I own a business. I received a summons suing in civil court for a very large amount of money. It lists me as a defendant?

You need a good litigator who would not be "confused." Remember that allegations in a complaint are not proof of anything and you may have defenses that would be successful. But unless you respond to the complaint in a timely manner, you will be unable to do anything to defend yourself. Find another attorney quickly and follow his or her advice. By the way, if you have any liability insurance that might be applicable, make certain you report the claim and the lawsuit immediately. You company would then retain and pay for your legal defense.

Plaintiffs attorneys will sometimes include an LLC's owner even though there isn't a very clear path to the owner's liability. Some of them believe in "wearing a belt and suspenders," i.e., naming all the possible defendants and claims they can think of just to be overly thorough. From their perspective, they may suspect that your LLC is undercapitalized or "judgment-proof." Look for help from a good liability defense firm.

Your LLC must be in good standing and following good corporate form and function to be recognized. In many cases, an LLC will be named in the hope that it will be used to divert your personal funds from satisfying a judgment. In terms of your LLC paying your defense costs, hopefully there is some sort of written indemnity agreement that can invoked. In any event, it sounds like you're going to need counsel to seek to have the case dismissed prior to answering. If your motion to dismiss is not successful, you will be in for the long haul. It is very important to work with an attorney comfortable with you and the specific facts to be use in your defense.