Civil Law & Lawsuits

The Kind of Suit You Can’t Wear

Civil actions include situations where an individual sues someone else for money or another type of remedy to compensate for injury or other damage. When you turn 18, you can sue or be sued in a civil action.

Torts

Civil cases include a category of lawsuits known as torts. The word tort comes from an Old French word meaning wrong, injustice, or crime, and is used today to refer to a broad category of lawsuits, including battery, wrongful death, false imprisonment, defamation, trespass, fraud, and malpractice. By far the most common type of tort is negligence. Negligence means causing damage by doing something or not doing something that a reasonable person would do or not do.

Statutes of Limitations

If you believe that you have been wronged or damaged through the actions of another person and wish to take legal action against that person there is a time limit for beginning the lawsuit that you must meet. This time limit is sometimes referred to as a statute of limitations. For example, with a couple of exceptions, the statute of limitations for a lawsuit related to personal injury is two years from the date of the injury or accident.