action at law

Other forms: actions at law

Definitions of action at law

1. noun

   a judicial proceeding brought by one party against another; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wrong
   synonyms: action, legal action

   types:

   antitrust case

   a legal action brought against parties who are charged with limiting free competition in the market place

   civil action

   legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution)

   counterclaim

   a claim filed in opposition to another claim in a legal action

   custody case

   a legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce)

   lis pendens

   a pending lawsuit

   criminal prosecution, prosecution

   the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behavior

   test case, test suit

   a representative legal action whose outcome is likely to become a precedent

   double jeopardy

   the prosecution of a defendant for a criminal offense for which he has already been tried; prohibited in the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution

   type of:

   legal proceeding, proceeding, proceedings

   (law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked