Civil Litigation Attorney in Dallas, Texas

Civil litigation involves bringing non-criminal matters to court. The outcome of these cases usually isn't jail time. On the contrary, the outcome will typically be a court order. These court orders can give parental rights, give property rights, force a party to pay another party, and much more.

Three Phases of Civil Litigation in Texas

TexasLawHelp.org outlines the three phases of civil litigation: pre-trial, trial, and post-trial. Each of these phases comes with its own unique challenges and tasks, and it takes an experienced lawyer to know how to navigate them.

Let’s examine these phases below:

• Phase 1, Pre-Trial, includes research, filing, notice and response, and discovery

• Phase 2, Trial, includes limited scope, procedure, evidence and objections, and practice

• Phase 3, Post-Trial, includes deadlines, default judgements, enforcement, and appeals

If one or more of these steps is ignored or completed carelessly, your civil litigation case may not stand a chance in court. Similarly, hiring a lawyer who doesn’t have a lot of civil litigation experience — or a lawyer who hasn’t been practicing in Texas for very long — can turn an otherwise promising case into a flop in court.

Pre-Trial: Research and Filing

When you think you have a civil litigation claim, it’s important to bring that claim to an experienced attorney who has filed many civil litigation cases successfully. Rather than guessing at your case’s success in the courtroom, pre-trial allows you to work with an attorney and determine how likely it is that your case will win.

During pre-trial, your lawyer will examine the laws that apply to your case and research the specific facts of your circumstance. If you decide to move forward with your civil litigation case, your attorney will then file your case and continue researching the proper plan of action.

While the right lawyer will be prepared and confident in litigating your case in court, they will still look for ways to solve the case outside of court. This is sometimes known as alternative dispute resolution, a process where your attorney looks to save you time, money, and damage to your personal relationships by settling the case before it goes to court.

Once you and your attorney feel confident that your civil litigation case does need to go to court, your lawyer will get to work filing your case. They will assemble the research gathered throughout the pre-trial phase and include this information in your petition. A petition is a document presented to the court that asks for a certain outcome. Having a lawyer write your petition for you will greatly increase your chances of winning your case.