Lawsuit

===Pretrial discovery===
{{Main|Discovery (law)}}

A pretrial discovery can be defined as "the formal process of exchanging information between the parties about the witnesses and evidence they'll present at trial" and allows for the evidence of the trial to be presented to the parties before the initial trial begins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/discovery.html/|title=How Courts Work: Steps in a Trial – Discovery|access-date=June 23, 2015|publisher=[[American Bar Association]]}}</ref> The early stages of the lawsuit may involve initial disclosures of evidence by each party and [[discovery (law)|discovery]], which is the structured exchange of [[evidence (law)|evidence]] and [[deposition (law)|statement]]s between the parties. Discovery is meant to eliminate surprises, clarify what the lawsuit is about, and also to make the parties decide if they should settle or drop [[Frivolous litigation|frivolous claims]] or defenses. At this point the parties may also engage in pretrial motions to exclude or include particular legal or factual issues before trial.

There is also the ability of one to make an under oath statement during the pretrial, also known as a deposition. The deposition can be used in the trial or just in the pretrial, but this allows for both parties to be aware of the arguments or claims that are going to be made by the other party in the trial. It is notable that the depositions can be written or oral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/glossary/glossary_d.html#deposition|title=Glossary D: Deposition|publisher=American Bar Association|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624013431/http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/glossary/glossary_d.html|archive-date=24 June 2015|access-date=June 23, 2015}}</ref>

At the close of discovery, the parties may either pick a [[jury]] and then have a [[jury trial|trial by jury]] or the case may proceed as a bench trial. A bench trial is only heard by the judge if the parties waive a jury trial or if the right to a jury trial is not guaranteed for their particular claim (such as those under [[Equity (law)|equity]] in the U.S.) or for any lawsuits within their jurisdiction.