A Georgia civil litigation attorney is an attorney who has a license to practice law in Georgia. They dedicate their law practice to representing clients in civil lawsuits. Civil litigation attorneys may be distinguished from other civil attorneys who deal with issues that are civil in nature but do not involve lawsuits. They may call themselves “transactional attorneys.”
Examples of transaction legal services would be negotiating an employment contract for a high-level management executive or drafting and reviewing commercial leases.
A civil litigation attorney, or “litigator,” represents only clients who are parties to a lawsuit involving civil law in a civil court. Their clients hire them either to represent them as a plaintiff who files and prosecutes a lawsuit. Or a client may hire them to defend them because they have been named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit.
A civil law attorney usually practices in one of the following fields of law:
- Business disputes;
- Personal Injury law;
- Infringement of intellectual property rights;
- Family law;
- Business and finance law;
- Landlord and tenant law.
Civil litigation attorneys may also be distinguished from lawyers who work in the field of criminal law. Civil law is a branch of law that can be distinguished from criminal law. Criminal law is the law of crime and punishment for criminal convictions.
The lawyers involved may be criminal prosecutors who work for the government agencies that prosecute the alleged perpetrators of criminal offenses. Then there are criminal defense attorneys who defend people who have been charged with criminal offenses.
When Do I Need to Hire a Civil Litigation Attorney?
If a person has been served with a complaint, they want to consult a civil litigation attorney. The service of the complaint tells the person that they have been named as a defendant in a lawsuit. That is why they want to consult a civil litigation lawyer at their earliest opportunity because they have a limited amount of time to file their answer to the complaint.
Nowadays, it is possible that a person has insurance coverage, such as a homeowners’ insurance policy or a car insurance policy, that would pay for the loss that may result from a civil lawsuit. So, one thing a person would want to ask their attorney is whether one of their insurance policies would cover the loss and the cost of representation by an attorney. A local Georgia attorney would be able to explain more about this issue.
In some cases, a person’s insurance company may pay for a lawyer to represent the person who is the named insured on the policy. This would be true, for example, if a person is sued for their negligence in causing a car accident. The person’s car insurance should pay an attorney to defend the person in the lawsuit.
What Should I Expect from My Civil Law Attorney?
An attorney who takes on the representation of a person in a civil lawsuit should handle all of the tasks entailed in that representation. This is the case regardless of whether the attorney represents the plaintiff, the person who starts the lawsuit, or the defendant, the person who is sued.
The first thing the attorney would do for the plaintiff is to draft a complaint, the technical document in which the plaintiff states their cause of action and the remedy they seek. The attorney would then file the complaint with the clerk of the civil court in which the lawsuit needs to be filed. The plaintiff’s attorney also arranges for a copy to be served on the defendant.
The attorney who represents the defendant would file their answer to the complaint. Usually, this must be done within 30 days. The filing of the complaint and the answer and related actions are all part of the “pleading” stage of the lawsuit.
When the pleading stage is complete, the pre-trial phase of a civil suit begins. The discovery process consumes a major part of the pre-trial phase of a civil lawsuit. It includes such steps as the following:
- Planning discovery and then following through to complete it;
- Taking the depositions of witnesses;
- Determining whether expert witnesses are required;
- If expert witnesses are required, experts must be found and prepared for trial;
- Making requests for discovery to the other party, e.g., the production of documents; and
- Enforcing the requests made if the other party does not respond as required.
During the pre-trial phase, the parties’ attorneys would assess the evidence that is discovered. They might explore the possibility of a settlement. If the parties cannot settle the case, then a trial date is set. Of course, the attorneys would represent the parties at the trial. This may involve:
- Filing motions needed before and during the trial;
- Making court appearances;
- Participating in jury selection;
- Preparing and presenting evidence at trial;
- Questioning the witnesses who testify;
- Making arguments to the jury.
Other tasks that a civil litigation attorney may handle for their clients are the following:
- Drafting of a settlement agreement if the parties do agree to settle;
- Executing the judgment if the plaintiff wins a judgment.
Licensed civil attorneys in Georgia must respect the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. These rules compel attorneys to behave ethically and in alignment with their client’s best interests.
For example, the rules prevent a lawyer from representing another person whose interests would conflict with those of an existing client. Civil attorneys are also obligated to maintain the confidentiality of client communications. This means that the attorney cannot disclose information they learn in the course of representing a person to anyone else.
A person should expect their civil attorney to tell them about any settlement offers and to counter-offer as the person indicates and only with the person’s consent. A person should also expect their attorney to honestly assess their chances of winning their lawsuit. A civil attorney should advise their client fully and openly about how they are going to charge the client and then charge them as promised.
It is important to note that a client has control over their own lawsuit. In the final analysis, it is the client who should decide which party or parties to sue and when to file a lawsuit. However, a person should defer to their lawyer’s judgment in all legal decisions, and adhere to the advice their lawyer gives them.
A person should select a lawyer they feel they can trust and with whom they can work comfortably. If a person does not feel they can trust an attorney, they should look for a different one.
How Much Does a Civil Attorney Cost?
The total cost of an attorney’s representation in a case is going to depend on several factors. One factor is how long the case lasts from beginning to end. If a case is resolved early in the process, the cost is going to be less than it would be if the case proceeds to the end of a civil trial.
Generally, clients pay their civil litigation attorneys in one of three ways:
- Hourly fee: The client pays their attorney a certain amount per hour of their work. The attorney bills the client for the total number of hours they have worked every month;
- Contingency fee: Personal injury attorneys are usually paid a contingency fee, which is a percentage of the amount of money they win for their client. If they do not win an award, they are not paid;
- Flat fee: Attorneys sometimes accept a single lump sum, or flat fee, as payment for handling a case. This might be true if the case is a simple bankruptcy or an uncomplicated divorce.
The cost of civil suit lawyers might also be affected by the complexity of the case if the attorney is paid on an hourly basis. If a case is straightforward and uncomplicated, the attorneys would devote fewer hours to it, and the total fees would probably be lower than they might be if the case were to demand a lot more of an attorney’s time.
How the attorney charges the client, whether a flat fee, a contingency fee or an hourly fee clearly is going to have an impact on the total cost.
In some cases, the law may allow the victorious party or the other to collect their attorney’s fees from the other party. A local Georgia attorney would be able to explain more.
Do You Need a Civil Attorney?
If you have been served with a complaint in a civil action, you want to consult a civil litigation attorney in Georgia as soon as possible. Or, if you believe you have reason to sue another person, you, too, want to consult a civil litigation attorney in Georgia.
LegalMatch.com can connect you to a qualified, experienced attorney who can give you the professional advice and guidance you need to get the best possible result for your issue.
