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The Role of Litigation Attorney in Utah
The litigation attorneys or trial lawyers work as representatives of defendants or plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit. In Utah, the litigation attorneys work in all stages of litigation from the investigation up to the appeal process. However, the duty in the process varies depending on the nature of the case, the side of representation and the experience and expertise of the attorney. Litigation attorneys in Utah must have a Juris Doctor degree from a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association. This is achieved by accomplishing four years of undergraduate degree law study and then covering three more years in a law school after which they pass the bar exam for accreditation. The following are their duties in the litigation process.
When a case is fresh, these attorneys conduct initial investigations and assessments of the case if they are representing the plaintiff. The investigation is done to determine whether the evidence gathered will be able to warrant them to file a lawsuit. In Instances where they represent the defendant, they investigate the evidence available to be used against their client. They can engage in a settlement before litigation and attempt to agree on the issue before the filing of a lawsuit.
A Utah litigation attorney also bears the responsibility of drafting pleadings and filing them to the court on behalf of their client, whether it is the defendant or the plaintiff. Plaintiff litigation attorneys prepare and file the complains and summons to start the lawsuit while the defense attorneys work with the defendants to come up with responses on these pleadings.
The litigation attorney is also charged with the responsibility of exchanging important information with the other party, which occurs in the discovery process. There are varieties of devices that can be used to discover this information. The methods include depositions, where oral questions are asked by the attorney of the other party in an office and under oath, and interrogatories, which are asked to the other party in court and must be answered.
A Utah litigation attorney is also responsible for conducting pretrial tasks. These activities are conducted to prepare the clients for the trials. They attend conferences before trial, retain witnesses, and create a strategy on how to win the case based on the information and evidence available to them. In this stage, the Utah litigation attorney may conduct pretrial depositions on the witnesses and experts.
The other duty of these lawyers come during the trial stage where they work tirelessly to represent their clients before the court. They discover the strengths and weaknesses of the case and come up with informed arguments. They cross examine witnesses and give their version of the case from evidence and testimonies. They also give opening and closing statements.
In addition, the litigation attorneys are in charge of a settlement that may come during the trial process. Settlements can happen at any time of the trial process. In addition, if the trial goes against the expectation of their clients, they can represent their clients in the appeal process and present evidence on how the court’s decision was wrong.