What Should I Do If I Have Been Served With a Civil Lawsuit?

Guidance on How to Handle Being Served With a Legal Complaint

Especially if you have never been through this before, being served with a civil lawsuit can be terrifying. There are a few things you should know:

• You have twenty days from the date you were served to respond.  This is often not the same date as when the lawsuit was filed.  Whatever the nature of the claims, you should contact an attorney right away.  If you miss the 20 day response deadline, you can lose by default.
• Most of the time once you have a lawyer involved they can reach an agreement with the other side to extend the 20 day period to allow time to determine the best way to respond.
• You should also be careful to preserve any documents or evidence you have relating to the dispute, whether you think it is helpful or not.  Once you are on notice of a lawsuit, you have a duty to preserve relevant evidence, and courts can impose serious sanctions if anything is lost or destroyed after that.

Above all, though you should act promptly in getting legal advice, there is no need to panic.  The documents you were served were drafted to look as bad for you as they possibly can, but you will have an opportunity to tell your side of the story, and your attorney can help put the best foot forward to either defend or settle the dispute.


Learn more here about what to expect as a defendant in a civil lawsuit.

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