Stages of Civil Litigation in the USA

To start a civil case pleading must be filed with the court, called a …¹, naming the party against whom the case is brought, the …². The person or organization filing the case is called the …³. Most civil cases are prepared and filed by an …⁴ paid for by the plaintiff. The complaint must state a …⁵ of action.

Next a …⁶ is issued, inviting defendant to come to court. The summons tells the defendant how many days he has to make appearance and file an …⁷. If he does not, a …⁸ may be entered against him.

Once …⁹ with summons, a defendant must appear and file an answer and …¹⁰ or deny the claim. Defendant may file a …¹¹ against plaintiff for any other claim, even if totally unrelated to plaintiff’s case (even a tort action countering a contract action). Defendant may file a …¹² against another defendant or a single one of multiple plaintiffs. Defendant can request the court for permission …¹³ a party, who defendant thinks may be affected by the case and whose presence is needed for a full and final determination. Defendant can also file affirmative …¹⁴ such as set-off (зарахування вимог). In some cases if defendant has an affirmative defence,
counter-claim, or cross-claim, and does not file it, he loses that …¹⁵ for all time.