Civil cases are initiated when a wronged party, the Plaintiff, files a civil suit with the court of appropriate jurisdiction against the Defendant(s). While civil cases may involve criminal actions, these trials are separate from the proceedings of a criminal trial. Additionally, civil cases cover the gamut of disputes, disagreements, and grievances a plaintiff feels cannot be resolved sufficiently with defendants without court intervention.
Within the legal system, various types of civil cases may include:
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- Contractual disputes
- Personal injury claims
- Product liability
- Class action suits
- Wrongful death
- Medical malpractice
- Intellectual property disputes
- Libel, slander, and defamation of character
- Estate planning disputes
- Property and zoning disputes
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Any disagreement that is not in violation of criminal laws in a given jurisdiction may be an eligible civil suit, as well as the damages stemming from some criminal cases. In all civil cases, plaintiffs will be seeking remedy from a defendant(s). Remedy will often come in the form of a court mandated judgment that attempts to rectify, through judicial ruling, the outcome of a dispute.
Additionally, remedy can be achieved in civil suits through settlement, which may be provoked considering the costs and potential losses stemming from an impending civil trial. Remedies sought by plaintiffs in a civil case may take several forms including:
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- Settlements
- Damages
- Injunction
- Declaratory judgment Etc..
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