The Major Responsibilities of a Civil Attorney
In addition to filing a petition and answer, a civil attorney is responsible for sending and responding to discovery requests.
Aiming for a non-judicial settlement
The case must be argued in court.
What will your attorney do? Prior to understanding what a civil attorney does, it is necessary to define civil cases. A civil case is any case that is brought in court that is not a criminal matter.
Family, probate, and debt collection are just a few examples of civil cases. My focus in this piece is on the function of family and probate attorneys. These situations might be very unique compared to others.
Either the plaintiff (the person who files the lawsuit) or the defendant is represented by a civil attorney (the person being sued.) In most cases, a plaintiff engages a civil attorney before bringing a complaint. The defendant often engages a civil counsel after being sued. In preparation of being sued, a potential defendant often hires a civil counsel.
It all starts with a petition, summons, and response
First, a civil attorney must submit a petition in court on behalf of a possible plaintiff. "A short and straightforward statement of the claim proving that the pleader is entitled to relief" is all that is needed in a petition. The plaintiff's lawsuit is based on the defendant's actions, which are described in the petition. A counsel for the plaintiff may contact the defendant before filing a petition to see if anything can be worked out without going to trial.
The defendant must be served with the petition and summons after the petition is filed. According to Oklahoma law, a default judgment will be entered against the defendant who does not answer to the petition within a specific number of days (usually twenty days). Unconstitutional, according to the Supreme Court, is a court's entry of judgment against a defendant who has not been served with legal notice of the complaint.
Once a default judgment has been entered against the defendant, the plaintiff will normally receive whatever they requested in their petition. A civil attorney's initial action in representing a sued defendant is normally to submit an answer in court. Defendant can sue his lawyer for malpractice if his lawyer fails to file an answer in time and a default judgment is entered.
Counterclaims are sometimes filed when a defendant (or his attorney) files an answer. Defendant files a counterclaim, which is a lawsuit. Following the plaintiff's receipt of the counterclaim, he or she has twenty days to respond. Plaintiff's petition and defense counterclaim are often litigated in the same case, which is not uncommon.
Discovery
In a civil case, the following stage is often discovery. During discovery, each party can obtain information from the other side about the litigation without going to court. Since mediaeval England, civil cases have included discovery. In an English litigation, we have records of William Shakespeare providing responses to queries about discovery. Discoveries are one of the legal procedures that the English brought to America when they landed there.
To know more about the responsibilities of civil attorneys, contact Foshee and Yaffe Attorneys at Law in OKC.
**Disclaimer: This content is not to be construed as legal advice nor does it establish terms of a client-attorney relationship.