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Plaintiff
 
 
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A plaintiff (?
Pi (letter)

Pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 80. Letters that arose from pi include Cyrillic Pe ....
 in legal shorthand), also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit
Lawsuit

In law, a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, called the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy or equitable remedy....
 (also known as an action) before a court
Court

A court is a body, often a government institution, with the authority to adjudication legal disputes and dispense private law, criminal justice, or administrative law justice in accordance with rules of law....
. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy
Legal remedy

A legal remedy is the means with which a court of law, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a sentence , or makes some other court order to impose its will....
, and if successful, the court will issue judgment
Judgment

A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a Guilt y defendant in a Criminal law matter, or providing a Legal remedy for the plaintiff in a civil law matter....
 in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order
Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a Hearing , a lawsuit, an appeal or other court proceedings....
 (e.g., an order for damages
Damages

In law, damages refer to the money paid or awarded to a claimant , pursuer or plaintiff following a successful claim in a lawsuit....
).

In some jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s the commencement of a lawsuit is done by filing a summons
Summons

A summons is a legal document issued by a court or by an administrative agency of government for various purposes....
, claim form and/or a complaint
Complaint

In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, etc. In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the basic facts and legal reasons that the filing party believes are sufficient to support a claim against another person, persons, entity...
 — these documents are known as pleading
Pleading

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer....
s — that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
 or defendants with a demand for relief.






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A plaintiff (?
Pi (letter)

Pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 80. Letters that arose from pi include Cyrillic Pe ....
 in legal shorthand), also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit
Lawsuit

In law, a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, called the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy or equitable remedy....
 (also known as an action) before a court
Court

A court is a body, often a government institution, with the authority to adjudication legal disputes and dispense private law, criminal justice, or administrative law justice in accordance with rules of law....
. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy
Legal remedy

A legal remedy is the means with which a court of law, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a sentence , or makes some other court order to impose its will....
, and if successful, the court will issue judgment
Judgment

A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a Guilt y defendant in a Criminal law matter, or providing a Legal remedy for the plaintiff in a civil law matter....
 in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order
Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a Hearing , a lawsuit, an appeal or other court proceedings....
 (e.g., an order for damages
Damages

In law, damages refer to the money paid or awarded to a claimant , pursuer or plaintiff following a successful claim in a lawsuit....
).

In some jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s the commencement of a lawsuit is done by filing a summons
Summons

A summons is a legal document issued by a court or by an administrative agency of government for various purposes....
, claim form and/or a complaint
Complaint

In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, etc. In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the basic facts and legal reasons that the filing party believes are sufficient to support a claim against another person, persons, entity...
 — these documents are known as pleading
Pleading

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer....
s — that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
 or defendants with a demand for relief. In other jurisdictions the action is commenced by service of legal process
Legal Process

The legal process school was a movement within American law that attempted to chart a third way between legal formalism and legal realism. Drawing its name from Hart & Sacks' textbook The Legal Process , it is associated with scholars such as Herbert Wechsler, Henry Hart, Albert Sacks and Lon Fuller, and their students such as John Hart Ely...
 by delivery of these documents on the defendant by a process server; they are only filed with the court subsequently with an affidavit
Affidavit

An affidavit is a formal Oath, signed by the declarant and witnessed by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public. The name is Medieval Latin for he has declared upon oath....
 from the process server that they had been given to the defendant(s) according to the rules of civil procedure
Civil procedure

Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudication Civil law lawsuits . These rules govern how a lawsuit or Legal case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or statements of case, motion s or applications, and court orders allowed in c...
.

Not all lawsuits are plenary
Plenary

Plenary is an adjective related to the noun plenum carrying a general connotation of fullness.Plenary may refer to:*Plenary session or meeting, the part of a conference when all members of all parties are in attendance...
 actions, involving a full trial
Trial

A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:...
 on the merits of the case. There are also simplified procedures, often called proceedings, in which the parties are termed petitioner instead of plaintiff, and respondent instead of defendant. There are also cases that do not technically involve two sides, such as petitions for specific statutory relief that require judicial approval; in those cases there are no respondents, just a petitioner.

A plaintiff identified by name in a class action
Class action

In law, a class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominately a US phenomenon, at least the US variant of it....
 is called a named plaintiff
Named plaintiff

A named plaintiff, "class plaintiff" or "class representative" is one of the small group of individual plaintiffs in a class action who are identified by name and who stand in for and represent the interests of the larger group of people who comprise the plaintiff class, subject to court approval....
.

The party to whom the complaint is against is the defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
; or in the case of a petition, a respondent. Case names are usually given with the plaintiff first, as in Plaintiff v. Defendant.

"Complainant" may also denote the complaining witness in a criminal proceeding.

United Kingdom

In England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, the term Claimant has replaced Plaintiff after the Civil Procedure Rules 1998
Civil Procedure Rules 1998

The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in Civil law in England and Wales....
 came into force in 26 April 1999. In Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, a plaintiff is referred to as a pursuer
Pursuer

A pursuer in Scotland is the party who initiates a lawsuit before a Courts of Scotland. The term is the same in civil and criminal proceedings. The pursuer is seeking a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favour of the pursuer and make the appropriate court order ...
 and a defendant as a defender.

Elsewhere

In Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, a plaintiff is still referred to as a plaintiff, and Americans traditionally limit the application of terms such as "claimant" and "claim form" to insurance
Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to Hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating los...
 and administrative law
Administrative law

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of government agency of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulation agenda....
. After exhausting remedies available through an insurer or government agency
Government agency

A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency....
, an American claimant in need of further relief would turn to the courts, file a complaint, and become a plaintiff.

Etymology

The word plaintiff can be traced to the 1278 and stems from the Anglo-French word pleintif meaning 'complaining' from pleint. It is identical with plaintive at first and it is this form that receded into legal usage with the -iff spelling in the 1400's.