Chapter 9: Steps in a Civil Case
Party A has been injured by the wrongful conduct of Party B. Party A wants to file a lawsuit against Party B. How does Party A do this? And what happens with the civil case thereafter? Here we will focus on how a civil case between Party A (a plaintiff) and Party B (a defendant) would progress in the US district courts. Civil cases in the district courts are governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which went through significant amendments in 2007. Nearly all states have similar rules in their state court systems. According to the FRCP, the parties and court should administer and construe the FRCP “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of a civil case.[1]
You may access the FRCP and review its specific rules here.
In analyzing the steps of a civil case, we will assume that both parties are represented by attorneys. Therefore, when we refer to a party, we will not also mention its attorney because we are assuming that a party is acting through its attorney. The main steps in a civil case in the district courts are pleadings, motions, scheduling conference and order, discovery, pretrial conference and order, trial, and appeal.
