Reference no: EM133198165 , Length: word count:500
Case: Megan Saunders is a consultant for IT companies. Thanks to a feature article in a popular trade magazine, she was inundated with requests for her coding services. As a result, Megan decided to move out of state to work on a year-long project for an upstart tech company. At the end of the project, Megan expected to return home and earn a bonus in excess of $100,000 for her work. However, when the time came for her bonus payout, the tech company fired Megan without cause and refused to pay the bonus. Megan has since moved back home. She is not sure how to go about getting her bonus pay. She has thought about filing a lawsuit, although she realizes that the process can be lengthy and expensive. Megan wants to know: How can she start the litigation process? Are there alternatives to litigation?
Briefly, the civil litigation process involves filing a complaint, which details the basis for the lawsuit. The tech company will be served with the complaint and a summons, which is an order to answer the complaint within a certain period of time. In its answer to the complaint, the tech company will admit or deny allegations outlined in the complaint. The tech company can also file a counterclaim against Megan, for which she would have to file a formal response called a reply.
As you can see, the litigation process can be quite involved. It can be costly in terms of the time and money spent litigating a dispute. For this reason, the majority of cases are settled out of court through mediation or arbitration. In mediation, a neutral third party helps parties reach a compromise. In arbitration, a third party decides how to resolve the dispute between the parties. Because of its efficiency in resolving disputes, Megan should definitely consider either mediation or arbitration as an option.
Describe the steps involved in civil litigation.
Compare arbitration and mediation as alternative methods of dispute resolution.