The purpose of the work is to provide a set of practical and operational guidelines necessary for the proper conduct of professional activity in the field of civil law. The work is divided into three parts: the first is devoted to the service of judicial documents both in Italy and abroad, the second to time limits in the various types of proceedings (the various degrees of the ordinary procedure, the labor trial, the executive trial and the tax trial), and the third finally deals with the two institutes, connected and at the same time distinct, of prescription and forfeiture. In dealing with these issues, practical cases, based on actual cases, are taken as a starting point, entering into the merits of the matter and accompanying the lawyer in the drafting of the different types of acts, paying due attention to the strict formalities typical of our process. In the choice of case studies, emphasis has been given to issues that are rather frequent but at the same time of considerable importance and in any case such as to permit a detailed and comprehensive examination of the topics covered. Brief comments have been included in the margin to serve as an aid to the preparation of the act, while useful normative and case law references have been included in the footnotes.