suit (redirected from suits down to the ground)

A generic term, of comprehensive signification, referring to any proceeding by one person or persons against another or others in a court of law in which the plaintiff pursues the remedy that the law affords for the redress of an injury or the enforcement of a right, whether at law or in Equity.

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suit n. generic term for any filing of a complaint (or petition) asking for legal redress by judicial action, often called a "lawsuit." In common parlance a suit asking for a court order for action rather than a money judgment is often called a "petition," but technically it is a "suit in equity." (See: lawsuit)

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suit noun actio, action, action at law, action to serve justice, case, causa, cause, cause in court, judicial contest, lawsuit, legal action, legal proceeding, legal remedy, lis, petition, proceeding, suit in law, trial
Associated concepts: class suits, nonsuit, suit against state
Foreign phrases: Secta est pugna civilis; sicut actores arrantur actionibus, et, quasi, accinguntur gladiis, ita rei muniuntur exceptionibus, et defenduntur, quasi, clypeis.A suit is a civil battle; for as the plaintiffs are armed with actions, and, as it were, girded with swords, so the defendants are fortified with pleas, and are deeended, as it were, with shields. Frustra agit qui judiiium prosequi nequit cum effectu. He sues vainly who cannot prosecute his judgment with effect. Nemo alieno nomine lege agere potest. No one can sue in the name of another.

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See also: accommodate, action, agree, appeal, calculate, call, case, cause, chain, claim, clothe, comply, comport, concur, conform, entreaty, fulfill, lawsuit, legal proceeding, matter, proceeding, prosecution, satisfy, trial

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SUIT. An action. The word suit in the 25th section of the judiciary act of 1789, applies to any proceeding in a court of justice, in which the plaintiff pursues, in such court, the remedy which the law affords him. An application for a prohibition is therefore a suit. 2 Pet. 449. According to the code of practice of Louisiana, art. 96, a suit is a real, personal or mixed demand, made before a competent judge, by which the parties pray to obtain their rights, and a decision of their disputes. In that acceptation, the words suit, process and cause, are in that state almost synonymous. Vide Secta, and Steph. Pl. 427; 3 Bl. Com. 395; Gilb. C. P. 48; 1 Chit. Pl. 399; Wood's Civ. Law, b. 4, c. p. 315; 4 Mass. 263; 18 John. 14; 4 Watts, R. 154; 3 Story, Const. Sec. 1719. In its most extended sense, the word suit, includes not only a civil action, but also a criminal prosecution, as indictment, information, and a conviction by a magistrate. Ham. N. P. 270.