What is Civil Litigation?
Civil litigation is a term that applies to any legal dispute where two or more parties are seeking monetary damages or a specific performance and does not include criminal accusations. Some cases go to trial in which a judge will determine the outcome, but not all will. There are many different types of civil litigation. This type of dispute may arise over:
- Product liability
- Construction liability
- Medical malpractice
- Personal injury
- Real estate disputes
- Workers’ compensation claims
- Divorce
- Intellectual property disputes
- Anti-trust litigation
- Landlord/Tenant disputes
In the broadest sense, civil litigation is any legal proceeding that does not involve criminal charges or penalties.
What Does a Civil Litigation Attorney Do?
A litigation attorney, also referred to as a trial lawyer or litigator, represents either defendants or plaintiffs who are involved in civil disputes. These litigators will typically specialize in a particular area, such as divorce law or medical malpractice suits. This allows them to have a more detailed knowledge of their practice area. Civil litigation law is incredibly broad, so it’s helpful to keep a focus on just a few areas rather than attempting to represent them all.
A civil litigator’s daily duties might include interviewing clients, drafting formal complaints or claims, conducting depositions, and drafting motions. Civil litigators must determine the best trial strategy for each case. This might include mediation and negotiation to attempt to settle the case out of court. Trial lawyers may also need to take their cases to court. In these cases, their responsibilities could include investigation, trials, settlements, appeals, jury selection, court appearances and more.