Understanding Legal Terms: Plaintiff

The legal system can be very complicated, and it can sometimes be hard to keep all of the terms associated with legal action straight. However, with a little knowledge, it can be very easy to keep important terms separate and still appreciate their meaning as part of the legal system as a whole. Of course, while the legal system contains thousands of terms, all of which can become relevant at some point in time or another, it is often more worthwhile to start learning the legal system with the most basic and often used terms. With that in mind, understanding what exactly a "plaintiff" is can be very important for almost every trial, however, fortunately enough, the plaintiff is a fairly easy concept to understand.

When it comes to legal action, the plaintiff is the party who has brought the lawsuit. Meaning that they are the party who feels they have been wronged, and have thus taken legal action to correct that wrong. This is the simplest possible way to put who or what a plaintiff is into words. Of course, "plaintiff" is not always the preferred term, and some refer to the plaintiff instead as the "claimant" or perhaps "complainant". These terms are much more common place in British law, and it is rare to see them used in a United States court case. While these terms may sound strange to those who are more familiar with the traditional word, those forms or perhaps the easiest way to remember what the word means. If we take the first part of the work plaintiff, being "plain", we can think that it sounds very similar to "complaint". Thus, the plaintiff is the person or party who has the complaint, and would like it be corrected through legal action.

The rules by which a plaintiff may bring a case against a defendant vary accordingly from state in state. In some states, the plaintiff will file a summons and a complaint against a defendant, thus bringing the case officially to trial. However, in other states, the papers must be served according to a certain civil procedure, and served by an official member of the court. Following the papers being served, the lawsuit has officially begun.