seek a court order allowing him to serve the defendant in this manner.

Service by order of publication, however, is not permitted in all cases where the location of the defendant cannot be determined. Service by order of publication is usually not permissible where the plaintiff is requesting a judgment for money damages against the defendant such as in a personal injury case. Service by order of publication is more likely to be permissible if the status of a party or the legal title to something within the state where the case is filed is in question. Thus, divorce cases and cases involving the rights of parties to real estate or to a decedent’s estate are the cases in which order of publication are most likely to be permissible. In other words, many times estranged spouses or distant relatives of parties who have died or who have some interest in real estate (the title to which is in dispute or which must be sold) are notified of their right to appear in court to assert their rights by order of publication if their address is not otherwise known.

In any event, this is one reason why it is wise to periodically look in the legal notices section of a newspaper. This is because if an order of publication is a proper means of service, it does not matter that the defendant did not see or read the advertisement about the case in the newspaper. If the advertisement is properly put in the newspaper, the defendant is nevertheless deemed to be validly served and will be bound by what happens in the case regardless of whether he appears in court and defends himself or not.

Some Final Comments About Service of Process.

Suffice it to say that service must be made in accordance with specified procedures, otherwise a valid judgment cannot be entered against the defendant. Having said this, however, defendants who have actual knowledge of a lawsuit are well advised in most instances to seek the advice of a lawyer before choosing not to respond to a lawsuit even if they have not received proper service of process. This is because there may be instances in which “actual notice” is sufficient service of process in order for a court to render a judgment against a defendant. Moreover, a defendant generally cannot claim that he did not actually receive service of process if the sheriff or other qualified process server has filed an appropriate certificate with the court setting forth that he has followed one of the appropriate means of serving process (such as by “posting” or by giving the process papers to an adult living with the defendant). In other words, if process is validly served a valid judgment can be entered because it usually is no defense that the defendant didn’t receive actual notice of the case.

The Defendant’s Duty to Respond.

Once the defendant has been deemed to have been validly served with process, he has a legal duty to respond within the time required by law. How he must respond, however, depends on the court in which he has been sued and the applicable rules of procedure for that court. If the defendant does not respond in a timely and proper manner, a judgment may be entered against him without any further notice of the proceedings and without the benefit of a trial! Such a judgment is known as a “default judgment” and there is rarely anything that the defendant can do about such a judgment no matter how valid any of his excuses or defenses would have been had he appeared and contested the case. (Some Lower Courts, however, do permit defendants to appeal default judgments to a Court of Record if the defendant does so within the period permitted for appeals.)

Consequently, any defendant who is served with a complaint must take immediate action. A defendant who is served with a complaint should immediately: (1.) Determine what the deadline is for filing a responsive pleading so as to avoid having a default judgment entered against him; and (2.) make sure that either he or his attorney makes an appearance or files a responsive pleading before the applicable deadline. (The defendant’s response is discussed further below.) Moreover, in cases where the defendant is covered by liability, automobile, homeowners, hazard, errors and omissions or other insurance (including employer or business-related insurance) it is also extremely important for the defendant to notify his insurance company of the lawsuit. (This last point was discussed in more detail in previous chapters.)

In any event, how a defendant is required to respond to a lawsuit in a Lower Court may be different than it is in a Court of Record. Moreover, how the defendant must respond is also dependent on the manner in which he wants to contest the case. These matters are discussed in the following sections.

Responses by the Defendant to the Complaint in Courts of Record.

The following sections discuss the defendant’s possible responses if the plaintiff’s case is filed in a Court of Record.

The Defendant’s Answer.

In cases filed in a Court of Record, if the defendant wants to contest the merits of the allegations in the complaint, then he usually must file a written “answer”. (The defendant’s response is also known as a “grounds of defense” in some states. It may also have other names but, for purposes of this book, any pleading contesting the merits instead of any procedural deficiencies of the plaintiff’s complaint will be referred to as an answer.) In most jurisdictions, the defendant must file his answer within 20 or 21 days after he receives service of process of the complaint. If the defendant does not file an answer or some other legally adequate responsive pleading within this time period, a judgment by default may be entered against him without any trial.

Generally, an answer contests the merits of the plaintiff’s case by denying the most important allegations made by the plaintiff in the complaint. For example, the defendant’s answer in a divorce case may deny that he is guilty of adultery or cruelty. By the same token a defendant in a breach of contract case will often deny that he breached the contract.

In addition, or alternatively, the defendant may allege “affirmative defenses” in his answer. Affirmative defenses are allegations that state that even if what the plaintiff says is true, the plaintiff is still not entitled to a judgment because of other facts which may or may not have been mentioned in the plaintiff’s complaint. For example, an allegation that the plaintiff did not bring his suit within the time required under the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense that, if true, would bar the plaintiff’s claim. Another affirmative defense, in many personal injury cases, is that the plaintiff is barred from recovery because he was contributorily negligent. Still another affirmative defense is that the plaintiff was reckless and assumed the risk of injury and, because of this, should be barred from recovery. Yet another affirmative defense typically found in breach of contract cases is waiver. A defendant who raises a waiver defense is basically alleging that the plaintiff should not be allowed to enforce the contract because he did not do so in the past when other similar violations of the contract occurred. Suffice it to say that the list of possible affirmative defenses is long.

The Importance of the Answer.

