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salali
salali
Student
Graduate School

What is the difference between a "plaint" and "suit"?

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Posted by salali on Sunday June 7, 2009 at 2:13 AM and tagged with terminology.

Answers:


  1. sullymonster Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    A "suit" refers to a lawsuit.  It is a civil action, as opposed to a criminal one.  A suit is brought by one person or group (plaintiff) against another (defendant), seeking damages for action's of the defandant.

    A "plaint" is commonly defined as a summons, a legal document sent to representatives in a lawsuit.  It informs a defendant of the legal action being brought against them, and provides case number, court dates, etc..

    In some countries, the term "plaint" is more than a summons, and is used in just the way that "suit" is used.  See the defintion provided by the link below.  Plaint is not a term used int the US, but mostly in English law.

    Sources:
    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plaint

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    Posted by sullymonster on Sunday June 7, 2009 at 4:53 AM