Civil Litigation: What You Need to Know

Civil Litigation: What You Need to Know

What is Civil Litigation?

Litigation is the formal process of resolving civil disputes through courts. This means two parties involved in a legal battle can attempt to enforce or defend their legal rights against another party.

A commercial or civil litigation lawyer in NSW specializing in handling applications is commonly known as a litigator.

In many cases, litigation is confused with a “law suit”, which represents only a particular component of the entire litigation process, being that part referring to actual court proceedings.

A litigation process may include several other associated activities before and after the lawsuit to investigate a party’s rights, perhaps to conduct preliminary discovery to identify evidence or the proper party to a dispute, to analyse a party’s position, comply with a formal process of notice or a mandatory process such as mediation or to negotiate before proceeding to file suit to establish the rights and wrongs of a dispute.

Once a resolution or Court order is made, the final stage of the process is to enforce a party’s legal rights.

Moreover, litigators can represent you as a client in federal, state, and local courts, as well as in tribunals and can guide you through arbitrations and/or mediations in lieu of the Court process.

Litigation Rules and Structure in Australia Navigating the legal system in Australia can be a complex process, and it is best to get expert guidance from the best law firms in Australia in order to ensure the best outcome. Here are some facts about litigation rules and structure: ● ● ●

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Australia has a Federal Government structure and Federal Courts.

The judiciary’s power is divided between the central government and individual state governments.

Every state and territory has its independent jurisdiction and its own hierarchy of courts depending on subject matter and jurisdiction and on the monetary limits claimable within each Court.

The High Court of Australia represents the ultimate court of appeal.

As a general rule, appeals lie from lower Courts (such as a Local Court) to a higher Court (say, the District Court).

Almost every state embodies two further inferior-level courts to address smaller lawsuits.

Some states have also established special courts open for limited jurisdiction on specific disputes or litigation categories.

Each Court has a different appeal process and to a different number of judges.

The procedure is set out in the Uniform Civil Procedure Act and Rules and in the separate rules of individual Courts and Tribunals.

Civil vs. Criminal Litigation Civil litigation involves a legal dispute between individuals, companies or some other legal entity outside of the criminal justice system. Moreover, it is necessary to hire a civil lawyer in Sydney to deal with civil litigation.

Civil litigation covers a broad area from personal disputes (such as a building dispute, fraud or a family law issue) to commercial disputes which arise in a business context. These include breach of contract, supply of goods and services, intellectual property disputes, shareholder litigation, and business insolvency and are conducted by specialist lawyers instructed by the client.

Criminal litigation is run by the police where prosecutions are conducted by police or by the legal arm of government called the DPP or director of public prosecutions. Individuals are simply witnesses in the police prosecution and have no say in how the case is conducted or if it will be conducted.

Litigation Funding Litigation funding involves someone else paying for all of the legal costs and expenses associated with the litigation. The terms of funding vary depending on the cases. Generally, the ‘funder’ will require a share of the financial claim if the ruling comes in favour of the supporting individual.

Litigation funding will not be provided unless the funder is confident not only of the outcome but that there is money available to meet the judgment which, in turn, enables them to recover their funding and additional costs.

The most common types of litigation funding include the following: ● ●

Private Funding Agreement: A professional litigation funder financially supports the case in exchange for a share of the proceeds of the litigation or receives a premium.

Conditional Fee Agreement: For this type of funding, the civil litigation lawyer agrees to work under a ‘no win, no fee” contract. If the claim is successful, the lawyer will be entitled to receive the fees at the agreed rate plus a 25% uplift.

The best law firms in Australia will provide you with legal experts to help you understand the elements of litigation and the type of funding suitable for your case.