As a rule, preparation for a trial begins when all the ways to solve the problem peacefully have been tried. By the way, it would be nice to have a written confirmation about the applied methods of peaceful settlement of the conflict when applying to the court. How to get the case off the ground and start considering disputes in court?
First you need to decide for what specific purpose you are filing an application to the court. There may be several of them: to return money (debt, car, apartment, other property), to force the defendant to take (or not to perform) any action, to protect himself from illegal demands, to intimidate the defendant, to obtain the necessary information (for example, a court order). The goals of the trial can be of a different order: to drag out another court case, to do PR in this way, to create the appearance of an active trial, etc. Having answered the question of what I want to achieve by a court decision, you can safely go to court.
Next, assess your capabilities and chances of "winning" in court. To do this, collect all the available information on your case in the form of documents, certificates, testimonies of witnesses (if any) and other necessary documents for the trial.
In the next step, determine the subject of the claim and begin to draw up a statement of claim. To draw it up correctly, you can contact lawyers, which will require additional funds, or you can use ready-made examples of statements of claim that will help you cope with the task yourself. Try to describe the essence of the case briefly, but succinctly on two pages of printed text, and attach all the evidence to the application in the appendix.
After drawing up the claim, it is necessary to determine the jurisdiction of the case, which means that it is necessary to decide which particular court to apply to (magistrate or district; at the place of your registration or the defendant's registration) to start the trial. In these matters, as in many others, online resources such as the "Virtual Guide to the Judicial System of the Russian Federation" will help to understand. Here you can find answers to all the primary questions that arise when thinking about going to court: which court to go to, what amount of state duty to pay, what is the difference between civil and administrative proceedings and other nuances of legal proceedings, etc.
In any business, the main thing is to start, and this, as practice shows, is not at all scary. Approach the trial with integrity and honesty, and the judge's decision will be in your favor.
