What to do when being sued?

Many of us panic and do not know what to do when we realize that we have been sued. This article means to give you a general idea on how to conduct yourself when going through litigation.

The first thing we recommend all our clients is that they immediately consult with an attorney once they know there is a litigation claim against them.

Except in instances of petty or non-complicated cases, an answer/reply to such a claim will have to be made and submitted to the courts in defense of your position within 15 days from the date of receipt of such claim and summons. In the case that a summons has no legitimate respondent, the announcement of summons can be done through advertisement in a newspaper or by pasting the summons at the recipient’s residence. In this case, the 15 day period will commence a further 15 days after such advertisement or pasting of summons has been done (totaling 30 days from the date of advertisement or pasting of said summons).

This period of submitting an answer/reply to a claim can be extended under special circumstances such as severe illness or accident. However, it is up to the court’s consideration whether to allow the extension.

Failure to submit the answer/reply within the above period would lead to default of answer/reply, which would prevent the defendant from submitting any evidence or witness and the defendant would be deemed to be accepting of all allegations made by the plaintiff. Having said that, a defaulting defendant may be able to request the court to allow the late submission of an answer/reply. The court may be inclined to grant permission to the late submission of the answer/reply in a case whereby the defendant has not intentionally refused to submit the answer/reply.

Nippita Pukdeetanakul is a Thai Barrister/Attorney currently working as a Managing Director at JNP Legal and a special lecturer at ABAC University.  She can be contacted at Nippita@jnplegalthailand.com