[6][7] The common law is today as fertile a source for theoretical inquiry as it has ever been.
[1][2] Civil litigation refers to legal proceedings undertaken to resolve a dispute rewarding an alleged civil wrong and seeking redress or payment of damages.
[10] It is often suggested that civil litigation proceedings are undertaken for the purpose of obtaining compensation for injury, and may thus be distinguished from criminal proceedings, whose purpose is to inflict punishment.
This means that the plaintiff must prove each element of the claim, or cause of action in order to recover.
[16] The cost of pursuing civil litigation has sometimes been highlighted as excessive relative to the scale of the issue to be resolved.