A Litigation Trial Attorney is called in a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy.

If the plaintiff is successful in a litigation trial, a judgment will be given in the plaintiff’s favour, and a range of court orders may be issued to enforce a right, impose a penalty, award damages, impose an injunction to prevent an act or compel an act, or to obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes.

If the judgment is for the plaintiff, then the defendant must comply under penalty of law with the judgment, which will usually be a monetary award. If the defendant fails to pay, the court has various powers to seize any of the defendant’s assets located within its jurisdiction.

If all assets are located elsewhere, the plaintiff must file another suit in the appropriate court to seek enforcement of the other court’s previous judgment. This can be a difficult task when crossing from a court in one state or nation to another, though courts tend to grant each other respect when there is not a clear legal rule to the contrary.

A defendant who has no assets in any jurisdiction is said to be “judgment-proof.” In most cases, nothing can be done to collect an award from a moneyless defendant.

At any time during this process from the filing of the complaint to the final judgment, the plaintiff may withdraw his complaint and end the whole matter, or the defendant may agree to a settlement, which involves a negotiated award followed also by the plaintiff withdrawing his complaint and the settlement entered into the court record.

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