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Civil Lawsuits

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A civil lawsuit involves disputes between private individuals and/or organizations. The facts of the dispute could involve a contract, a lease, a physical injury experienced by an individual, a divorce, or many other issues. Nonetheless, all disputes or unresolved conflicts between individuals may ultimately be resolved through civil litigation. Generally, the result desired by the person filing the lawsuit is to be compensated for damages. An alternative result is to have the court enter an order requiring another person to begin or stop some activity.
A civil lawsuit is started by the filing of a complaint which details the facts of the situation as seen by the plaintiff, the person desiring the court's assistance. A filing fee is collected by the deputy clerk at the time of the filing of the complaint. Once a complaint and summons have been filed with the court, these documents must be delivered to the opposing party, known as the defendant. The defendant then has twenty days to respond in writing to the complaint.
The written response that the defendant files with the court is known as an answer. Again, the court clerk will collect a required fee for the filing of the answer. The defendant may, at the same time, file a counterclaim as part of his or her answer. The counterclaim states the relief that the defendant feels he or she may be entitled to from the plaintiff. The plaintiff then has ten days to file an answer to the defendant's counterclaim. If either party fails to comply with the time limits, the other side may ask the court to rule in his or her favor by default. Default is entered when a party does not appear or file papers, and the judge may enter a decision or judgment to be collected as any other decision. It should be noted that most time limits may be extended by agreement (stipulation) of the parties by an order of the court.

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