Civil Litigations
States impose time limits for filing a civil lawsuit, called the “statute of limitations.” Criminal prosecutors also have time limits for bringing charges against suspects (also referred to as the statute of limitations). While all states have statutes of limitation for filing civil actions, they tend to vary from one cause of action to another. Also, courts typically don’t start the “clock” until an injury is discovered or until the point at which it should have been discovered.
These statutes of limitation are intended to ensure the efficiency of the legal process, while preventing a potential plaintiff from threatening a lawsuit indefinitely. Additionally, statutes of limitation (in both civil and criminal law) help preserve the integrity of evidence and witness testimony. The majority of lawsuits carry a time limit of between one and four years in most states.
A civil lawsuit is a method of solving problems between people, businesses, or other entities. Generally speaking, in a civil lawsuit, one person is trying to prove that another person is responsible for committing some type of wrong.
The person who files the lawsuit is called “the plaintiff.” The person accused of having wronged the plaintiff is called “the defendant.” A civil lawsuit starts at the first level of judiciary: the trial court.
In Missouri, a trial court is called a “circuit court.” At the trial court, the lawsuit is resolved by holding a trial in front of a judge. Usually, if the plaintiff wins at trial, the defendant will have to pay the plaintiff money for the harm that resulted from the defendant’s actions.
Examples of situations where someone might file a civil lawsuit are:
- When there is a car accident and the drivers in the accident want to determine who was at fault;
- When somebody borrows money and he or she does not pay the money back; or
- When somebody damages someone else’s property.