Litigation

What is Litigation? Litigation is the process using the court system to find justice... it involves arguing a case in court and allowing a judge or jury to decide the outcome of a dispute.

Although the particular forms that litigation can take are too numerous to mention (just about every area of law can be litigated/ end up in court, after all) it usually follows a broad pattern like this:

A person/ company decides that he or she needs a judge to publically state that he or she is in the right (this person is usually known as an "applicant" or "plaintiff"), thereby compelling somebody to do something, stop doing something or to pay a sum of money
The plaintiff/ applicant hires a lawyer who, together with the plaintiff, converts the scenario into a legal document which is filed with a court
The legal document (claim/ application) is delivered (served) to the defendant/ respondent
The defendant has a certain amount of time to formulate a response (defence) to the claim and may hire a lawyer to assist with this
The defendant files the defence with the court
The defendant serves the defence on the plaintiff
The lawyers analyse the evidence provided by the other party and attempt to find holes in the opposition's case and attempt to strengthen their client's case
The plaintiff and defendant argue amongst themselves, via their lawyers, to see if an agreement can be reached out of court (otherwise known as an 'out of court settlement')
If no amicable agreement can be reached, the dispute progresses to the court
Barristers (highly qualified lawyers who specialise in advocacy) may be hired by one or more of the parties
The judge listens to the barristers or lawyers or the parties themselves explain their cases
Witnesses are questioned and re-questioned (cross-examined) in order to analyse the evidence
The judge makes a decision
The parties consider if an appeal is required (an appeal is where a more senior judge in a higher ranking court hears the same dispute)

There are countless questions that must be seriously answered prior to litigation being considered, and your lawyer can walk you through these.

Some important points that must be addressed prior to litigation commencing are:

Can you afford the possibility of losing a court action? You may be liable to pay not only your own legal fees, but the legal fees of the other party...
Is the matter important enough and are you committed enough to obtaining a result to justify spending perhaps years in the court system?
Do you have enough evidence to prove your case? It's one thing to know that you're in the right but it's quite another to prove to complete strangers (such as judges and juries) that you are...

Litigation is a very serious path to walk and although the outcomes may be very good for you, they may also be highly unpredictable. For this reason, we recommend that you never launch straight into court action, but instead speak to a lawyer first to fully assess your case and its prospects of success, and furthermore to decide if success by way of a court order is what you really want.

If you're being sued, read this article and for more legal tips click here.

If you would like to discuss your situation with a lawyer to see if litigation is the way forward for you, click here.

This website contains general information only. This website does not contain any legal advice. If you require legal advice, contact an Australian Legal Practitioner.