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For our class, we will use the term litigation to mean the entire formal judicial process of
settling a legal claim.
The following is a nice description of civil litigation (from: About Careers;
http://legalcareers.about.com/od/legalspecialties/a/civillitigation.htm):
Civil litigation can be divided into seven stages: investigation, pleadings, discovery, pretrial, trial, settlement and appeal. Not every lawsuit passes through each stage of litigation;
most lawsuits are settled prior to trial and many cases that reach a trial verdict are not
appealed.
The lifespan of a lawsuit can range from several months to several years. Complex civil
litigation often takes years to pass from pre-suit investigation through trial/settlement.
Pleadings = Written statements filed by the parties in a civil lawsuit containing formal
allegations of the parties' respective claims and defenses. Under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, the pleadings consist of a complaint, an answer, a reply to a counterclaim, an
answer to a cross-claim, a third party complaint and a third party answer. (from:
http://legalcareers.about.com/od/glossary/g/Pleadings.htm)

Litigants are the parties actively involved in the litigation (i.e. the lawsuit); they are
typically referred to as the plaintiffs and the defendants.
As used above, civil law is referring to that law which is not criminal law (i.e. does not
involve a criminal statute).

Common law is sometimes referred to as case law.

Quote from Law 101 (B. A. Roche, Sphinx Publishing, 2004, pg. 15): Case law is the law as
stated in specific cases decided by the courts. Case law is in written form, and generally
contains a brief synopsis of the facts of the case, an analysis of the legal principles that
apply, and a statement of the courts decision (what is generally known as the holding of
the case). The holding is the crux of the decision rendered by that court. Insofar as that
court has jurisdiction or authority to interpret the law, the holding then becomes law.

The above is referring to the advantages and disadvantages of a common law system

In food law it may be a federal agency (FDA, USDA, etc.) that initiates litigation, typically via
the Department of Justice (DOJ), against a corporation. Or it could be a corporation, a
group of individuals, or a single individual that initiates litigation against the government
(typically a federal agency).

Expert witnesses brought by the different sides in a lawsuit may not come to the same
conclusion. A major task of a jury is to determine, if possible, which of the expert
witnesses is providing the most reasonable information.

The majority of food law deals with civil law; typically it is in some way related to an
executive branch administrative agency and the regulations they have promulgated.

The protections in place for defendants in civil cases are considerably less than those in
place for defendants in criminal cases.

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Quote from Law 101 (B. A. Roche, Sphinx Publishing, 2004, pg. 20):
A criminal case is, in essence, a lawsuit brought by the government acting through a
prosecutor against an individual who is accused of violating a criminal statute.
Quote from Law 101 (B. A. Roche, Sphinx Publishing, 2004, pg. 79):
The distinguishing feature of criminal law is the element of punishment. The purpose of
criminal law is to punish wrongdoers. This is dramatically different than the purpose of
civil law. Generally, civil law is intended to compensate someone for an injury suffered or to
undo a wrong that has been committed. In the field of criminal law, the victim is not
necessarily compensated, but the perpetrator is punished. In the eyes of the criminal
justice system, the purpose of that punishment is to help reform the perpetrator; to
restrain future misconduct by that perpetrator; to create a system of deterrents to other
potential perpetrators; and, finally, to obtain retribution for the crime that has been
committed.

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Notice that some guaranteed protections apply prior to any arrest being made (e.g., free
from unreasonable searches).

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Pre-trial discovery is not allowed in all cases.

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Most civil cases allow pretrial discovery.

The following Quote is from Law 101 (B. A. Roche, Sphinx Publishing, 2004, pg. 39):
With respect to civil litigation, discovery is designed to allow each party to ask the other
party what they know about the claim [charge] that has been asserted, who any relevant
witnesses may be, and to identify any relevant documents. the overall purpose of this
discovery process is to make sure that each side has ample opportunity to discover the
claims or defenses of the other party so that at the time of trial, each party is fully aware of
what the other intends to present.
The following Quote is from Law 101 (B. A. Roche, Sphinx Publishing, 2004, pg. 72):
[Pretrial discovery is only allowed in some criminal prosecutions.] The discovery that is
allowed in a criminal case is considerably more limited than what is allowed in a civil case.
In a civil case, the prevailing philosophy is that a full disclosure of the facts and full
discovery of the strong points and weak points of the other partys case is desirable in
order to allow the parties to make an intelligent decision as to whether the case should be
settled and, if so, how much it should be settled for. In the area of criminal law, the
prevailing philosophy is that too much discovery is not a good thing because the
information gathered by the defendant could conceivably be used to intimidate witnesses
and to otherwise bog down the criminal justice system. As such, the amount of discovery

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allowed in a criminal case is typically limited compared to what is allowed in a civil case.

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See following slides for definitions.

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Writ = a legal order

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See following slides for explanation.

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The above due process clause in the Bill of Rights is/was narrowly interpreted as applying
only to federal issues (not state issues). This interpretation, prior to the passing of the 14th
Amendment, allowed states to enact laws which infringed on the right of due process.
Keep in mind that the Bill of Rights as a whole, not just the 5th Amendment, was viewed as
restricting federal power, not the power of the states. Presently, all of the rights
enumerated in the Bill of Rights apply at the state level.

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The process/procedure of litigation in the United States is intended to provide the stated
due process, i.e. an opportunity for a person to receive notice of the claims against them
and to answer those claims.

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