RE: Understanding Civil Lawsuits in the U.S., a Steemit Exclusive
Great post! I found it very informative.
In my opinion, this kind of civics education should be included in the required curriculum of US public high schools along with a little bit of finance and business.
When a case is dismissed, the dismissal can be made either with prejudice or without prejudice. When a case is dismissed without prejudice, this gives the plaintiff an opportunity to correct some error and then file the case again. Dismissal without prejudice is a final order from the court that ends the lawsuit. This means that the same case cannot be filed again. A plaintiff whose case is dismissed with prejudice can appeal this decision.
There seems to be an inconsistency in the above paragraph (emphasis added). Doing a quick Google search on these terms, I believe this is a typo and that you meant to write:
Dismissal with prejudice is a final order from the court that ends the lawsuit. This means that the same case cannot be filed again.
Also, regarding the following:
Electronic files can be stored on a hard drive, server, or somewhere out in the cloud. But how do we know that someone did not open a file containing an important contract, change the word “must” to “must not” and then save the file before closing it again? We know this because all such files are embedded with something called meta information.
File metadata is a joke. That could be modified nearly as easily as the contents.
This meta data can tell us if a file has been kept in its original form or changed in any way since. Anyone who uses electronic files as evidence must be able to prove they are in their original, intended format. All large companies have policies now for saving electronic information in a form that is verifiable.
I'm curious as to what these policies and procedures are. Has cryptography been used before in cases to prove chain of custody or integrity of a document? I wonder when/if blockchain technologies will be used as proof in court that a presented document was in fact the unmodified original. Also, if cryptography is used, that brings up an interesting question regarding proof that defendant's private keys were unlikely to be compromised.
Thank you for the feedback. I'm thrilled you actually read the whole article! Re: Metadata, I don't have a clue. I know they are still teaching that in legal training seminars, though. Presumably, the tech guys at companies law firms know more than the attorneys do -- I hope! Re: dismissals. Yes, "with prejudice" means cannot refile. I appreciate you catching that mistake/inconsistency and I will fix it in the article shortly.
Hello Richard Kaplan - I have been educating myself about Civil Lawsuits.
In your document I read all 27 pages on the subject and it contained this paragraph -
When a case is dismissed, the dismissal can be made either with Hello Al - Since we last met and spoke in the lobby of your office building, I have been educating myself about Civil Lawsuits.
In one of the documents I read (27 pages) on the subject it contained this paragraph -
under the area referring to (Demurrers)
"When a case is dismissed, the dismissal can be made either with prejudice or without prejudice. When a case is dismissed without prejudice, this gives the plaintiff an opportunity to correct some error and then file the case again. Dismissal without prejudice is a final order from the court that ends the lawsuit. This means that the same case cannot be filed again. A plaintiff whose case is dismissed with prejudice can appeal this decision.
I believe it to be in error in its defining of cases dismissed with prejudice and without prejudice.
This sentence, which reads: “Dismissal without prejudice is a final order from the court that ends the lawsuit.”
Should read: “Dismissal with prejudice is a final order from he court that ends the lawsuit.”
Am I correct? Please confirm
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