Stages of a Civil Case in the Connecticut Superior Court
We hear of the complicated processes involved in litigating a civil lawsuit, but what are the specific stages of a civil case in practice? In this article, we take you through the steps of commencing a civil lawsuit in Connecticut to the options that are available post trial.
Commencing a Civil Law Suit
In Connecticut, a civil law suit begins with serving process on the defendant.
Process in civil actions shall be a writ of summons or attachment, describing the parties, the court to which it is returnable and the time and place of appearance, and shall be accompanied by the plaintiff’s complaint. Connecticut Practice Book § 8-1 (a).
In other words, to begin a civil law suit in the Connecticut Superior Court, the plaintiff needs to fill out the summons form (Summons, Civil Actions JD-CV-1) and attach her complaint. If the plaintiff is pro se, i.e. self representing, then after the plaintiff fills out the summons form, the plaintiff has to take the summons form and the signed complaint to the Superior Court Clerk’s Office. The clerk will sign the summons form. After the form is signed, the defendants need to be served with the summons and complaint.
Preliminary Pleadings
In Connecticut, there is a specific order for pleadings to be filed. If a motion or pleading is filed out of order, the filer waives the right to file what he skipped. The specific filing order is as follows:
(1) The plaintiff’s complaint.
(2) The defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
(3) The defendant’s request to revise the complaint.
(4) The defendant’s motion to strike the complaint.
(5) The defendant’s answer (including any special defenses) to the complaint.
(6) The plaintiff’s request to revise the defendant’s answer.
(7) The plaintiff’s motion to strike the defendant’s answer.
(8) The plaintiff’s reply to any special defenses.
Connecticut Practice Book § 10–6.
If, for example, the defendant’s answer is filed immediately after the plaintiff’s complaint, then the defendant cannot later file a motion to strike the complaint or a request to revise the complaint.
Complaint
As the name suggests, a complaint is the document where the plaintiff states the facts that caused her problems.
“The first pleading on the part of the plaintiff shall be known as the complaint. It shall contain a concise statement of the facts constituting the cause of action and, on a separate page of the complaint, a demand for relief which shall be a statement of the remedy or remedies sought.” Connecticut Practice Book § 10–20.
Motion to Dismiss
A motion to dismiss is a document that asks the court to dismiss the case because either the court does not have the authority to determine the outcome of the case, there is an error in the complaint or summons, or there was a problem with serving the defendant.
“A motion to dismiss shall be used to assert: (1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter; (2) lack of jurisdiction over the person; (3) insufficiency of process; and (4) insufficiency of service of process.” Connecticut Practice Book § 10–30.
Request to Revise
A request to revise is a document that asks a party to provide more information on what his accusation is about or asks a party to clarify the information that has already been provided.
“Whenever any party desires to obtain (1) a more complete or particular statement of the allegations of an adverse party’s pleading, or (2) the deletion of any unnecessary, repetitious, scandalous, impertinent, immaterial or otherwise improper allegations in an adverse party’s pleading, or (3) separation of causes of action which may be united in one complaint when they are improperly combined in one count, or the separation of two or more grounds of defense improperly combined in one defense, or (4) any other appropriate correction in an adverse party’s pleading, the party desiring any such amendment in an adverse party’s pleading may file a timely request to revise that pleading.” Connecticut Practice Book § 10–35.
Motion to Strike
A motion to strike is a document that asks the court to remove portions of accusations from the complaint, prayer for relief (usually money the plaintiff wants to receive by filing the law suit), or answer, because the accusations are not legally accurate. A motion to strike is also used when a party should have been added to the law suit but is not added.
“A motion to strike shall be used whenever any party wishes to contest: (1) the legal sufficiency of the allegations of any complaint, counterclaim or cross claim, or of any one or more counts thereof, to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (2) the legal sufficiency of any prayer for relief in any such complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint; or (3) the legal sufficiency of any such complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or any count thereof, because of the absence of any necessary party or, pursuant to Section 17-56 (b), the failure to join or give notice to any interested person; or (4) the joining of two or more causes of action which cannot properly be united in one complaint, whether the same be stated in one or more counts; or (5) the legal sufficiency of any answer to any complaint, counterclaim or cross complaint, or any part of that answer including any special defense contained therein.” Connecticut Practice Book § 10–39.
