Judicial Services Report 2016, 225th Anniversary Edition

The amount of damages being sought in a civil law suit determines in which court the action is filed. Claims for $12,000 or less may be heard by District Judges. Otherwise, civil actions are filed in the Court of Common Pleas. Within the Court of Common Pleas, lawsuits seeking damages of $50,000 or less are usually heard by a panel of arbitrators. An arbitration panel consists of three attorneys selected by the court, who hear evidence in a case and render a decision. In a civil jury trial case, a complaint is filed at the Prothonotary’s Office of the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas. The person seeking damages is called the plaintiff. An answer to the complaint is then filed by the person against whom the suit was brought, the defendant, or by their attorney. In the answer, the defendant admits or denies the allegations made by the plaintiff in the complaint. Next, the attorneys for the litigants engage in a process called discovery. During discovery, each attorney gathers the information needed to prepare his/her case for trial. Some ways of gathering information include the sending of written in- terrogatories for the other party to answer or the talking of oral dispositions, before a court reporter, from experts and wit- nesses.

Often the attorneys will file pre-trial motions asking the Court to decide legal issues about the lawsuit or to solve a dis- pute arising from the discovering process. The court renders a decision on a pre-trial motion in the form of an order, which is frequently accompanied by an opinion to explain the decision.

When the case is ready to go to trial, a pre-trial conference is scheduled with the attorneys and the assigned judge. This conference is designed to explore the possibility of settling the dispute and to clarify the issues to be presented at the trial if a settlement cannot be reached. After the pre-trial conference, the court issues a trial date. At the trial, evidence is present- ed by both parties, and the jury renders a verdict either in favor of the plaintiff or in favor of the defendant. If the verdict is in the plaintiff’s favor, the jury also determines the monetary damages to be awarded.

In 2015, 3,301 new civil lawsuits were filed in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas. Through meetings between litigants and their attorneys, voluntary settlements can be reached in many cases, and a trial can be avoided.