Civil cases involve conflicts between people or institutions such as businesses, typically over money. A civil case usually begins when one person or business (the "plaintiff") claims to have been harmed by the actions of another person or business (the "defendant") and asks the court for relief by filing a "complaint" and starting a court case. The plaintiff may ask the court to award "damages" (money to compensate the plaintiff for any harm suffered), or may ask for an "injunction" to prevent the defendant from doing something or to require the defendant to do something, or may seek a "declaratory judgment" in which the court determines the parties' rights under a contract or statute. Eventually, to resolve the case, the court (by way of a judge or jury) will determine the facts of the case (in other words, figure out what really happened) and will apply the appropriate law to those facts. Based on this application of the law to the facts, the court or jury will decide what legal consequences ultimately flow from the parties' actions.
Types Of Cases In Civil Court
Civil courts handle a wide variety of cases involving numerous legal issues. Very broadly, civil cases may involve such things as, for example,
Tort claims A "tort" is a wrongful act (sometimes called a "tortious" act), other than a breach of contract, that results in injury to someone's person, property, reputation, or the like, for which the injured person is entitled to compensation. Cases involving claims for such things as personal injury, battery, negligence, defamation, medical malpractice, fraud, and many others, are all examples.
Breach of contract claims A breach of contract case typically results from a person's failure to perform some term of a contract, whether the contract is written or oral, without some legitimate legal excuse. Cases involving claims for such things as not completing a job, not paying in full or on time, failing to deliver goods sold or promised, and many others, are all examples.
Equitable claims An "equitable claim" asks the court to order a party to take some action or stop some action. It may or may not be joined with a claim for monetary damages. Cases where a party is seeking a temporary restraining order or injunction to stop something (perhaps the destruction of property, the improper transfer of land, the solicitation of a business' customers) are examples.
Landlord/tenant issues Civil courts handle disputes arising between landlords and tenants. Cases where a landlord is trying to evict a tenant from a rental property or a tenant has moved out and is suing a landlord for the return of a security deposit are examples.
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