What is
Litigation?

Litigation is the process of utilizing the court system to finalize your case.  Often, each party hires an attorney, who represents and advocates for that party only.  It can involve formal discovery techniques, where one party serves the other party with interrogatories, requests for production of documents, depositions, requests for admissions, etc.  It can also involve attending various court appearances, testifying, producing evidence, and securing witnesses.  

 

In Pennsylvania, there will never be one court appearance where all of your potential cases are addressed.  For example, if you have a divorce case, your case will proceed on the divorce tract, with separate court appearances for your divorce action only.  If you have a custody case, you will proceed with the custody tract, and have separate court appearances for that case.  Similarly, if you have a spousal and/or child support case, that case will proceed with Domestic Relations on a separate tract.  As such, litigation can often be extremely lengthy and costly for parties. 

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By choosing litigation, parties are specifically choosing to have a judge or hearing officer make decisions on their case (i.e. how much child support you pay/receive, or how frequently you see your children).  This can be difficult for some parties, who may feel like they have no control over the outcome. 

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At BOK Law & Mediation Services, we understand that you don’t always have control over which process is chosen to finalize your divorce.  You may have good intentions to settle your case outside of court, but that doesn’t mean the opposing party does.  Regardless of the process, the attorneys at BOK Law & Mediation Services will zealously represent your needs and interests.