Tag Archives: litigation

Three Things You Must Know About Civil Litigation

civil litigationThe idea of civil litigation started during the latter years of medieval England. It was necessary to distinguish between crimes hostile to the government, actionable matters, and a variety of harms against individuals, civil matters. This part of the law is also known as “tort law.” Tort comes from a Latin word, torquere, ‘to twist’. With tort law increasing in England, there became a need for people who would specialize in this particular slice of the legal profession. Enter the civil litigator.

What Does an Attorney Do?

When you hire, or retain, legal counsel, he will take a look at your situation and decide if you have a justified claim. The lawyer will register the complaint and stand with you as your representative in court. Many times issues such as monetary damages will settle before the case even goes to trial.
What are the Benefits of Hiring an Attorney

By having an attorney work for you, you obviously will have someone knowledgeable with which to confer and talk over the legal aspects. Having someone manage the litigation of your case can make the whole process less stressful. A lawyer will find out if you want to resolve the case out of court or let it go to trial, giving you control of your case’s course. A good deal of attorneys work on a contingency basis. You don’t ante up unless you are victorious, or settle, your case. A usual fee is in the range of 33 percent of the total recuperated.

Attorney-Client Privilege

Once you’ve retained a lawyer and spoken to him regarding your circumstance, the attorney-client privilege has started. Once begun, the attorney cannot share with anyone about what you and he have talked about in private. Also, at trial, an attorney cannot testify to any information or knowledge that they became aware of during the attorney-client privilege. The privilege also remains in force after the attorney has ceased to represent you.

Common Misconceptions

Many people have the idea that civil litigation attorneys are simply out for themselves, are crooks or “ambulance chasers.” These characterizations may be true for a small portion, but certainly not all. Many attorneys receive personal satisfaction in helping someone who may not have known their legal rights. Your attorney is required to represent you with “zeal and competence.” An attorney violating this principle, may find himself on the receiving end of a malpractice lawsuit.

Conclusion

A good attorney will be a tremendous asset for someone seeking to recover monetary damages or to force, or prevent, a third party from acting in a prescribed way. An attorney can guide you through the labyrinthian jungle which the legal affair can become. Exercise due diligence in finding, and hiring, an attorney that suites your needs. You don’t need to retain the first lawyer you meet Instead, hire the one with whom you are comfortable and feel will do the best job representing you and your needs.

Do I Need a Civil Litigation Attorney?

Estate Planning - Changing A WillIf you need to file a lawsuit and don’t know how, you may want to consult with a civil litigation attorney. Going through a lawsuit can be a complicated process and qualified lawyer’s guidance can come in handy.

What Does a Civil Litigation Attorney Do?

A civil litigation attorney will take you through the entire process of filing and pursuing a non-criminal lawsuit. An attorney can also advise you on whether your case is best suited for court, or can be handled better outside of the courtroom. Some examples of civil litigation include:

• Alimony
• Personal injury
• Debt settlement
• Discrimination

Filing criminal cases is generally handled by government agencies, like the police or the state.

How Do I Know If I Need a Civil Litigation Attorney?

If you’re considering filing a lawsuit, you may want to consult with a litigation lawyer. As legal professionals, litigation lawyers know which cases have a good chance of being successful. They’re familiar with all of the procedures, steps, and necessary paperwork that needs to be done. Some cases are better handled using alternative dispute resolution, and a litigation attorney will be able to advise on your options.

How Much Does a Civil Litigation Attorney Cost?

Lawyers take different approaches to how they bill and how much they charge. Litigation attorneys may charge by the hour or may charge a contingency. Contingency means that you will not have to pay anything up front and your lawyer will take a preestablished percentage if you win your case. If your litigation attorney takes your case on a contingency basis, you probably have a very strong case. Rates will vary depending on where you live, so be sure to ask up front how much your lawyer will charge.

What Should I Expect from Working with a Civil Litigation Attorney?

Outcomes rely on many different factors, but your litigation attorney will represent you at every step in the process of filing a lawsuit.

With your lawyer’s guidance, your case might be settled privately, or you could end up going to court. If you win your case, you may receive monetary compensation or force the other party to cease a harmful activity.

Since litigation lawyers know the local laws and legal procedures, their legal expertise will put you in a better position to win your lawsuit.

Computer Forensics Expert

Computer Forensics Expert Can Save You Money in Litigation

Computer Forensics ExpertWhen a business has to call for the services of a Computer Forensics Expert, CFE, people are as involved as the computers. Long before filing a lawsuit, you need to make some choices including how best to handle situations which may involve employees. Finding out from a competitor that your employees are accused of stealing proprietary information is bad. A visit by law enforcement regarding misconduct by employees is worse. Both are times when you need to carefully think about what your next course of action will be. Taking action as early in the process as possible will be cost-effective and help make sure that the correct data is saved and protected.

A first step would be to consult with your company’s attorney. Your lawyer may also be able to put you in touch with a computer forensics expert. Bringing the expert in during the very early part of an investigation doesn’t mean that an unlimited amount of money has to be spent. A initial window of opportunity can be used for determining which parts of the system are relevant and how to best preserve them. While deeper analysis and processing may come later, getting a snapshot of where everything stands in the beginning can provide you and your team with a good map to follow as the investigation unfolds. Having some direction in place will also save you some money.

If you and your business are the defendants in a case of computer fraud or the loss of confidential business information, then the forensics expert you hire becomes more important. One overlooked task of your expert is to have them interface with the plaintiff’s computer forensics expert. Together, they can lay out a course of investigation which may allow for being on site at the same time and, with the requirement that the prosecution provide you with the evidence, you may also save some extra money with the two working together.

Regardless if your expert is able to work with the other side’s expert, you need to work out and negotiate an efficient and effective protocol for inspection. Another consideration such as saving mobile data or dealing with encryption challenges are two situations with which your expert should help you deal with during the pre-litigation phase or later in discovery projects.

Invest some of your time in talking with IT administrators and custodians to ensure you are knowledgeable of how well legal hold instructions are being followed. Your expert can provide a trained eye to supervise non-lawyers which are conducting discovery tasks. Monitoring the legal hold process, documenting systems and tracking data sources will give you more tools with which to respond if future attacks are made on your preservation steps.

Your CFE should be involved in the entire process. Forensic analysis that is performed with the work being done by your team may help lead to success. Often, discovery and analysis are seen as separate steps in the process. Your team has the best grasp of issues as they work through your system, so it is important that your expert also work closely with your team members.

A main key to staying within budget during the stressful investigation and subsequent actions is to work closely with your CFE at each stage and make sure you get the most effective analysis without unnecessarily running up the bill.