The basic steps in the civil litigation process goes as follows: Pleadings, Discovery, Trial, and appeal. The process begins when someone files a complaint with the court. The defendant then has a set amount of time to answer the complaint and this process is called the pleadings. The next step in the litigation process is the discovery aspect. In this stage each party gathers facts and witnesses in order to support each sides case. Also, during this stage each party can request for certain facts to be dismissed or ignored. The next step in the litigation process is for the case to go to trial. In this stage the parties either appear before a judge and a jury or just in front of the judge. Each party then states their case for the jury or judge
