Civil Legal Matters: Your Expert Legal Guide to Us Civil Litigation

Civil legal matters encompass a wide range of private disputes including contract disputes between businesses or individuals, personal injury claims arising from accidents or negligence, property disputes involving ownership or boundary conflicts, employment disputes arising from wrongful termination or workplace discrimination, family law matters including divorce and custody, intellectual property disputes involving patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and civil rights claims arising from violations of constitutionally protected rights, and the unifying characteristic of all civil legal matters is that the dispute is between private parties and the remedy sought is primarily compensation or injunctive relief rather than criminal punishment. 

Civil legal matters and civil law counsel can evaluate whether the specific dispute you are facing is properly classified as a civil legal matter, assess which category of civil legal claim best fits the facts of your situation, and advise on the applicable statute of limitations, the burden of proof, and the range of remedies available under the applicable federal and state law.

The table below compares the fundamental structure of civil law and criminal law across five key legal dimensions, illustrating the differences that determine which legal system applies to a given dispute and what a successful party can expect to receive at the conclusion of the proceeding.

Civil litigation and civil and criminal litigation counsel can advise on the specific legal standards that distinguish a civil claim from a criminal prosecution, assess whether the specific conduct at issue creates both civil and criminal liability, and develop the legal strategy for pursuing or defending the civil claim in a manner that accounts for any parallel criminal proceeding.

The civil lawsuit process under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the parallel state rules begins with the filing of a complaint that sets forth the factual allegations supporting the plaintiff's claims and the specific legal relief requested, and after the complaint is filed and served on the defendant, the defendant has a specified period to file an answer or a motion to dismiss, and if the case is not dismissed or settled at the pleading stage, the case proceeds to discovery, in which both parties exchange relevant documents and information, and then to pretrial motions and ultimately to trial if the case is not resolved earlier through settlement. Civil lawsuit process and civil lawsuit procedure counsel can advise on the specific procedural steps applicable to a civil lawsuit in the applicable jurisdiction, assess whether the case should be filed in federal or state court and in which venue, and develop the litigation strategy for each stage of the proceeding from the initial complaint through discovery, trial, and any post-trial motions.

The preponderance of the evidence standard that applies in most civil cases requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that each element of the civil claim is more likely true than not, which is often described as a burden of proving that the fact at issue is at least fifty-one percent likely to be true, and this standard is significantly lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard applicable in criminal cases, and the practical implication of this difference is that conduct that is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal case can still support a civil judgment when the same evidence is evaluated under the preponderance of the evidence standard. Civil case and civil court proceeding counsel can advise on the specific burden of proof applicable to each element of the civil claim, assess whether the available evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance of the evidence standard required for a plaintiff's verdict, and develop the evidence organization and trial presentation strategy for proving or defending the civil case.

The civil complaint is the foundational document of any civil lawsuit, and under the notice pleading standard applicable in federal court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), the complaint must contain a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and must include sufficient factual allegations to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face under the standard established in the Supreme Court's decisions in Bell Atlantic Corp. .. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, and a complaint that fails to meet this plausibility standard can be dismissed by the court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) before any discovery has taken place. Civil complaint and answer to civil complaint counsel can advise on the specific pleading requirements applicable to a civil complaint or answer under the applicable federal or state rules, assess whether the complaint's factual allegations are sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss, and develop the pleading strategy for asserting all available claims and defenses.

The discovery phase of a civil lawsuit is governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 through 37 in federal court and parallel provisions in state court rules, and the principal discovery tools available to the parties include interrogatories, which are written questions that must be answered under oath, requests for production of documents and electronically stored information, requests for admission that ask the opposing party to admit or deny specific factual propositions, and depositions, which are oral examinations of witnesses conducted under oath before a court reporter, and the party who uses discovery effectively to build a comprehensive evidentiary record significantly improves the prospects for a favorable outcome at trial. Discovery obligations and civil trial counsel can advise on the specific discovery tools and procedures available in the applicable jurisdiction, assess whether the available evidence is sufficient to support each element of the claim or defense at trial, and develop the discovery and trial preparation strategy for achieving the most favorable outcome.

Alternative dispute resolution encompasses the range of private dispute resolution processes available to parties who wish to resolve a civil legal matter without proceeding to a full judicial trial, and the most commonly used ADR processes in civil disputes are mediation, in which a neutral third-party facilitator helps the parties negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution, and binding arbitration, in which one or more neutral arbitrators hear the evidence presented by both parties and issue a binding decision that is generally not subject to judicial review on the merits, and most civil courts in the United States now require the parties to participate in at least one form of ADR before the case can be set for trial. Alternative dispute resolution and arbitration and mediation counsel can advise on the specific ADR options available for the dispute, assess whether mediation, arbitration, or another form of ADR is more likely to achieve the client's goals than litigation, and develop the ADR strategy for resolving the dispute efficiently and at minimum cost.

The damages available in a successful civil case include compensatory damages, which are designed to make the plaintiff financially whole by compensating for all losses caused by the defendant's wrongful conduct, including medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and in personal injury cases, pain and suffering and emotional distress, and punitive damages, which are available in cases where the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or reckless disregard for the plaintiff's rights, and which are designed to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct, and injunctive relief, which requires the defendant to take specific action or refrain from specific conduct, and which is available when monetary damages alone are not an adequate remedy. Settlement negotiation and plaintiffs rights counsel can advise on the specific damages available to a successful plaintiff in the applicable type of civil case, assess whether a proposed settlement offer adequately compensates the plaintiff for all categories of actual and potential damages, and develop the settlement negotiation strategy for achieving the maximum available financial recovery.