Explaining a lawsuit to a client ( USA)

Ms. Cherry, sit down, please. Now I know that this is your first time to be involved in a lawsuit, so I want to go over a few terms and let you know what’s going to happen. Some of this you’ll know from watching TV, but much of what really happens in the courtroom bears no resemblance to those lawyer shows or movies. I can assure you Tom Cruise won’t show up.

I’ve already filed the …(1)………..-that tells the court what the problem is that you want them to look at. Since you ….(2)…….. the complaint, you are the ……(3)…... The man who hit you is the …(4)……. He’s also filed papers called the ….(5)…… that give his side of the story.

Next we enter the …(6)…… phase, where we discover what everybody knows and agrees to. We’ll send requests for them to agree with us about certain facts. We call those requests …(7)……., but don’t worry, that’s not like an admission of guilt or anything. If nobody disagrees with certain facts, we call them ….(8)…….. It just means we all agree that, for example, you were driving at or below the speed limit. That way we don’t have to spend time in court …..(9)…… those things.

Once we’ve finished with all the pretrial ….(10)….. and the trial starts, I’ll call you to the …(11)….. and you will tell what happened. The defense attorney will also ask you questions; that’s called …….(12)……... I’ll call you when I hear from the other attorney.

And thank you now for stopping by.

2. What’s wrong with the last sentence the lawyer says?

3. Look at the first paragraph. Can you explain the use of ‘ll from “ you’ll know”? How can you translate it?

Choose from: cross-examination ; discovery ; stand ; defendant; settling; complaint ; admissions ; answer ; plaintiff ; stipulations ; motions ; filed

Send your answers to: redactie@legalnet.ro

Autor: prof. IULIA DUMITRACHESCU
CO-LIBRIS ED LANGUAGE SCHOOL
office@co-libris.ro