Have You Been Served with a Lawsuit?
How to know if you have been served- If you are a business owner and someone from your business is served, like a VP or any officer of the company, typically, that will count as service of process.
When you receive service of process of the lawsuit, there will be a few documents included in the packet.
The Complaint. The complaint is the statement of the facts that are being alleged against you and the legal claims that are being made against you.
The court in which a lawsuit is filed will generally depend on the following:
Where the parties live, reside, or are located, and
what the lawsuit is for: money, an injunction, etc.
How fast the plaintiff wants the case to be resolved,
and whether the plaintiff wants a bench trial or a jury trial.
The Summons. The summons will give you a certain timeframe within which you have to file your response. In Georgia, it is typically 21 days for Federal court and 30 days for a State of Georgia court.
The Discovery requests. A plaintiff may serve discovery requests along with the complaint. You will typically have 45 days to respond.
If you are served, call Blue Sky Law immediately and let an experienced legal advisor review your options.
What happens if you ignore a lawsuit?
You should not ignore a lawsuit; it will not go away. In fact, it will likely grow.
When you are sued, you are given a certain amount of time to respond to the lawsuit. Once that amount of time passes, the other side may move for something called a "default judgment."
If you do not respond to the lawsuit, the court may enter a default judgment against you, meaning that you have lost the lawsuit, and the court has decided that the opposing party is the victor.
Don't be a victim, as many lawsuits can be expertly navigated!
