Select Civil Litigation
Select civil litigation is accepted only when the facts and economics justify the work.
The first screen tests documented wrongdoing, provable damages, timing, forum, collectability, and whether the fee structure fits the work required.
What is at stake
Why this cannot sit on a shelf.
A business, a partner, or a professional caused serious documented loss, and the other side already has counsel drafting its version of events.
- Contracts often contain notice, venue, or dispute-resolution steps that control what happens first.
- Accounting records, shared drives, and message histories can be closed off once a dispute becomes open.
- Litigation economics matter, because a claim that cannot be collected is a claim that costs more than it returns.
When this may fit
Start with a fact pattern, not a conclusion.
A page cannot decide whether a claim exists. These are the kinds of facts that help the firm decide whether a closer review is appropriate.
Damages are measurable and proportionate to the likely litigation burden
The defendant and a realistic recovery source can be identified
Evidence to preserve
Keep the records that make the chronology testable.
Contracts, communications, transaction records, notices, and governing documents
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
A chronology of decisions, representations, payments, and resulting loss
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
Existing pleadings, demands, responses, deadline information, and party list
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
Evaluation
How the first review tests the matter.
Legal and factual merits, defenses, forum, and procedural posture
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Provable economics, expert needs, costs, and fee-structure fit
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Defendant solvency, collectability, settlement posture, and litigation leverage
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Deadlines vary by claim, party, forum, and facts. This page does not calculate a filing or notice deadline. If timing may matter, call promptly.
Open the related preparation guideWhat to expect
What the first review actually does.
- Conflicts and parties first
Everyone on every side is identified before a closer review, because a conflict controls whether the firm can look at the matter at all.
- A timing screen, not a deadline calculation
Known dates, notices, and procedural steps are reviewed against your facts. No web page and no first call can promise you a filing date.
- A preservation list
What may disappear first is identified early, including records held by an employer, an insurer, an agency, or a company.
- A next step you can act on
Engagement discussion, a request for specific information, a referral, co-counsel review, or a decline. No acceptance, outcome, or response time is promised.
Frequently asked
Select Civil Litigation questions.
What makes a civil dispute worth litigating?
Documented wrongdoing, damages that can be proven with records rather than estimates, a defendant who can actually satisfy a judgment, and a cost structure that fits the work the case will require.
I already have a lawsuit on file. Can the firm still look at it?
A pending matter can be reviewed for co-counsel or referral. Send the general posture, the court, the deadlines, and the parties for conflicts. Do not send privileged strategy material in a public form.
What should I gather before the first conversation?
The controlling contract or governing documents, the communications that show what was promised and what happened, the transaction or accounting records that quantify the loss, and a list of every party involved.
First review
Send a short chronology and the parties involved.
The firm may accept, refer, co-counsel, or decline a matter after conflicts and fit review. Contact alone is not representation.