Litigation
Litigation generally refers to the process of preparing and presenting a case in court. As a dispute resolution method, this is only used when all other ones have failed. The main reason that litigation is used as a last resort is that it does not have most of the advantages that alternative dispute resolution methods have, especially their speediness and cost-effectiveness.
Primary Benefits of Litigation
- The court system is funded by the government. While the individual parties may have to pay their own counsels and other personally incurred fees, they do not have to pay the judges. The court also has the power to impose all the costs of the suit on the losing party.
- The case will be managed and heard by a professional judge.
- The court can enforce all its judgements by order.
- The court has the power to impose injunctions.
- The litigation process is a formal process thereby encouraging all parties to be deliberate and articulate in their presentation of their arguments.
- Decisions made during litigation has precedential value to other potential litigants as they become part of common law, which is good from the perspective of the winning party.
Primary Disadvantages of Litigation
- The expenses for a legal counsel can potentially outweigh the expenses for a paid third-party.
- The judge can potentially lack expertise on the subject matter of the case, e.g. the trial judge might be a criminal law expert, but they drew a case involving a real property dispute.
- Quality of judges can also vary.
- Courts have a heavy workload and a long backlog, thereby potentially prolonging the process.
- Since each party must pay for their individual expenses, the party with deeper pockets can possibly force the other party into submission by outlasting them through the entire ordeal.
- The judgment is not final, but subject to appeal.
- The process of litigation can cause a major disruption to the lives of those involved.
- Trials are held in public, which means that sensitive information may be revealed and put under a spotlight for public scrutiny.
- Ruined relationships are difficult to restore after a litigation process.
- The entire proceedings can potentially cause emotional distress for everyone involved due to the formality, strict rules, and the ever present threat of perjury.
- Decisions made during litigation has precedential value to other potential litigants as they become part of common law, which is bad from the perspective of the losing party.