Role of a Civil Litigation Lawyer

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What Is Civil Litigation lawyer?
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• When two or more parties become embroiled in a
  legal dispute seeking money or another specific
  performance rather than criminal sanctions, civil
  litigation is the result.
• They must instead head to the courtroom for trial
  so a judge or jury can decide the matter.
• A Civil Litigation lawyer who specializes in
  civil litigation is known as a litigator or a
  trial lawyer.

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• He represents clients across a broad spectrum of
  associated proceedings, including pretrial
  hearings and depositions, as well as arbitration
  or mediation before administrative agencies or
  court personnel.
• Arbitration and mediation are processes that
  attempt to guide the parties toward settlement
  without the time and expense of going to court.

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Types of Civil Litigation lawyer

• Civil litigation encompasses a broad range of
  disputes, and litigators generally specialize in
  one or two specific practice areas. Several
  common areas include
• Environmental law
• Landlord/tenant disputes
• Product liability lawsuits

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• Personal injury claims
• Intellectual property disputes
• Construction liability lawsuits
• Medical malpractice claims
• Employment and labor disputes
• Real estate lawsuits

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• Anti-trust litigation
• Workers' compensation claims
• Education law disputes
• Divorce lawsuits
• Civil litigation can be loosely defined as a
  legal process in which criminal charges and
  penalties are not at issue.

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The Role of a Civil Litigation Lawyer

• The role and responsibilities of a civil
  litigation attorney can be challenging and
  diverse. It is an adversarial process with two or
  more parties pitted against each other.
• The attorney is his client's advocate, obligated
  to fight for him to achieve the best possible
  outcome on the client's behalf.

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• Lawyers specializing in this field must be
  willing to assume oppositional positions, to
  embrace conflict and controversy, and to
  effectively act as human pit bulls in defense of
  their clients.
• Attorneys and litigation paralegals in this field
  often work long hours, especially during a trial.

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Certain skills and knowledge are essential to
litigation practice. Key legal skills include
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• Knowledge of substantive and procedural law
• Strong written and oral advocacy skills
• Analytical and logical reasoning abilities
• Ability to synthesize complex legal and factual
  materials
• Superior interpersonal skills
• Knowledge of legal research techniques and
  software
• Client development skills
• Negotiation skills

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The Life Cycle of a Typical Civil Litigation Case

• Civil Litigation lawyer can be divided into
  several stages, including investigation,
  pleadings, discovery, pretrial proceedings,
  potential settlement or trial, and even appeal.
• Discovery is typically the longest and most
  labor-intensive stage of a case. Unlike the way
  they're often portrayed on television, civil
  attorneys spend comparatively little time in the
  trial.

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• Much of their time is devoted to the discovery
  stage - the exchange of information pertinent to
  the case through depositions, interrogatories,
  and subpoenas. The latter are demands for
  information or documents from third parties.
• Depositions and interrogatories involve questions
  posed under penalty of perjury to the parties in
  a lawsuit. Deposition questions are posed orally
  under oath. Interrogatories are written questions.

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