Article: Usually, people do not want to go to court, therefore, many people attempt to resolve any disputes they have with each other outside of court. Even if someone has wronged you, it may be better to try and work it out with them before filing a lawsuit. For example, if someone owes you money, you should ask the person for the money repeatedly before suing them for it, and consider setting up a payment plan with them if they are having financial difficulty. If the payment plan works out, you will likely get the money that is owed to you must faster than if you sued for it. Lawsuits can be time consuming and very expensive to get involved in, so you should try anything you can to work out your issue, and only file a lawsuit as a last resort. Many companies, such as banks, insurance companies, and companies that provide services (cable/cell phone etc.), include mandatory arbitration or mediation provisions in the contracts you sign with them. These provisions mandate that you cannot sue the companies because you instead must resolve any dispute through one of the out-of-court dispute resolution methods. Therefore, if you have signed a contract that has a mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution clause, you will not be able to bring a lawsuit. Before you file a lawsuit, you need to do some preliminary investigation to make sure that the law is on your side. If you do not have a valid legal claim, any lawsuit you bring will be dismissed by the court, and you will have wasted time and money. For example, if someone "promised" to give you $100 as a gift, you legally would not be able to sue them for the $100 if they didn't give it to you, because the court will not force someone to give something for free. Similarly, if you are involved in a car accident with someone, but you were not injured and your car was not damaged, you will not have a valid claim because you do not have any damages, even if you know that the accident was not your fault. Even if you do have a valid legal claim, you should assess the strength of your case before you file a lawsuit. To determine whether you have a strong case, consider the following: Whether you have evidence: you should consider whether you can prove what happened in a court of law. For example, if you need witnesses, were any present, and will they be able to testify at trial? If you need papers or documents to support your claim, do you have them, or can you get them before the trial? Whether your opponent has a convincing story: you should consider whether or not your opponent has a convincing story that conflicts with yours. If so, you should consider how you will convince the court that your story is better. Whether you can prove the legal elements: you need to know the elements or facts that you legally must prove to win your case. For example, in a "breach of contract" lawsuit, you must have enough evidence to prove that there was a valid contract. Without proving the existence of a contract, you cannot show that there was a "breach." Whether you can collect money from your opponent: you need to know whether or not you will be able to collect a judgment if you win your lawsuit. It will not be worth the money and time it takes to bring a lawsuit if your opponent doesn't have any money or assets, because you will not be able to collect anything, even if you win. However, if money is no object, you may want to consider a lawsuit anyway in order to get validation that your opponent was wrong. Who could be responsible: before filing a lawsuit, you should think of all of the possible parties that could be legally responsible for your harm. For example, if you were involved in an accident with a truck driver, you may consider suing not only the truck driver who struck you, but also his employer, if he was working at the time of the accident. " Even if you have a great case, you will not be able to sue if you wait too long. You must file your lawsuit within the time that your state laws set as the "statute of limitations" for your type of claim. All states have their own time limits depending on the type of case. For example, one state may allow a plaintiff who wants to file a personal injury suit 1 year from the date of the injury, while another state may allow 4 years from the date of the injury. As a good rule of thumb, you will be okay if you file your lawsuit within a year from the date of the harm, no matter what type of claim you have or what state you live in.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Resolve your issue without court intervention. Establish that you can file a lawsuit. Verify that you have a valid legal claim. Consider the strength of your evidence. Figure out if your lawsuit is "timely.