To put this as generally as possible, there are three stages to most civil actions: the filing and serving of the pleadings, the discovery process, and the trial process. There are certain critical deadlines which apply to each of these stages. Briefly, pleadings are the formal written claims (what you say they did OR what they say you did) and defenses used to start a lawsuit. The discovery process is the time period from which investigations are launched/completed, depositions (witness interviews) are taken, expert advice is sought and much more. A good lawyer’s advice through this process is critical in being successful with your case. The discovery process allows one party to obtain admissions from the other party and to learn more about the other party’s case to decide if it is worth going to trial, or if a settlement should be offered. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the court will set the case for trial and the dispute will be decided by a jury (typically, although there are exceptions).