CIVIL LITIGATION PROCEDURE IN MARYLAND,
WASHINGTON, D.C. AND FEDERAL COURTS

If the daily dramas of Kramer & Connolly were placed on prime time, Kramer’s Law would look a bit different than LA Law. Like LA Law, our litigators display immense dedication to our clients’ cause and advance that cause with trial advocacy skills to match. Yet, unlike LA Law, we confront the challenges of increasingly complex litigation and evidentiary rules in congested court systems which do not permit the resolution of controversies in the scope of a quick one-hour episode.

Although viewers of LA Law see a litigation process which takes only sixty minutes, real lawsuits can take many months or even years to resolve. Depending on the particular jurisdiction in which a lawsuit is filed, cases may take as little as three months to come to trial and as long as two years -- that is, before one adds the additional time of postponements which are common to the litigation process. While the lawsuit is pending, attorneys must aggressively investigate the facts underlying each case, conducting such discovery as depositions, document requests, and interrogatories. Furthermore, just because a lawsuit has been filed, that does not mean that the case will ultimately be decided by a jury after a full trial on the merits of the case. A lot can happen on the way to the courthouse. Indeed, depending upon the circumstances of a particular case, effective litigators may be able to resolve the matter prior to trial through a variety of "motions" or may be able to settle the case through skillful negotiation. In fact, even after a full trial on the merits of a case, parties have rights to appeal which may add additional months or years to the litigation process.

Understanding the litigation process and its unique terminology is essential to an understanding of the time and effort involved in effective courtroom advocacy. However, at Kramer & Connolly, we believe it is extremely important to keep our clients fully informed at every step in the process so that they understand exactly what is happening. Educated clients are best-suited to work with their attorneys to achieve the best possible results effectively, efficiently and with an eye toward reducing the cost of litigation. At the risk of oversimplifying a very complex system, this understanding may best be achieved by reviewing the litigation process step by step.

• STEP ONE: What court to sue in?
• STEP TWO: Filing suit
• STEP THREE: Serving the lawsuit
• STEP FOUR: Defending Against Lawsuits
• STEP FIVE: Discovery & Case Investigation
• STEP SIX: Pre-Trial Motions
• STEP SEVEN: The trial
• STEP EIGHT: Post-trial motions
• STEP NINE: Enforcing and Collecting Judgments
• STEP TEN: Appeals