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Lawsuit
Linguists and others who study language tell us that the number of synonyms for a single concept in a language say a great deal about what is important in that culture and society. For example, it is fairly well known that the Inuit People of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic have over twenty different words for "snow."
Lawsuit is one of a sizable group of words and phrases that refer to action taken by one party against another in a court of law. A lawsuit is often abbreviated to suit, and can also be known as a legal action, civil action, civil suit, litigation, civil proceeding, claim, legal dispute, court matter, contention or civil trial.
The term civil distinguishes this type of legal proceeding from a criminal one. Civil lawsuits (that often become very un-civil, should the issues be controversial and/or highly contentious) typically do not involve violations of criminal codes, although criminality can be part of such an action - particularly if the evidence shows was fraud, deception reckless disregard and/or egregious negligence that resulted in injuries and/or death.
In fact, civil proceedings may be changed to criminal trials if the evidence indicates wrongdoing such as concealing facts or if there was depraved indifference. Likewise, a criminal may be sued in civil court once his/her trial is over; it is possible for someone to be found not guilty of a crime in criminal court, and yet found liable for the same wrongdoing in a civil suit, as happened in the case of Goldman v. Simpson (SC 031947, 1996).
Civil actions and criminal trials which involve the same defendant(s) may also take the form of parallel proceedings. This means that both actions are taking place simultaneously. An example might be a case in which a plaintiff is suing a defendant for recovery of damages while the defendant is also being tried for reckless endangerment of human life (i.e., dumping toxic chemicals in a residential area knowing the dangers).