Court Procedure
Articles across the publication that deal with court procedure.
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Courts & Civil Litigation
Statutes of Limitation: How Filing Deadlines Can End a Civil Claim
A limitations period can end a civil claim before anyone looks at the facts. Here is how the clock starts, what pauses it, and why the answer is almost always a question of state law.
7 min readExplainer -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Service of Process: Giving Legally Sufficient Notice of a Lawsuit
A lawsuit does not really begin until the defendant has been served. Here is what service must accomplish, who is allowed to do it, and what happens when it goes wrong.
7 min readGuide -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Motions to Dismiss: Common Grounds and What Happens After the Ruling
A motion to dismiss argues that a case cannot proceed as filed, even if every fact alleged is true. The grounds are limited, and so are the consequences of losing one.
7 min readExplainer -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Appealing a Civil Judgment: Notice, Record, Standards, and Timing
An appeal is not a second trial. It is a review of what the trial court did with the record it had — governed by a short deadline and a standard of review that often decides the outcome.
7 min readExplainer -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Mediation and Court-Ordered Settlement Conferences: What to Expect
Most civil cases end in a negotiated resolution rather than a trial. Mediation and judicial settlement conferences are the two structured routes there, and they work differently.
6 min readGuide -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Discovery Disputes: Meet-and-Confer, Motions to Compel, and Sanctions
Discovery disputes follow a fixed escalation. Courts expect the parties to try to solve it themselves first, and the rules attach real consequences when that fails.
7 min readGuide -
Courts & Civil Litigation
Representing Yourself in Court: Filing Rules and Where Pro Se Parties Get Stuck
Self-represented parties are held to the same procedural rules as lawyers. Knowing which rules actually decide cases is more useful than knowing the law of your claim.
6 min readGuide -
Business & Compliance
Export Controls and Sanctions: Screening a Transaction Before It Proceeds
Export control and sanctions screening comes down to four questions about an item, its destination, its recipient and its end use — asked before the shipment, not after.
7 min readGuide -
Criminal Law & Civil Rights
Arraignment and the First Court Appearance: What Actually Gets Decided
The first appearance often lasts a few minutes and shapes everything that follows. Four things get decided there, and guilt is not one of them.
6 min readExplainer
