civil lawsuit
Non-criminal court case
A civil lawsuit is a legal action between private parties seeking money damages or specific remedies rather than criminal punishment.
One party (the plaintiff) sues another (the defendant) over disputes like contracts, property, personal injury, or discrimination: She filed a civil lawsuit against her former employer.
Unlike criminal cases, civil lawsuits require only a preponderance of evidence, not proof beyond reasonable doubt.
- defendantParty facing charges
- legal actionFormal court proceeding
- juryLegal decision-making body
- jury trialLegal proceeding with citizen panel
- plaintiffCivil case initiator
judge · verdict · attorney · pro bono · injunction · tort · negligence · deposition · class action · statute of limitations · burden of proof · cause of action · discovery · trial · punitive damages · out of court · damages · contract dispute
- police oversightinternal affairs, inspector general, oversight committee, independent review, federal oversight
- defamationslander, libel, defamation, defamatory statement, defaming
- financial fraudsecurities fraud, bank fraud, accounting fraud, defalcation, embezzler
- malpracticemalpractice, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, malpractice insurance, professional negligence
- police misconductpolice brutality, excessive force, brutality, misconduct, abuse of power
- wrongful deathwrongful death suit, wrongful act, decedent, fatal injury, beneficiary
civil lawsuitcriminal prosecution
Government's legal action against accused
criminal case · criminal trial · criminal complaint · federal prosecution · criminal charge
civil lawsuitarbitration
Non-court binding dispute resolution
out-of-court settlement · mediation · conciliation · settlement · negotiation