Civil Court Stages and Processes
The first stage of bringing the issue to court, litigation, begins with the pleadings stage, which is the filing of the paperwork to open the lawsuit and have the court respond to it. This part of the process entails initiating a formal complaint against the parties concerned, stating the law violated, parties involved, factual information, and a proposed resolution (Cheeseman, 2007). When the City files a complaint for fraud against a municipality against Mr. Al Jones and his business, this action will start the legal process with a summons being issued. Mr. Jones will be required to answer the complaint and it will be filed with the court and delivered to the plaintiff(s).
The second stage of civil litigation involves the discovery process. During the discovery process, also known as the fact-finding process, each participant named in the complaint offers specific details relating to the case. The city will present its grievance against Mr. Jones, the Swedish property owner will make his accusations, and our client Mr. Jones will state his case.
Discovery serves several purposes such as: preventing surprises at trial, allowing the plaintiff and defendant to prepare their cases, safeguarding evidence, preventing time from being wasted in court, and encouraging resolution (Cheeseman, 2007). Discovery has four major forms, the first being the deposition, or oral testimony. The second form of discovery is interrogatories, which are questions and answers written by each party and then exchanged. Discovery in its third manifestation is the production of documents. Much like interrogatories, production of documents is when litigants exchange documentation relevant to the case/issue. The last discovery classification is the physical and mental examination. The only time this type of discovery applies is when the case involves physical injury and mental distress claims (Cheeseman, 2007). Since this particular case...