Civil Litigation Lawyer

What is Civil Law?

Civil Law relates to the relationships of a contract and the exchange between private parties whether they be individuals, businesses or a combination. Civil law encompasses all law that is not criminal law and is divided into two branches; tort law (personal injury) and contract law. Civil law does not deal with criminal convictions or sentences. Rather, civil law cases are usually filed by victims instead of a prosecutor and are litigated in civil courts as law suits. The end result is normally financial compensation. The burden of proof is also different between civil and criminal cases. In a criminal case the defendant has to be proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." In civil cases a defendant has to be proven wrong based on the balance of probabilities.

Often civil disputes can be resolved inexpensively by getting all the parties together and airing their grievances. Not every civil matter needs to be litigated. However, when the parties cannot conclude their differences, a civil suit is required. The matter is initiated by filing a civil complaint before either the District Justice (for matters below $12,000 in controversy in Pennsylvania) or before The Court of Common Pleas. The Complaints must be in a particular form depending upon the Court and need to be properly served on the opposing party and answered within the time limits prescribed by the Rules of Procedure. Civil cases may be litigated either before a panel of arbitrators or before the Court directly. Typical cases deal with contract law, breaches of contract, negligence, invasions of privacy, violations of rights, personal injury and wrongful death.