Houston Litigation Attorneys
Rely on Our Experienced & Trial-Tested Lawyers to Protect Your Business
At Stephens Reed & Armstrong, PLLC we know litigation. Every lawyer
is a litigator and all of our attorneys are trained to take cases to trial.
We bring decades of combined experience to each case we handle and strive
to provide our clients with boutique attention.
People are often intimidated by litigation because they are unfamiliar
with the process. Generally speaking, the litigation process unfolds as follows:
Pleadings
This is the process whereby a pleading, known as a petition or complaint,
is filed against a company or individual. The petition makes various allegations
against another company or individual. The pleading is served on the opposing
party who then has approximately 20 or so days to file a responsive pleading
called an “answer.”
Discovery
This is the process through which information about the facts of a case
are discovered. Written questions concerning facts about the case are
sent back and forth among the parties and depositions are taken to get
sworn testimony from witnesses with knowledge about the case. Documents
are exchanged between the parties and each party is able to better understand
the strength and weakness of their case.
Motions
This is the process where through various court filings, the attorneys
request that the court take action in the case before trial. These actions
can be a simple as delaying the trial to allow additional time for preparation
or as complex as dismissing the case due to a lack of evidence.
Mediation
This is a confidential dispute resolution process where cases are referred
to a mutual third party so that the parties can try to resolve their case
before trial. Nothing said in mediation can be used against a party, and
most cases generally settle at this stage of the litigation.
Pre-trial
This is the stage of the process where the parties discuss with the court
what they expect to take place at trial. The parties exchange exhibits;
inform one another of witnesses; and provide the court with copies of
documents to be introduced at trial. The case is normally given a date
that the case will actually be tried.
Trial
This is the stage of the process that you are likely most familiar with.
Various witnesses take the stand, give testimony, and are cross examined.
Evidence is entered into the record. Lawyers make opening statements and
closing arguments and then a judge or jury decides the case in favor of
one party.
