the.com/lawsuit
Expensive way to let strangers in robes decide who was wrong.
means A civil action brought before a court to resolve a dispute between parties.
from A straightforward compound from 'law' plus 'suit' — but 'suit' here isn't about clothing. It comes from Old French 'suite,' meaning the act of following or pursuing, rooted in Latin 'sequi,' to follow. To 'sue' someone was literally to pursue them, chase a claim through the courts. So a lawsuit is, at its etymological core, a legal pursuit — one party chasing another all the way to judgment.
- true cost
- winner still often pays own legal fees
- time
- average case drags on for years, not months
- outcome
- most settle quietly before any trial happens
- origin
- word predates courts suing just meant following