Litigation and Advocacy
Litigation stands at the pinnacle of advocacy, and as such, it touches on many other areas of the law. While criminal law may come readily to mind, civil litigation is more likely to affect most people’s lives. Civil litigation can arise in a variety of areas, including: personal injury; business disputes; contracts; employment rights; discrimination; fraud; or an administrative denial of benefits, to name a few. Almost any dispute can lead to litigation. It is a highly specialized skill, and you should not assume that all attorneys or law firms have the background and experience to handle legal matters that may require litigation.
To the layman, litigation can be thought of as legal disputes that must be taken to court to be resolved – put another way, lawsuits. However, not all matters go to court. Criminal cases may end in dismissals, reduced charges, fines, and plea bargains. Civil matters may get negotiated and settled, or are resolved through arbitration or mediation. But to even get to those stages, litigators, criminal and civil, engage in substantial pretrial processes, utilizing discovery, motions, depositions, hearings, and witness interviews, among others. More often than not, this is where cases are won or lost. It is at these early stages where highly skilled and experienced advocacy will make all the difference in your result. Criminal cases and civil disputes usually will not resolve short of a trial unless one side has gained a meaningful advantage at the pretrial stage. Unless your attorney has a substantial background in this area, your rights, your property, and perhaps your liberty, can be lost. Litigation is not a frivolous area of the law, and ensuring you are represented by an experienced and effective advocate is paramount.