What is a lawsuit?
A lawsuit is defined as a civil legal action brought in a court. A lawsuit is one way that people and companies can resolve disputes arising out of an infinite variety of factual circumstances. Never pursue a lawsuit without speaking to a licensed attorney. Enter your ZIP code below to find local lawyers near you.
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Mary Martin
Published Legal Expert
Mary Martin has been a legal writer and editor for over 20 years, responsible for ensuring that content is straightforward, correct, and helpful for the consumer. In addition, she worked on writing monthly newsletter columns for media, lawyers, and consumers. Ms. Martin also has experience with internal staff and HR operations. Mary was employed for almost 30 years by the nationwide legal publi...
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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021
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We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.
UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
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A lawsuit is a civil legal action brought in a court. Typically one party is suing another party for money or other property. (The term party can include individuals, businesses and government agencies.)
Who are the plaintiff and the defendant?
The person suing is typically called the plaintiff; the person being sued is the defendant.
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What does enjoin mean?
Lawsuits sometimes also involve an action to enjoin – a legal term that means restrain or stop a party from doing something, such as picketing or trespassing on your property or disclosing confidential information.
A lawsuit is one way that people and companies can resolve disputes arising out of an infinite variety of factual circumstances.
Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Mary Martin
Published Legal Expert
Mary Martin has been a legal writer and editor for over 20 years, responsible for ensuring that content is straightforward, correct, and helpful for the consumer. In addition, she worked on writing monthly newsletter columns for media, lawyers, and consumers. Ms. Martin also has experience with internal staff and HR operations. Mary was employed for almost 30 years by the nationwide legal publi...
Published Legal Expert
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.