Litigation is the act, procedure, or process of taking a case to the court of law for settling. It is also an action whereby someone else makes a final judgment for disputed parties by use of a mediator. It only happens when the parties disagree or fail to get a solution to their problem before trial. Therefore, this practice occurs because the complainant and the offender may not have brought into an amicable agreement. Thus, lawsuits can be chosen for different reasons, such as avoiding high costs or maximizing income from the offense done and others. This essay seeks to discuss the areas that can lead to legal process in corrections and significant issues that are generally a cause for concern.
The first aspect of litigation is monetary or material gains. Normally, many people file a suit because they intend to benefit or prevent a loss of financial property; hence, they are particularly prominent among private litigators. According to Adam et al. (2020), increasing wealth is a significant factor in lawsuits whereby individuals strive to accomplish their financial goals. This motivation is widespread in conflicts which involve cases initiated by private national or subnational litigants against individuals or institutions. Occasionally, when people lose during trials, they may pay damages to complainants, which benefit the council.
Adam et al. (2020) opine that a plaintiff can consider either a long or a short stance against the defendant before filing suit. The petitioner may benefit from a long position if the defendant’s stock price rises and equally in case of a temporary stock price fall. The plaintiff can deliberately invest against a case by selling the stock short, hence, earning greater financial profits while the offender incurs significant legal losses.
The second factor for litigation is competition between individuals for power. According to Adam et al., (2020), courts may significantly affect the governance and policy system, especially regarding sharing power between political leaders and their strategic actions and relationships. Besides, relevant policies are of little concern to political leaders in that the advantages they gain from maintaining power are the main issue for them.
It means that they may file a suit to maintain their positions and achieve more prominence rather than gaining justice in another way. Moreover, judiciary and legislation creation typically require mechanisms by which a policy’s features can be progressively and even profoundly altered by politicians’ recourse to lawsuit (Adam et al., 2020). Parties will then turn to litigation, hoping to use the court’s authority as a trigger to shift the allocation of power and institutional competencies to their benefit.
Thirdly, a lawsuit can be filed because of a tort, which is an act that results to harm to a defendant causing civil prejudice. According to OER Services (n.d.), there are three types of such actions, which firstly include negligence. In its essence, it occurs when the individual accountable for making a mistake is reckless and thus liable for the damage caused to another by such carelessness. Along with this dimension, there are four main components which must be proven for litigation to take place. The first is duty, which is a responsibility to do or not to do anything that would harm another human. It is also an obligation of any person to act within reason; for instance, drivers must always have a duty to drive carefully, following road rules (OER Services, n.d.). Therefore, rules like observing limits of speed are enforced to protect others; hence, failure to follow this automatically can lead to litigation.
Other acts of negligence include breach, causation, and harm. The former occurs when an individual or business must care for another yet does not act according to the standard of caution (OER Services, n.d.). For this to go into litigation, the plaintiff must verify that the defender’s actions placed him/her in harm or injury. Besides, causation happens in two different instances, namely, proximate cause and actual cause.
The former requires a suit to occur due to a natural and uninterrupted act of negligence, resulting in a plaintiff’s injury. Simultaneously, the latter involves direct harm from a defendant, which could be easily avoidable. The last act of negligence is harm, resulting in different implications such as financial loss, property destruction, lost wages, and bodily injuries. It can also be non-financial, whereby the victim suffers stress. However, OER Services (n.d.) states that if no harm is inflicted, the lawsuit on neglect may not prevail even if the first three are proven. Therefore if damages or injury occur, the law permits the individual to receive reimbursement in the form of damages, which are usually financial in disposition.
The second tort is intentional, which involves deliberate acts done against a person with criminal aims. The common torts in this category include assault, battery, and land trespass (OER Services, n.d.). The former is a deliberate act of attack by a defendant that induces fear or rational anxiety to a plaintiff without physical contact. Battery, however, differs from the previous deed because it involves physical contact and, therefore, is always paired in court.Finally, trespass involves intentional actions by offenders to forcefully enter a complainant’s land or property with criminal aims.
The main issues that raise concern for litigation to occur may include the nature and the situation of the violation and the criminal history of a perpetrator. According to OER Services (n.d.), before going to trial, the first important factor a court can regard is the general magnitude of the felony with which the offender is prosecuted. Besides, the more significant and offense is, the more probable for the arbitrator to issue a higher verdict (OER Services, n.d.). Even though they seem to focus on their regular schedule, the judge can waive it and inflict a severe judgment if a trial is of greater intensity. Considering the defendant’s criminal past, if the accused has a record of criminal convictions, a hefty sentence can be imposed on him/her (OER Services, n.d.). Moreover, the arbitrator may also consider possible risks which a defendant may pose to society in passing sentence.
In conclusion, litigation is a common practice in the current scope of law where justice is always found, especially if other forms of conflict resolution fail. It can occur for several reasons, such as avoiding incurring losses and the main reason for accessing fairness. Some of the main areas that lead to this practice include monetary gains, especially from the plaintiff’s side due to deficiencies caused by crimes. Fight for power can also be a reason for lawsuits, which is common among politicians with the aim of fame and vouching for policies which may help their citizens. Besides, torts play a significant role in litigation involving criminal activities such as negligence and harm to plaintiffs; hence, they must be ruled in court for justice.
References
Adam, C., Bauer, M. W., Hartlapp, M., & Mathieu, E. (2020). Taking the EU to court: annulment proceedings and multilevel judicial conflict. In C. Adam, M. W. Bauer, M. Hartlapp, & E. Mathieu (Eds.), Motivations: When conflict leads to litigation (pp. 83–125). Springer International Publishing. Web.
OER Services. (n.d.). General law of torts | law 101: Fundamentals of the law. (n.d.). Web.