What was said about the complaint is equally true of the answer. Again, the policy of the law is that both sides to a suit are supposed to be advised, well in advance of trial, of what the other side intends to prove or disprove. This is so that both parties have time to subpoena the appropriate documents and witnesses to appear before the court. The complaint and the answer provide this notice function. Thus, the defendant must be sure to state all of his defenses in his answer. If he does not do so, the defendant runs the risk of not being able to rely upon facts and evidence at trial that are relevant to any omitted defenses. This is true regardless of how meritorious or valid the omitted defenses are.

Special Motions, Pleas and Objections by the Defendant in Response to the Complaint.

If the defendant wants to contest the propriety of certain procedural aspects of the case such as jurisdiction, venue, or the validity of service of process, he can also effectively respond to the plaintiff’s complaint by filing a special plea or motion. Thus, for example, special motions or pleas can be filed alleging that the court has no jurisdiction over the defendant, that service of process was not proper or that the city or county in which the case is filed is not correct. This latter plea is known as a special plea objecting to venue. All such motions and objections require that a hearing be held before trial to determine whether they should be granted or sustained. Great care, however, should be taken before the defendant files an answer contesting the merits of the plaintiff’s case if a defendant intends to file any of these special pleas or motions. Sometimes, the filing of an answer by the defendant contesting the merits of a case will constitute a waiver by the defendant of these procedural objections. In any event, great care must always be taken to assure that the defendant files something that under the rules of the court in question constitutes an effective “responsive pleading” (whether it’s an answer and/or a special plea or motion) so that he avoids a default judgment.

At this point, one defensive motion is worthy of special note. If the defendant feels that the plaintiff’s complaint would not, as a matter of law, entitle the plaintiff to a judgment then the defendant can file, depending on the jurisdiction that he is in, a “demurrer”, a “motion to strike” or a “motion to dismiss”. These motions ask the court to dismiss the case without conducting a trial. In ruling on these motions courts assume that everything said in the plaintiff’s complaint is true. In addition, courts will not grant these motions unless the facts alleged by the plaintiff cannot, as a matter of law, support the plaintiff’s theory of recovery against the defendant. Many times, however, if these motions are successful, the court will give the plaintiff an opportunity to amend and cure any defect in his complaint. If the plaintiff cannot cure the defects in his complaint, the court can order any remedy permitted by law including a complete and final dismissal of the plaintiff’s case. This is called a dismissal “with prejudice”.

From the client’s perspective the significance of special pleas, motions and objections is not only that they may end the case before trial, but that they also affect the amount of time that the lawyer will be required to spend on the case. This is because these matters normally require that a hearing be conducted prior to trial. Moreover, they often require that legal research be done. Consequently these matters may affect the amount of attorney’s fees that the client will ultimately have to pay in order to have his legal matter resolved.

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DISCLAIMER

The article above is an excerpt from the book “Law, Lawyers and Your Case: A Dollars and Sense Examination.” (LLYC) Published by the Graduate Group in 2003. The publisher is now out of business and the book is now out of print.

The article above is to provide the reader with only a very general legal framework or reference point—a mere “starting point” to permit the reader to engage in further analysis. It is not the “final word” so to speak and is not designed to give anyone legal advice. As such, the foregoing article MAY NOT be relied upon by anyone to resolve his/her/its legal matter. Readers must consult their own lawyer and/or take responsibility for doing their own independent legal research/representation beyond merely reviewing this article.

Please keep in mind that laws do change over time and that laws differ amongst the various states, territories, nations and locations. So the rules and laws stated herein may not apply to the reader.

Any similarities in names, descriptions or accounts of persons, entities or events is purely accidental and all person/characters, entities and events herein are fictional and not intended to depict or describe any actual person, event or circumstance.

Despite the passing of many years most of this book is still relevant today. It is still helps very useful in terms of explaining the how legal problems get handled, the attorney-client relationship, trial and testifying and very importantly the general manner in which the legal system and the courts operate. Important concepts like discovery, summary judgment and a host of other terms are explained and defined. Civil, criminal, family law, personal injury and a host of other types of cases are discussed in remarkable detail.

Dollar amounts for costs, expenses, attorney’s fees, damages etc etc are probably very different because this book was published in 2003 and costs and dollar figures can vary widely depending on the location of the legal matter. This naturally would also include changes and new jurisdictional dollar limits for most cases before any given court.

There have been extensive changes to the Bankruptcy Code since LLYC was first published. As such, any references to bankruptcy rules, laws and/or legal requirements could be out of date and/or incorrect.

Since the LLYC was written there have been changes in the way third party costs and expenses (such as for experts and court reporters etc) may be funded and/or paid for—often making it somewhat easier for the client and his/her lawyer to carry a plaintiff’s personal injury/product’s liability case.

If a client has been damaged or lost money because of the ethical violations of his/her lawyer (for example, if the lawyer has stolen or misappropriated funds from the client or the client’s escrow account) many state bar associations have established separate trust funds to reimburse clients for the wrongs of their lawyers.

With regard to “property law” matters, this book has been written largely from the perspective of someone living in a state with English “common law” origins (which is most of the United States). However, folks who live in “community property” or “civil law” jurisdictions my have different rules regarding discussions pertaining to divorce property settlements, real estate law, inheritance and/or other property law matters.

NEED AN HONEST AND EFFECTIVE LAWYER?

Just Call ………………….Tel. 804.549.7240

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