The Anatomy of a Civil Lawsuit (U.S.) Quiz

Answer: Negligence, intentional acts and breach of contract

A tort action is a "civil wrong" such as negligence, battery, assault, defamation, false imprisonment or fraud. A breach of contract action begins when a party to a private agreement believes that one of the other parties has not fulfilled its obligations.

Other types of a civil actions include divorce, probating of a will, restraining orders and requests for specific performance of a promise.

Answer: File a suit with the court

The person who institutes the action is called the plaintiff or petitioner. The lawsuit is begun by filing with the appropriate court the complaint or petition which lays out the theory of the case, what facts support that theory and what remedy is requested. The person filing the lawsuit has to pay a filing fee to the court.

Answer: Service of the lawsuit on the person being sued

There are many ways to "serve" the pleadings on the person(s) being sued. That person is called a defendant or respondent. Service can be accomplished by personally handing the papers to the defendant, by mail or by publishing in a newspaper of general circulation.

Answer: Enter the "default" of the defendant

If, after proof of proper service to the court's satisfaction, the plaintiff may ask the court to enter defendant's "default". Generally, this means that the plaintiff may proceed without further notifying the person being sued. The plaintiff may, subject to proof satisfactory to the court, secure a "default judgment" against the defendant and then proceed to enforce the judgment.

Answer: False

Everyone has a Constitutional right to act as their own counsel in both civil and criminal matters. It may not be the wisest thing to do because of the sometimes complex rules of procedure.

Answer: Discovery

Discovery is the process of securing evidence. This phase of a lawsuit takes the longest, generally 6 months or more. Discovery may be had by written questions, written requests for admissions, written requests for documents or other tangible things, subpoenas to third parties, depositions (examination under oath) and physical or mental examinations.

Answer: An examination of a witness under oath

Depositions are very important means of getting evidence. A party or witness is required to take an oath under penalty of perjury and then answer questions pertaining to the lawsuit. Failure to appear or answer questions can result in a finding of contempt by the court and may result in fines, evidentiary sanctions or imprisonment.

The person being asked questions has a right to be represented by an attorney and that attorney may make appropriate objections.

Answer: subpoena

A subpoena is issued by the court (or sometimes through the authority of an attorney) to non-parties for relevant documents, for inspections of places and for things (such as a tire). If the person being subpoenaed thinks that the subpoena is improper, they may ask the court to "quash" the subpoena which would mean that the subpoena does not have to be complied with.

Answer: The process of picking a jury

"Voir dire" is literally "to speak the truth". It is the process of selecting a jury to hear a case at trial. The jury is picked from the panel by the attorneys by asking questions of each prospective juror, reading questionnaires filled out by the prospective jurors and watching the body language of each prospective juror. Both sides may disqualify a person to be on the jury for "cause". "Cause" could be identified as bias and conflicts of interest. Both sides also get a limited number of "pre-emptory" challenges.

These pre-emptory challenges may disqualify jurors for no identified reason.

Answer: No

The jury's role is as a fact finder. The right to a jury in a civil action is guaranteed by the 7th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The parties may agree to not seat a jury and to let the judge act as a fact finder. This is called a "bench trial".

Answer: To give an overview of the upcoming evidence

The opening statements are not supposed to be argument. They are, however, an opportunity for the lawyers to speak directly with the jury and let them know what that lawyer thinks the evidence will show. It is a preview or roadmap for the jury to follow.

Answer: No

The role of a trial attorney is not to provide evidence or testimony by him or herself. They do provide evidence to the jury through other persons called witnesses who take the stand and testify. Documents are also introduced through witnesses. During a bench trial, some limited testimony may be given by an attorney.

In addition, in a jury trial, the attorneys may have certain facts given to the jury without other proof if agreed to by both sides. I hear that in Texas, when a party is authorized to receive attorney's fees as part of damages, the lawyer may testify to the amount.

Answer: cross

Cross examination is where a lawyer gets to ask questions after the witness is directly examined by the party who called that witness. Unlike direct examination, the questions can be pointed and leading. A leading question is one that suggests the answer. Many times under cross examination, the truth comes out and the witnesses prepared testimony falls apart.

Answer: Impeachment

Impeachment may be shown by contradictory evidence, through proof that the witness had been convicted of a crime or through saying something different on the stand than what they said under oath in a deposition taken before trial. This is a very powerful technique as the lawyer may then argue to the jury that the person is to be distrusted in all of his or her testimony.

Answer: No

In a perfect world they would! After a money judgment is rendered, several things may happen; the judgment is paid, the judgment is appealed, the judgment is compromised in settlement or the owner of the judgment proceeds to collect the judgment though involuntary means.

In addition, most money judgments are dischargeable in bankruptcy which means that the judgment may never be paid. It is also possible that the judgment is never collected because the Defendant does not have the means to pay or the Defendant dies or disappears.

It is a rule of thumb for a good attorney when evaluating a case at the beginning to determine if successful is it worth proceeding based on a determination of whether any judgment would ever be paid.