Category Archives: Pleadings

Starting a Lawsuit: The Filing of a Summons and Complaint

In practical terms, the starting of a lawsuit is an easy step. The plaintiff or someone on behalf of the plaintiff, takes the original, and an appropriate number of copies of the summons and complaint to the clerk of the court, and presents these documents and the filing fee. The clerk’s office takes Continue reading Starting a Lawsuit: The Filing of a Summons and Complaint

Notice to the Other Party: Service of the Summons and Complaint

The next step in litigation after starting the lawsuit is to give notice to the party being sued, the defendant, of the lawsuit.  In broad terms, this would seem to be a simple step. After all, in serving the summons and complaint, the plaintiff is only delivering a copy of those documents to the defendant. However, there are elaborate rules governing this step, and this step Continue reading Notice to the Other Party: Service of the Summons and Complaint

The Defendant’s Response: A Motion to Dismiss

Although there are those who would have you believe otherwise, the law simply does not provide a remedy for every type of grievance that can arise when there are enough people interacting with one another. However, that does not prevent people from starting lawsuits based on the most ludicrous set of facts. The fact is that you can start a lawsuit at anytime for anything, but that does not mean you will win that lawsuit. The first point at which a defendant can challenge the adequacy of a lawsuit is Continue reading The Defendant’s Response: A Motion to Dismiss