What is a Civil Suit, and how do you go about it?

Two types of legal action: Criminal - between a government body and a private entity. Civil - between two private entities, usually for some type of restitution.

You sue. Call a lawyer and tell them that you want to file a lawsuit because of xyz reasons. They will tell you if you have a case and if so they start procedings by filing a complaint with the person you are suing... then they will gather evidence through various means and set a court date. there will probably many attempts to settle out of court before the case goes on trial.

See a lawyer, idiot.

you consult an attorney

A Civil Suit is a lawsuit filed in the Civil Court asking for monetary damages (money $$) from a person or business who has caused you either personal injuries or property damages. That person or business who has harmed you will have to be found by the court and/or jury to be liable under the law governing that area for your injury or damages. You can file a Small Claims Civil Suit yourself if the damages are under a certain amount (I think $3000) or else you will need to hire an attorney to review your case and do it for you. I am certainly no expert but it works something like that.

Since you are indicated as being from Canada see http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/dept/pub/just/08.html for the distinction between Criminal and Civil Cases. That said, I believe a number of other respondents are confusing a Civil Suit with a Claim in a Small Claims Court. The latter is a specific type of civil suit for claims under $10,000 and handled at the provincial court level in a dedicated Small Claims Court. Details vary by province .. for example in Ontario details are at http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/b4aClaim.asp The organization fo the courts in Canada and what they are responsible for is covered at http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/dept/pub/just/07.html Because all of this is complex .. other than for a small court case which you could handle yourself ... a lawyer should (and in most cases must) be consulted since s/he is trained to navigate the system. If you are considering a Small Claims Court Claim I can say from experience it should only be undertaken if you are aware and prepared to accept that obtaining payment following a judgement can be the longest and most problematic part of the process, and that there are up front costs in the form of fees at every stage.

Civil - between two parties Criminal - the state brings charges against a party If the complaint is for a small amount of money and the case is simple, just go to the courthouse and fill out a complaint If it is for a substantial amount, get an attorney

you are sueing for monetary damage or fulfillmnt of a said contract, or somebody caused you bodily harm that interferred with therir life.