Pretending to be an ostrich will hurt you in a court case!

A post title to get your attention but here is the message I want to stress for you:

* Do not ignore court documents which are delivered to you, either by mail, by process server or otherwise *

These documents are likely to signal a step in the court case (either a preceding step or one about to take place) and you are mistaken if you believe that ignoring these documents will stop that next step and/or the court case.

If you have "notice" of a step in a case, through a document, you are expected to respond to that document. If you do not, the Court will proceed with the step, in your absence.

Here is an example: if you are served with an Application, you have to respond to it (defend it) by way of Answer. You have a limited period of time to do so and if you do not respond, the Court will proceed without your participation in the case, based on the claims (and allegations as to fact) made in the Application. This scenario is unlikely to be in your interests and, therefore, you need to exercise your rights of response and participation.