With over 30 years of experience in law, Nielsen & Treas LLC handles constitutional, statutory, regulatory, and insurance law for clients. Nielsen & Treas LLC litigates civil cases and offers legal services, including those related to human rights.
A civil case consists of several acts: the initial pleading, case preparation or discovery, settling differences and pre-trial, trial process, and then closing arguments. A civil lawsuit is a process where a party or an attorney files a complaint against another party who allegedly caused the damages to the first party. Most anyone can file a complaint and initiate a civil lawsuit.
The evidence and proof brought in a civil lawsuit are less strict than those for criminal cases. The standard of proof in a civil case is that the plaintiff’s argument is supported by a majority of the evidence, unlike in a criminal case where the standard is for no reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. To begin a civil lawsuit in federal court, during the initial pleading, the plaintiff's attorney files a complaint and delivers a copy to the defendant. The complaint describes the harm allegedly done to the plaintiff. In the case preparation step, attorneys on both sides share their information and any potential witnesses for the case. They may also question the validity of the information, the witness, and file a request or a motion.
During the pre-trial step, the judge encourages both parties to reach an agreement or a settlement without the necessity of a trial. In the trial step, the judge determines which information is allowed in the case. Witnesses are invited to testify under oath to answer questions about the case, while the attorneys may ask the judge to sustain or overrule a particular question. After the evidence is heard, both sides present a closing argument. The judge decides alongside the jury if the claims are acceptable, and that the plaintiff has been harmed by the defendant in some way. The party that loses in a civil lawsuit then settles the claim which concludes the court case.
