Transcript BUSINESS LAW 3E, by Henry R. Cheeseman

Chapter 3
Alternative, Judicial, and EDispute Resolution
Litigation

Also called Judicial dispute resolution as
opposed to nonjudicial dispute
resolution.
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Pretrial Litigation Process
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Pleadings
Discovery
Dismissals and pretrial judgments
Settlement conference
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Pleadings
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Complaint - the document the plaintiff files with
the court and serves on the defendant to initiate
a lawsuit
Summons - a court order directing the
defendant to appear in court and answer
the complaint
Answer - the defendant’s written response to
the plaintiff’s complaint that is filed with the
court and served on the plaintiff
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Pleadings

Cross-Complaint and Reply: is a
document filed by a defendant againt
the plaintiff to seek damages or some
other remedy. However, a relpy filed by
an original plaintiff to answer the
defendant’s cross complaint.
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Intervention and Consolidation

Intervention
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The act of other parties to join as parties to
an existing lawsuit
Consolidation

The act of a court to combine two or more
separate lawsuits into one lawsuit
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Statute of Limitations

Statute of
limitations

Establishes the
period during
which a plaintiff
must bring a
lawsuit against a
defendant
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Discovery
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Discovery—a legal process during which both
parties engage in various activities to discover
facts of the case from the other party and
from witnesses prior to trial
Major forms of discovery
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Depositions by the deponent
Interrogatories
Production of documents
Physical and mental examinations
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Pretrial Judgments

Motion for judgment on the pleadings
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Alleges that if all the facts presented in the pleadings
are taken as true, the party making the motion would
win the lawsuit when the proper law is applied to these
asserted facts.
Motion for summary judgment

Motion that asserts that there are no factual disputes
to be decided by the jury; if so, the judge can apply
the proper law to the undisputed facts and decide the
case without a jury.
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Settlement Conference
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Court may direct parties to appear
for a settlement conference or
pretrial hearing.
If there is no settlement, the pretrial
hearing is used to identify major
issues.
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Phases of a Trial
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Jury selection
Opening statement
Plaintiff’s case
Defendant’s case
Rebuttal and
rejoinder
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Phases of a Trial
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Closing
arguments
Jury instructions
Jury deliberations
Verdict
Entry of judgment
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The Appeal
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In a civil case, either party can appeal the
trial court’s decision once a final judgment
is entered.
In a criminal case, only the defendant
can appeal.
An appellate court will reverse a lower
court decision if it finds an error of law in
the record.

It will generally not reverse a finding of fact.
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Types of Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ADR)
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Arbitration
Mediation and conciliation
Minitrial
Fact finding
Judicial referee
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Arbitration
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Arbitration is a form of ADR in which
parties choose an impartial third party
to hear and decide the dispute.
Many contracts require that disputes
arising out of the contract be submitted
to arbitration.
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Mediation and Conciliation
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Mediation
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A form of ADR in which the parties choose a
neutral third party to act as the mediator of
the dispute
Conciliation

A form of mediation in which the parties
choose an interested third party to act as the
mediator
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Minitrial

A minitrial is a session,
usually lasting a day
or less, in which the
lawyers for each side
present their cases to
representatives of
each party who have
authority to settle the
dispute.
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Fact-Finding
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Fact-finding is a process
in which the parties hire
a neutral person to
investigate the dispute.
The fact-finder reports
his or her findings to
the adversaries and
may recommend a basis
for settlement.
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Judicial Referee

If the parties agree, the court may
appoint a judicial referee, often a
retired judge, to conduct a private trial
and render a judgment.
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E-Dispute Resolution

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Services offered online
E-Arbitration
E-Mediation

Settlement of claims can be reached
quickly and less expensively
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