Civil lawsuit – what is important to know to be successful in court?

What is a civil lawsuit?

A civil lawsuit is a legal proceeding that is usually conducted according to Civil Procedure Regulations, in which relief is usually sought in the form of monetary compensation or some kind of order (for example: Order made, injunction, Foreclosure orderCivil claims can be filed as: Tort claim, Class action lawsuit, Claim before the condominium inspector, a claim in the field of family law, a claim in the field of labor law, etc., and the plaintiff can be any legally competent person, or another entity (for example: a company, an association, or even the state).

לעומת זאת במסגרת הליך פלילי לרוב נדרש עונש מאסר, עבודות שירות, מאסר על תנאי, ולא סעד כספי. במסגרת הליך פלילי ה"תובעת" היא המדינה ולא האדם או הגוף שניזוק בפועל.

Before filing a civil lawsuit, you need to understand the following: Civil lawsuits or civil litigation are not an ATM, and not everyone who files a lawsuit in court will necessarily win their claim, and not in every case will the plaintiff receive high financial compensation (or at all). In many cases, an unfounded lawsuit may be dismissed, while the plaintiff may be charged legal fees (sometimes very high amounts).

This is exactly why you need to prepare properly before filing any lawsuit in court, and contact Claims lawyer An experienced civil lawyer to guide you throughout the entire process. Later in this article, you will discover what you should do to increase your chances of success in a civil lawsuit.

1. Before filing a civil lawsuit, you need to document, document and…document.

בכל מחלוקת (קטנה או גדולה) כדאי תמיד לחשוב שלב אחד קדימה ולהניח שלא יהיה מנוס ותאלצו להגיש תביעה. בנסיבות אלה מומלץ מאוד שהדברים יהיו מתועדים באמצעות הקלטות של שיחות טלפוניות או בכתב (דוא"ל, הודעות וואטסאפ, תכתובת במסנג'ר וכו'). תיעודים חשובים במיוחד אם אתם שוקלים הגשת Civil lawsuit for assaultIn such a case, it is also worth documenting the damage caused by the attack (photos, medical findings, etc.).

Once you have correspondence or recordings, it will be much easier to file a civil lawsuit because it will be easy to prove the facts, and it will be much more difficult for the defendant to claim that things happened in a way that benefits him (and thus complicate the civil trial).

2. Send a warning letter before filing a civil lawsuit

Sending Warning letter Before filing a civil lawsuit, there are many advantages and it is recommended to consider a warning letter to the defendant before filing any lawsuit. The warning letter should describe short (The warning letter is not a substitute for the statement of claim) your claims and demands and allow the other party to respond to the letter within 7-14 days.

In a small number of cases, the person who receives the warning letter will agree to your demands, thus saving you the hassle of a long and expensive civil trial. In most cases, you will receive a response letter in which all of your demands will be rejected. At the same time, you will also receive an explanation (sometimes very brief) as to why your claims are wrong (in the eyes of the future defendant). This version is very significant because the future defendant will have difficulty changing his version later, and on the other hand, you will know, thanks to the response letter, how to formulate your claim more correctly. The statement of claim, which may increase your chances of success in your claim.

3. Which court should I file a civil lawsuit with?

Filing a civil lawsuit is carried out according to Civil Procedure RegulationsIn order to decide which court to file the lawsuit with, one needs to know the subject matter of the lawsuit, the amount of the lawsuit, and sometimes also the location of the defendant's residence or business.

Sometimes a claim can be filed in several different courts (for example, Small Claims Court and the Magistrates' Court). The decision where to file the claim is up to the plaintiff and he is the one who must weigh a number of considerations. For example: does he want to handle the claim himself (and file the claim in Small Claims Court) or use the services of a Claims lawyer (and file the lawsuit with the Magistrate's Court)?

Another issue that needs to be taken into account is the location of the court where a civil lawsuit will be filed. Courts in Israel are divided by jurisdiction, so for example, a lawsuit that can be filed in Rishon LeZion can also be filed in Netanya (the cities are considered to be in the same jurisdiction), but cannot be filed in Ashdod (belonging to a different jurisdiction).

This matter may sometimes be critical for several reasons: 1. יתכן שבית משפט בעיר אחת עמוס הרבה יותר לעומת בית משפט בעיר אחרת. אם המטרה שלכם להגיע לתוצאה כמה שיותר מהר כנראה שתעדיפו לבחור באותו בית משפט שבו "הדברים זזים מהר יותר". 2. יתכן שידוע לכם מניסיון קודם שבבית משפט בעיר אחת השופטים "נוחים" יותר (קל יותר לשכנע אותם, הם פסקו בעבר באופן שמתאים לתביעה שלכם, וכו'). במצב זה כנראה שתעדיפו לבחור בבית משפט שישרת את האינטרס שלכם בצורה הטובה ביותר.

4. Filing a civil lawsuit sometimes involves significant financial expenses.

סוגיה זו פחות רלוונטית לכל מה שקשור להגשת תביעה קטנה משום שהליך זה נועד מלכתחילה לסוגיות פשוטות והוא מוגבל מבחינת סכום התביעה שניתן לתבוע (נכון להיום כ-37 אלף ש"ח). יחד עם זאת, אם אתם שוקלים הגשת תביעות אזרחיות בסכומים משמעותיים יותר או בסוגיות שאינן בסמכותו של בית משפט לתביעות קטנות כדאי שתכירו את ההוצאות הבאות.

