Planning Your Lawsuit – Whether You’re Suing or Being Sued
When we see people asking questions about representing themselves in lawsuits, whether it be on our website, or on some social media platform, it becomes clear that they are stumbling in the dark.
In this and the following sections we will be focusing on trying to provide some answers, and the first answers related to planning and organizing. It applies whether you are wanting to being a lawsuit, or defending one. The underlying principles are the same
The very first thing – and it makes no difference whether you want to be a plaintiff, or have been made a defendant, is to plan every aspect of the lawsuit that you can, long before the first piece of paper goes in your printer.
When you see lawyers filing papers, or hear them talking, it’s easy to get the impression that they just cranked those papers out at the drop of a hat. Not so. A complaint or an answer may not look like much, but unless it pertains to a very simple case, hours were spent making decisions, selecting options, identifying parties and causes of action, and then putting it all together.
The same principles apply to you if you represent yourself in a court case.
Many people for some reason want to skip directly from wanting to sue someone, or receiving suit papers, to standing in front of the clerk of court busily filing papers.
That’s not the way it’s done, and if you try to do it that way anyhow, expect it to end badly for you.
In the next sections, we will show you how to properly organize a lawsuit…. And what should be done long before you get near a courthouse or upload your first document.
In the next sections we’ll talk about:
– identifying parties
– picking the right court
– choosing and researching your causes of action, or identifying your defenses
These are all things that must be done before you go any further unless you want to watch your lawsuit turn into a train wreck!