Plaintiff

A plaintiff (<a href="/facts/Pi_(letter)/4UpopgBE">Π</a> in <a href="/facts/List_of_legal_abbreviations/lB4zkYqm">legal shorthand</a>) is the party who initiates a <a href="/facts/Lawsuit/gFeKr9ra">lawsuit</a> (also known as an action) before a <a href="/facts/Court/QuVoTFmh">court</a>. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a <a href="/facts/Legal_remedy/a7wmXU1w">legal remedy</a>. If this search is successful, the court will issue <a href="/facts/Judgment_(law)/u293R13I">judgment</a> in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate <a href="/facts/Court_order/4enNk4ul">court order</a> (e.g., an order for <a href="/facts/Damages/bEb5khbU">damages</a>). Plaintiff is the term used in civil cases in most English-speaking jurisdictions, the notable exceptions being England and Wales, where a plaintiff has, since the introduction of the <a href="/facts/Civil_Procedure_Rules/hnsYvlHI">Civil Procedure Rules</a> in 1999, been known as a "claimant" and Scotland, where the party has always been known as the "pursuer". In criminal cases, the <a href="/facts/Prosecutor/3kHvlXkC">prosecutor</a> brings the case against the defendant, but the key complaining party is often called the "complainant".
In some <a href="/facts/Jurisdiction/0Kb8hao4">jurisdictions</a>, a lawsuit is commenced by filing a <a href="/facts/Summons/7jjqGIPq">summons</a>, claim form or a <a href="/facts/Complaint/jqXrS5mq">complaint</a>. These documents are known as <a href="/facts/Pleading/A4Y42WID">pleadings</a>, that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the <a href="/facts/Defendant/t7ftlHvP">defendant</a> or defendants with a demand for relief. In other jurisdictions, the action is commenced by service of <a href="/facts/Legal_process/83sImW4r">legal process</a> by delivery of these documents on the defendant by a process server; they are only filed with the court subsequently with an <a href="/facts/Affidavit/Tf5KFsCH">affidavit</a> from the process server that they had been given to the defendant according to the rules of <a href="/facts/Civil_procedure/zvxNAD6z">civil procedure</a>.

Plaintiff open-in-new

Plaintiff