Our lawyers specialize in real estate legal matters. That’s important because the more any of us study one particular thing, the better we get at it. The law is no exception. Imagine having a psychologist operate on your brain. They may know a lot about the way the brain functions, but probably don’t know much, if anything, about how to operate on it!

Litigation attorneys are a special breed of attorneys. They must be tough, yet respectful. They must be detailed oriented, but able to change on a dime. Litigation is often seen as one of the most challenging areas of legal practice. And here at this company, we prefer to hire the best, most talented, and toughest attorneys around.

Nearly all real estate transactions begin when a buyer makes an offer using a Real Estate Purchase Contract. The offer is then sent to the seller for their review, and they may accept it, counter-offer, or reject it. Most Utah Real Estate Agents and Brokers use a standard, state-approved, form. It’s important that you do as well.

Legal matters begin when a Plaintiff files a Complaint against a Defendant. That Defendant will then have the option to Answer the Complaint, or he/she may file any number of Motions, which may kick the case out of the civil process completely. It’s very important that your attorney files the correct claims, in the correct court, against the correct defendants, or else the whole process may be for nothing.

If the total amount of harm that a Defendant has caused you totals less than $15,000, then filing a Complaint in Small Claims Court is an option that may make sense. Here, the process is sped up, and non-lawyers can try to resolve cases on their own. It’s recommended that you seek legal counsel for any legal matter you may have, but Small Claims Court is designed to be a simple, quick, and effective way at resolving disputes.

The “holy grail” of our justice system is the jury trial. It’s the time when the parties present their evidence to a group of people who then decide who is telling the truth, or how a certain event actually happened, and will issue a verdict, a statement from the group, about who “wins.” Jury trials are very rare, though, since not every type of civil case is able to be presented to a jury.

Sometimes all that’s needed is for the other party to realize that he/she has done something that has hurt you in some way, and having your attorney send a letter may be the quickest way to get things done. Attorneys call their letters, “demand letters” because they are usually making some sort of demand of the other person. This could be as simple as saying, “You’re on notice that you’ve harmed my client,” to a situation where an attorney demands the other party to do something about it.

Our justice system decides legal disputes through judges or juries. When a trial is heard and decided by a judge, it is called a bench trial. Judges also decide everything related to the “law,” even if your case was presented to a jury. However, if it’s a judge deciding everything, then he/she will decide what the law is, and what the facts are, and will issue a verdict.

Whenever someone files a claim against another party, there is a chance that the second party files a claim right back against the first party. This is called a “counter claim,” and is basically like the second party filed a claim of its own against the first person. The second person, the Defendant (and, in this case, the “counterclaimant”), will have to prove his or her claims by a preponderance of the evidence, which basically means proving something “more likely than not.”