Mr. Heidenheimer helps people like yourself who needs to sue someone, or who has been sued.

Below are "Frequently Asked Questions" about these issues.

Q: How long do I have to sue?

Q: Where do I sue?

Q: If I get sued, how long do I have to answer the lawsuit?

Q: What happens if I get sued and I don't answer the lawsuit?

Q: What are pleadings?

Q: What is discovery?

 

 

 

Answer:

The answer to your question depends upon what your cause of action is. However every cause of action has a limited time by which to file suit. The time by which you have to file suit for a cause of action is known as the limitations period. If you wait beyond this limitations period, you forfeit your right to sue.

As a generalization, limitations periods often are either two years or four years from the date the activity occurred that gives rise to your cause of action. For instance, personal injury causes of action have a two year limitations period and breach of contract causes of action have a four year limitations period.

Answer:

The proper place in which to file suit is know as venue. The precise answer regarding your lawsuit involves a legal determination of comparing the facts of your case to several venue statutes. In some instances, venue is mandatory in one county. For instance, if you are suing for recovery of land, the lawsuit shall be brought in the county in which all or a part of the land is located.

In other instances, venue is proper in one of several counties. For instance, if you are suing for personal injuries sustained from an accident, venue is proper in either the county where the accident occurred or if the defendant is a person, in the county where the defendant resided at the time of the accident. For example, if you are in a traffic accident in Collin County and the defendant is another driver who lived in Dallas County at the time of the accident, then venue is proper in either Collin County or Dallas County. Because jury verdicts tend to be more favorable for plaintiffs in Dallas County than Collin County, your lawsuit would probably be filed in Dallas County in this example.

Answer:

The general rule is a defendant must file an answer by 10:00 a.m. on the first Monday after the expiration of 20 days from the date the defendant was served with the citation. However if the 20th day after service falls on a Monday that is a legal holiday, the answer is due the next day on Tuesday. Also if the 20th day after service falls on a Monday, the answer is due on the following Monday.

Answer:

Failure to answer the lawsuit allows the plaintiff to obtain from the Court a default judgment against you, which gives the plaintiff the relief he has pled against you. A defendant who defaults admits all allegations of fact in the plaintiff's petition, including damages if the damages pled are a sum certain. If the amount of damages pled are not a sum certain, then the plaintiff simply introduces evidence at a hearing to establish the amount of the damages and then the Court renders the default judgment against you, because all other allegations of fact have been admitted against you by your failure to answer the lawsuit.

Obviously it is very important to file an answer when you are sued.

Answer:

A plaintiff's pleadings consist of the petition, which is the document that sets forth the plaintiff's causes of action against the defendant or defendants, and alleges facts in support of those causes of action.

A defendant's pleadings is the defendant's response to the plaintiff's petition, which always includes an answer denying liability. These denials can include a general denial, which generally denies liability, and affirmative defenses, which deny liability based upon specific defenses such as a claim that the plaintiff's limitations period to file suit has expired. A defendant cannot rely on an affirmative defense unless it is specifically pled. Otherwise the affirmative defense is waived.

In addition to the answer, the defendant's pleading can challenge the court's jurisdiction or the appropriateness of the county where suit was filed. If these issues are raised, they must be raised before the answer; or otherwise, these issues are waived. Therefore knowledge of how to plead and draft the defendant's pleading is of critical importance.

Answer:

Discovery is the process by which information is learned about facts that are relevant to the lawsuit.

The discovery process can be quite involved, because certain discovery requests can be improper to which objections and/or privileges must be timely raised. Failure to timely raise these objections and/or privileges can result in their waiver.

Additionally counsel for opposing parties sometimes make objections which are without merit, at which time counsel for the requesting party must file a motion to compel responses to this discovery and request a hearing for the judge to make rulings about whether the requested information is to be provided.

Discovery is a huge part of properly preparing your case for settlement or trial. Once discovery is completed, the lawsuit is ready to be settled or tried.