Phase Two: Pre-Filing Efforts
After the attorney-client relationship is formalized by a signed engagement letter, the firm will engage in various forms of investigation to gather more specific information and documentation from the client. These efforts are intended to allow the firm to fully understand the facts of the case so that a Complaint can be prepared. A Complaint is the official document filed with a court that starts a lawsuit. There are legal requirements for what must be in a Complaint. The Complaint is not intended to be a document that contains all the evidence or even all the facts related to your case. Instead, the Complaint must contain only those “ultimate” facts that will allow the firm to later put on your case, and to put the other side on fair notice of the claims being made against them. Because the Complaint is the document that defines the scope of the lawsuit, it is an important document, and we will take our time to investigate your matter before drafting the Complaint, and more time to draft it.
In some rare cases, there might be an attempt to settle that is made before a complaint is filed. If your case is one that might benefit from a pre-filing attempt to settle, we will discuss that with you. It has been our experience that pre-filing demand letters are met with disinterest, and give the other side the opportunity to sometimes better prepare for a lawsuit. Therefore, only where it appears it will benefit your case will we recommend that approach.