Answer
An answer is the defendant’s direct response to the plaintiff’s complaint. In an answer, the defendant denies or admits as true the plaintiff’s allegations in the complaint.
“The defendant in the answer shall specially deny such allegations of the complaint as the defendant intends to controvert, admitting the truth of the other allegations, unless the defendant intends in good faith to controvert all the allegations, in which case he or she may deny them generally.” Connecticut Practice Book § 10–46.
Discovery and Depositions
Through discovery procedures and depositions the parties are able to find more facts that can either prove their case or prove their defense. Parties are also required to disclose certain information to each other, such as the experts they intend to use to help their case or the defense they intend to use. However, a party could ask the court for a protective order if the opposing party abuses the discovery process.
“Upon motion by a party from whom discovery is sought, and for good cause shown, the judicial authority may make any order which justice requires to protect a party from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense . . . .” Connecticut Practice Book § 13–4.
The main discovery methods are conducted through the following procedures:
Interrogatories, which are are written questions that a party sends to the opponent; and
Request for production, inspection, or an examination, which are requests to either have a document provided to a party, inspect an area or document, or examine an area or document.
“In any civil action . . . any party may serve . . . upon any other party a request to afford the party submitting the request the opportunity to inspect, copy, photograph or otherwise reproduce designated documents or to inspect and copy, test or sample any tangible things in the possession, custody or control of the party upon whom the request is served or to permit entry upon designated land or other property for the purpose of inspection, measuring, surveying, photographing, testing or sampling the property or any designated object or operation thereon.” Connecticut Practice Book § 13–9.
Request for admission, which is a written document asking an opponent to admit certain facts, and physical or mental examinations may also be conducted during the discovery process.
Depositions are meetings where the testimony of any person, such as the parties or witnesses, are taken through oral questioning. At a deposition, the deponent, the person being asked the questions, may also be cross-examined by the opposing party.
Trial
A trial may be a bench trial or a jury trial. A bench trial is a trial where there is no jury, instead, the judge acts as a fact-finder and fully decides the case. During a trial, evidence is presented to the fact-finder, usually in the form of witness testimony, but evidence may be presented in other forms as well. Witnesses are asked questions by the party they are in court to testify for, a process called-direct examination, and may also be asked questions by the party they are testifying against, a process called cross-examination.
After all of the witnesses have been called and cross-examined and the evidence has been submitted the fact-finder, either judge or jury, decides what the facts of the case are and returns a result. If the fact-finder is a jury, the jury returns a verdict.
Post Trial
The case still may not be over when a verdict has been returned. The following motions may be filed within 10 days after the verdict was accepted.
Motion in Arrest of Judgment. This motion may be filed for “extrinsic causes,” which are usually due to juror misconduct, or for “causes apparent on the record,” which are usually due to a complaint that is legally lacking.
Motion to Set Aside a Verdict. There are two main instances when a verdict may be set aside. The first occurs if the court finds that the verdict is unjust because, based on the evidence, the jury made a mistake in applying the law. The second instance occurs if the verdict causes the court to question whether the jury was influenced by corruption, prejudice, or bias.
Motion for Remittitur. This motion asks the court to decrease the amount of damages the jury granted. This motion is rarely granted, unless the amount the jury decided was due to bias, corruption or prejudice.
Motion for Additur. This motion asks the court to increase the amount of damages the jury granted. Similar to the motion for remittitur, the motion for additur is rarely granted unless the amount the jury decided was due to bias, corruption, mistake or prejudice.
Motion for New Trial. This motion asks the court to redo the trial because, despite due diligence, an error occurred in the current trial that would unfairly impact the case on appeal.
“The Superior Court may grant a new trial of any action that may come before it, for mispleading, the discovery of new evidence or want of actual notice of the action to any defendant or of a reasonable opportunity to appear and defend, when a just defense in whole or part existed, or the want of actual notice to any plaintiff of the entry of a nonsuit for failure to appear at trial or dismissal for failure to prosecute with reasonable diligence, or for other reasonable cause, according to the usual rules in such cases. The judges of the Superior Court may in addition provide by rule for the granting of new trials upon prompt request in cases where the parties or their counsel have not adequately protected their rights during the original trial of an action.” General Statutes § 52–270 (a).
Of course, other issues or motions may appear during trial or in complex litigation involving multiple plaintiffs or defendants. However, knowing these steps should put you at an advantage in any law suit you encounter.