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You have been served with a lawsuit. What now.
Someone handed you papers, or left them at your door, or mailed them. Here is what they are, what the clock is, and how to get your own documents into order before you answer.
Find the deadline before you do anything else, and confirm it with the clerk of the court named on the papers.
Every other decision depends on that date. It is printed on the summons, it varies by state and by court, and it is short — often measured in a few weeks, sometimes less. Nothing on this page is a substitute for the number the clerk gives you. Call them, tell them the case number on your papers, and ask when a response is due.
What the papers actually are
You were probably handed two things stapled together.
The summons is the court telling you that you have been sued and by when you must respond. It carries the case number, the court's name and address, and the deadline.
The complaint or petition is the other side's story. Numbered paragraphs, each one a claim about what happened, ending with what they want from you. This is the document everything else in the case gets measured against.
What happens if you do nothing
The other side asks the court for a default judgment — a ruling in their favour because you never showed up to disagree. In most courts they get it. From there it becomes collection: wage garnishment, bank levies, liens, depending on your state.
Responding badly is almost always better than not responding. A person who files something imperfect on time is in the case. A person who files nothing has lost it without it ever being heard.
Before you write anything
- Write the deadline on the first page of the papers, in pen.
- Call the clerk and confirm it, along with where and how filings are accepted — in person, by mail, or electronically.
- Ask the clerk what a response costs, and ask whether the court has a fee waiver form if you cannot pay it.
- Photograph or scan every page you were handed, including the envelope if it came by mail.
- Gather everything you already have about the dispute: contracts, statements, letters, texts, emails, receipts.
What these cases usually turn on
Not what is fair. What can be shown from a document.
- Whether the party suing you can prove they own the claim
- Especially in debt cases. A debt sold several times over leaves a chain, and each link has to exist on paper. "We bought a spreadsheet with your name on it" is not the same as an assignment.
- The document that created the obligation
- The contract, the lease, the credit agreement, the policy. The original, if it exists — not a summary of it.
- How the amount was calculated
- A number in a complaint is an assertion. A statement showing how it was reached is evidence.
- How old the claim is
- Every state limits how long someone has to sue. The clock start and length differ by claim type and by state, and it is one of the first things worth checking against your own records of when things actually happened.
- What you said, and when
- Letters disputing the claim, replies you received, anything acknowledging or denying it. Dated, in writing, better than remembered.
Where the software comes in
Put every document you have into PAi Legal, press the plain-language button, and it does three things that are hard to do alone with a shoebox of paper.
It reads and indexes all of it, including scans and photographs of pages, so you can find any word across everything at once.
It separates what is claimed from what is supported. The complaint's paragraphs are allegations. Your bank statement is evidence. The software will not let the two blur, and it tells you which of the other side's claims have nothing behind them in your record.
It names what you are missing — and marks anything you can only support by saying so yourself, which is the mistake nobody warns people about until a judge does.
It will not soften a gap to be encouraging. If the software says you have no proof of when something happened, that is the finding, and it is far better to read it now than to hear it from the bench.
Every court checklist it shows you names where to confirm it, because deadlines, page limits and filing fees differ by state, by county, and sometimes by judge. It organizes your case. Your court sets its rules, and a lawyer licensed in your state can tell you what applies to you.
If a lawyer is possible, it is still worth an hour
Many states have a bar referral line offering a short consultation at low cost, and legal aid offices handle housing, debt and family matters for people under an income limit. An hour with someone licensed, holding an organized case file, is worth considerably more than an hour with the same person and a carrier bag of paper. The organizing is the part you can do yourself tonight.