So Sue Me! Never been hit by a lawsuit? Prepare for your day in court.

Lawsuits are an ugly fact of life. Sadly, in our litigioussociety, if you haven't already had the pleasure, you'reprobably overdue for one or more of these uniquely time-consuming,aggravating and expensive ordeals.

You'll know you're being sued when you receive formalnotice by mail or in person. And after the shock and rage subside,you'll find yourself holding a summons directing you to file awritten response with the applicable court within a specifiedperiod of time, generally 30 days for state courts and 20 days forfederal. What do you do now?

"Act immediately," says Atlanta attorney Ken Menendez,author of Taming the Lawyers: What to Expect in a Lawsuit andHow to Make Sure Your Attorney Gets Results (MerrittPublishing). "Don't put the summons aside, thinkingyou'll get to it later. This is the number-one mistake peoplemake, and once they've missed a deadline, they've reallyjeopardized their rights." Remember, if you're sued, aresponse must be filed on time. But that doesn'tnecessarily mean you'll be the one who has to file it.

First, determine whether you're covered by one of yourexisting insurance policies, for example, a homeowners, generalliability or umbrella policy. Don't automatically assumeyou're not--check into it. If you think you're covered,contact your insurance company promptly. Otherwise, it maypoint to the fine print in your policy to deny its obligation todefend you and/or pay the claim.

Marc Diener is an attorney and author of Deal Power: 6Foolproof Steps to Making Deals of Any Size (Owl Books/HenryHolt). This article contains general information only. If you areconcerned about how these issues might affect you, seek independentcounsel.

Get A Lawyer Involved

If you're not covered by an existing policy, or ifyou're not sure, don't do anything until you speak to yourlawyer. Resist the impulse to contact the person or entity suingyou. Even your innocent, well-meaning action--for example, what youadmit in a casual phone call--can have severe legal repercussionslater.

Before you meet with your attorney, prepare thoroughly. Assemblea complete file, including all relevant documents, insurancepolicies, correspondence, bills, canceled checks, contracts, faxlogs, contact information for potential witnesses, and the like. Ifyou're not sure whether a piece of paper is important, take itwith you and let your attorney decide. Clip, highlight, tab and/orcross-reference the key items, and put it all together with awritten chronology. Don't forget to keep copies of everythingfor yourself.

All this may seem like a lot of work, but by doing it, youachieve two important objectives. First, you're giving yourattorney what he or she needs to best defend you. Second,you'll probably save a pile of dough on legal fees. Whendefending lawsuits, lawyers generally charge by the hour. Everymeeting, phone call and minute you save will have a direct,positive effect on your bill.

Before you leave that first meeting, insist that your lawyer puttogether a strategic plan and budget for your case as soon aspossible. Of course, he or she won't be able to guarantee howevents will unfold, but to stay in control, you must get a clearidea of the strengths and weaknesses of your position and how yourlawyer wants to run things.

Avoiding War

Your most important step may be to talk to your lawyer aboutavoiding litigation. Sure, there may be times when principles orreputations are at stake or where it's in your best interest todrag things out. But more likely, you can take AbrahamLincoln's words to heart: "Persuade your neighbors tocompromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominalwinner is often a real loser--in fees, expenses and waste oftime." If your beef is with someone you know well, you may getlucky--a simple phone call may clear everything up. In any case,ask your attorney about the two basic forms of alternative disputeresolution (ADR): arbitration and mediation.

Arbitration is basically a streamlined form of litigation. Bothsides take their arguments to an impartial, private third party whois empowered to make a final decision. At its best, it'scheaper, quicker and more confidential than litigation; there are,however, some pitfalls. Unlike judges, arbitrators are notobligated to follow legal precedent or procedure, and theirdecisions may be impossible to appeal. Arbitrators may alsocorruptly favor the parties that throw them repeat business.Combine these risks with the legal fees you'll already have topay, and ask your attorney whether you'd be better off going tocourt.

In mediation, a neutral third party facilitates a face-to-facediscussion between the opposing parties. Unlike an arbitrator, amediator has no binding authority. But by defusing anger, askingquestions and clarifying issues, skillful mediators aresurprisingly successful at helping resolve disputes quickly,economically and, often, creatively. "Mediation often producesa win-win result," says Dan Wax, vice president of SolutionsLLC, a Laguna Niguel, California, professional mediation group."Many jurisdictions are now mandating mediation beforeresorting to the adversarial system."

Other forms of ADR are variations of arbitration and mediation.In early neutral evaluation, each side presents its case toan impartial expert for an opinion on who would prevail in court;as you may expect, settlement often follows. In med-arb, youstart with mediation; if it doesn't work, you move toarbitration. Conciliation is an informal bringing togetherof the parties. Conciliators have an extremely light touch;they're not even supposed to make suggestions about how tosettle the case.

A minority of lawyers believe the mere suggestion of ADR is asign of weakness. It really isn't. You can always get into afull-contact legal brawl later. But here's one importantwarning: When trying to work things out through ADR, your opponentmay learn things about your case that could hurt you if you wind upin court later. If you think that risk is too great, reconsiderADR. Or make sure each party signs a statement acknowledging thateverything said during ADR is to be considered part of"settlement negotiations" (which are inadmissible asevidence at trial) and that neither side will call the arbitratoror mediator as a witness. Such a statement is not foolproof, but itwill help.

The Process

If you end up in the midst of a full-blown lawsuit, it willconsume lots of time and paper. Initially, each side files variousmotions ("complaints," "answers,""amendments," "counterclaims,""cross-claims," "demurrers" and so on) todefine the basic who, what, where and when of the case. Then comesthe "discovery" phase, where (through"depositions," "interrogatories,""requests for admission," "inspections,""notices to produce documents," and so on) each side isgiven broad license to probe the other's case. Unlike what yousee on television, it can take years to get to trial as each sidetries to wear the other down.

Keep in touch with your lawyer. Call. Ask questions. Get regularupdates. Make sure the matter is handled your way, on your budget.In the words of Menendez, "Like most rambunctious beasts,lawyers must be kept on a short leash!"

The S-Word: Settlement

As time passes and fees accumulate, cooler heads may eventuallyprevail, and litigation will give way to a cost-benefit analysis.Despite all the posturing at the beginning of a lawsuit, nine outof 10 are settled out of court.

Your peace treaty will come in the form of a settlementagreement. Because they're signed after weeks, months or yearsof conflict, mistrust and frayed nerves, you and your lawyer shouldkeep these considerations in mind:

• Once you've reached an understanding, get your settlementagreement signed quickly, before your opponent has secondthoughts.

• Include wording that clarifies that settling doesn't meanyou're admitting any liability.

• Consider including a confidentiality clause. The whole worlddoesn't have to know about the settlement.

• Make sure your lawyer is scrupulously attentive about who'sreleasing whom from what. Otherwise, you may leave out someone whomay come after you, or you may give up your own rights. Considerwhether your settlement should be limited to claims that each sideknows about then or whether it should extend to claims that may bediscovered later.

So when that summons arrives, keep all of the above in mind.With any luck, you'll avoid the fate Ambrose Bierce ascribed tothe typical litigant--who goes into litigation "as a pig andcomes out as a sausage."

Contact Sources

Ken Menendez, (404) 812-5680

Solutions LLC, (888) 562-4000, htp://www.solutions-4-u.com