1.) process – plaintiff files Complaint and Summons; Defendant files their Answer:

    This page is continued from Getting Started >>>> Civil Law Self-Help >>>> The Civil Proceedings:

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    The initial phase of a civil proceedings is called the process. [1]  In a broad sense, the term process is used to describe all of the acts of a court from the beginning to the end of an action or proceeding; the means by which the law is applied and carried out.

     Process, however, has an additional meaning used to describe the particular phase of a proceeding: it is the means of compelling a defendant to appear in court in a civil case, such as a summons, a writ, or a warrant. [2]

     Excerpt from Joseph Chitty’s A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law:
 
     “Process is so denominated because it proceeds or issues forth in order to bring the defendant into court, to answer the charge preferred against him, and signifies the writs or judicial means by which he is brought to answer.” [3]  
    Excerpt from C.J.S.’s Process:
 
     “The term ‘process’ is not limited to ‘summons.’ In its broadest sense it is equivalent to, or synonymous with, ‘procedure,’ or ‘proceeding.’  Sometimes the term is also broadly defined as ‘the means whereby a court compels a compliance with its demands.’” [4]

 

Step-by-Step:

Terms to Know:

burden of pleading – a party’s duty to plead a matter in order for that matter to be heard in a lawsuit. — aka
burden of allegation.

due process – the conduct of legal proceedings according to established rules, forms, and principles for the protection and enforcement of private rights, including notice and the right to a fair hearing before a tribunal with the power to decide the case.

  • procedural due process – a regular course of justice, which is not unreasonable or arbitrary, with minimal requirements of notice and a hearing especially if the deprivation of a significant life, liberty, or property interest may occur, in pursuance of an effective remedy secured by the law and the state.

abuse of process – improper, intentional, tortious use of civil or criminal process to obtain a result that is either unlawful or beyond the purpose for which such process was designed. — aka abuse of legal process; malicious abuse of process; malicious abuse of legal process; wrongful process; wrongful process of law.

Special thanks to Quotesta for preserving the above quote by Bill Gates that we’re utilizing in accordance with Fair Use.

References:

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[2]: Ballantine’s Law Dictionary Legal Assistant Edition by Jack Ballantine (James Arthur 1871-1949).  Doctored by Jack G. Handler, J.D. © 1994 Delmar by Thomson Learning.  ISBN 0-8273-4874-6.

[3]: 1 Joseph Chitty, A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law 338 (2d ed. 1826)

[4]: 72 C.J.S. Process 5 2, at 589 (1987). 

[1]: United States Courts, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (2017):  www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure

[2]: Black’s Law Dictionary Deluxe Tenth Edition by Henry Campbell Black & Editor in Chief Bryan A. Garner.  ISBN: 978-0-314-62130-6

[3]: Edwin E. Bryant’s The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of Civil Procedure 106 (2nd Ed. 1899) ISBN: 9781330614815