Court fee

Almost every civil procedure involves a fee. Court feeBefore submitting any Financial claim In a magistrate's or district court you will be forced to To pay a fee 2.5 percent of the claim amount. You will have to pay 1.25% of the claim amount immediately upon filing the claim, and the other half of the fee will have to be paid before The evidence discussion (The main hearing in any civil trial that takes place at least, and sometimes much more, six months after the filing of the lawsuit).

Lawyer's fees

This is a fee that you will have to pay to the lawyer who will file a lawsuit on your behalf and represent you during the trial. There is no uniform and fixed price list according to which the lawyers operate. The fee for each case is determined individually according to the complexity of each case. Usually, the more complex the issue, the higher the fee may be (for example; according to media reports, the fee that Benjamin Netanyahu pays to his lawyers is estimated at millions of shekels).

In some cases, the lawyer may agree to conduct a civil trial and receive his fees based on success/percentage of the winnings. This type of payment is mainly used in tort law (traffic accidents, work accidents).

Fees for experts

Sometimes a civil trial will be held and the issue in dispute will not be legal but rather an issue related to a specific area of ​​expertise, for example a medical issue. Since the judge is not a doctor and is not knowledgeable about medical issues, in order to succeed in such a lawsuit, it is necessary to submit an opinion from an expert doctor to explain to the court exactly what the medical damages were and whose fault they were (for example: if this is a case involving medical negligence and your claim is that a doctor was negligent in his duties and caused you significant harm).

Without the ability to finance these and other expenses, it may be difficult to pursue a civil lawsuit.

The person responsible for paying the expenses mentioned so far (and other expenses) is the client. Filing a claim without the ability to finance all the expenses mentioned so far may predetermine the fate of the claim. For this reason, before filing a claim, it is worth doing a market survey and checking how much a lawyer's services will cost you for your claim, and how much an expert opinion may cost. Based on the findings, you will understand whether you can bear the costs.

5. Not every lawyer knows and can conduct civil litigation.

Like doctors, lawyers specialize in different fields, and like doctors, not every lawyer will be able to help you with every legal issue. There are lawyers who specialize, for example, in drafting contracts but do not engage in litigation (court representation) at all. It is not certain that a lawyer who deals only with contracts will be the right choice to represent you in civil law.

Choosing a lawyer should be based on experience, not price.

A common mistake I see a lot is choosing a lawyer based on the cheapest price. Focusing on the cheapest price does not lead to choosing the lawyer who is best suited for the legal issue you are facing. You are likely not choosing the cheapest doctor, the cheapest designer, the cheapest contractor, etc.

By the same logic, it would be a mistake to necessarily choose the cheapest lawyer, because you may be surprised to discover that the cheapest lawyer is not at all knowledgeable, or not sufficiently knowledgeable, about the legal issue that is relevant to you, and will not be able to represent you well in a civil lawsuit.

Another thing you need to consider is that changing lawyers mid-trial may cost you additional or even higher amounts of money, because correcting mistakes made by another lawyer may involve a lot of work. Remember – cheap may cost you dearly.

How to choose a lawyer to handle civil claims?

First, try to locate civil lawsuits similar to the one you are considering filing a lawsuit for. In the age of the Internet, this is not a complex task. Try to check who represented the plaintiffs (or defendants) in those lawsuits and how they ended. If the result was positive, you can consider contacting that lawyer to review your case and inform you whether a similar result can be reached in your case.

Recommendations – Do you know someone who has had a civil lawsuit? Talk to them and try to get their opinion on the lawyer who represented them in the trial. Try to find out what the subject of the lawsuit was and what the outcome was, and of course whether the lawyer was available to answer the client's questions (in some cases, lawyers are unavailable and do not return calls to clients who call them - and this can be particularly frustrating).

Is the lawyer the one who will handle your claim or is an intern on his behalf? Many law firms employ interns or junior lawyers. They are usually the ones who will handle your claim, not the lawyer you met with. It is important to verify before signing a fee agreement who will actually handle your claim – whether it is the same experienced lawyer or a junior lawyer or intern from his firm.

אני מקווה שמאמר זה סייע לכם להבין מה יש לעשות טרם הגשת תביעה אזרחית. אם אתם שוקלים להגיש תביעה בסכום העולה על 100 אלף ש"ח או אם אתם צריכים להתגונן מפני תביעה, אתם מוזמנים contact with our office to examine the chances of success in your case.

In conclusion

In a civil lawsuit, financial relief or some kind of order is usually required. In such a lawsuit, it is possible to combine and request several remedies (for example, financial relief, both an injunction and a restraining order).

Before filing a civil lawsuit, you should do some preparatory work and gather data that may help later. It is not wise to file a lawsuit and only then collect data, as this may require filing a lawsuit. Request to amend a statement of claim And this may bring the procedure back to the beginning, which is undesirable from the plaintiff's perspective (among other things because the plaintiff will usually have to pay Legal expenses Because the defendant will be forced to submit Defense corrected).

It is worth considering sending a warning letter before filing a civil lawsuit. At least in some cases, this may make the procedure unnecessary or at least help you understand the opposing party's position, which may contribute to preparing the lawsuit more correctly and wisely.

The amount of damages claimed in a civil lawsuit affects the court to which the lawsuit will actually be filed. Up to 2.5 million shekels, the lawsuit will be filed with the Secretariat Magistrate's CourtOver 2.5 million shekels, the claim will be filed with the District Court Secretariat.

It is very important to seek the services of a civil litigation lawyer who is experienced in these types of proceedings. This will significantly increase your chances of success.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding a Civil Lawsuit