If the parties take their case to the courts, the process of comparing:

1. Seah Ling's claim against Bai Ying's defence;
2. Seah Ling's evidence versus Bai Ying's evidence; and
3. Seah Ling's summary with Bai Ying's summary

is broken into many smaller steps and more court forms have to be used. It is a more formal process. These steps and forms are mainly found in the Rules of Court.

The process can basically be described in stages as follows:

1. Informing the courts and each other of what the claim and defence is about - in writing. (This is called the "pleadings stage")
2. Arrangements to let the court and each party know what evidence is available - by documents and witnesses who had seen/heard/smelt/touched/ tasted something directly related to the case (This is called the "discovery" stage)
3. Combining the documents with the evidence of witnesses by sworn statements (This is called the "evidence in chief")
4. Presenting all of the above before a judge in court. This is the "trial" stage.