Also known as: civil cases · civil action · civil suit
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A proceeding in which a private party seeks redress for a wrong or enforcement of a right. The proceeding is commenced by filing a complaint and proceeds under rules distinct from those governing criminal prosecutions.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Craig Caldwell sued Continental Bank for breach of contract after the bank refused to honor a letter of credit. The court took judicial notice that the bank was federally chartered. At the close of evidence the judge instructed the jury that it must accept the noticed fact as conclusive.
Claire Campbell retained Cardinal Insurance's former counsel to sue the insurer for bad-faith denial of benefits. The lawyer and client signed a written agreement providing for a reasonable contingent fee based on any recovery.
Carlos Castillo sued Compass Logistics in federal court under diversity jurisdiction for cargo loss. He added a state-law indemnity claim against Citadel Security, a non-diverse party whose conduct arose from the same shipment. The district court exercised jurisdiction over the indemnity claim because it formed part of the same case or controversy.
Christian Coleman sued Clifford Cox for negligence after a car accident. Coleman offered a transcript of a witness's deposition taken in an earlier state-court proceeding involving the same collision. Because the witness had moved abroad and could not be located despite reasonable efforts, the court admitted the transcript under a lower unavailability threshold than would apply in a criminal prosecution.
Corinne Cho filed a federal civil action against a corporate defendant. A process server authorized under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure delivered the summons and complaint at the defendant's registered agent office.
Citadel Security sued a subcontractor for defective installation. It offered a city building inspector's report containing factual findings from an authorized investigation of the work site. The court admitted the report under the public-records exception because the opponent did not show lack of trustworthiness.
In a civil case the court must tell the jury to accept the noticed fact as conclusive. In a criminal case the court must tell the jury that it may, but is not required to, accept the fact as conclusive.
Supporting sources
No. The Model Rules expressly permit a lawyer to contract with a client for a reasonable contingent fee in a civil case.
…invalid restrictions on their constitutional freedoms of speech and press. It matters not that that law has been applied in a civil action and that it is common law only, though supplemented by statute. See, e. g., Alabama Code, Tit. 7, §§ 908-917. The test is not the form in which state power has been applied but, whatever…
…review on questions of law by the state Superior Court, with further right of appeal in the state Supreme Court as in other civil cases. In this
…fairness, if he could be adjudged guilty and imprisoned for years on the strength of the same evidence as would suffice in a civil case." 24 N. Y. 2d, at 205, 247 N. E. 2d, at 259. The requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt has this vital role in our criminal procedure for cogent reasons. The accused during a…
…obtaining her informed consent or without according her a private medical consultation may be liable to her for damages in a civil action
…This Court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal in No. 80-1832 under 28 U. S. C. § 1252, which provides that “[a]ny party” to a
Once the court has original jurisdiction, it may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over all other claims that form part of the same case or controversy under Article III, including claims involving joinder or intervention of additional parties.
The Sixth Amendment confrontation right demands a greater effort to produce the witness in criminal prosecutions. Civil cases lack that constitutional constraint, so courts apply a less stringent unavailability standard.
Any person authorized to serve a summons in a federal civil action may do so. This contrasts with the stricter requirement that only a marshal or other authorized officer may execute a criminal warrant.
Factual findings from a legally authorized investigation are admissible in a civil case unless the opponent shows that the source of information or other circumstances indicate a lack of trustworthiness.