Parties to the Litigation.

The person who commences civil action is usually called "plaintiff".  The party that is sued is called "defendant".  Occasionally, litigants may start an action by way of "application" asking courts to determine disagreement between the parties, such as interpretation of a contract or question on the ownership of property or land.  In this case, the parties are called "applicant" and "respondent".  In case, the parties are appealing court or administrative board judgment to higher court, the litigants are called "appellant" and "respondent".

The action is normally starts when a plaintiff requires court registrar to issue document called "Statement of Claim".  The plaintiff serves the document to all the defendants listed in the Statement of Claim.  If the defendants dispute the allegations or the amount of damages, the defendants are required to respond with filing "Statement of Defence".

It is not a good idea for the defendant to ignore the litigation documents, if defendants fail to file Statement of Defence with the court before deadline (usually twenty (20) days, however the deadline can be different).  If Statement of Defence is not filed with the court before the deadline, the plaintiff may be able to automatically get default judgment for the full amount of the claim without giving any further notice to the defendants.

Sometimes, the defendant chooses to blame the plaintiff or third parties in the same legal action or application.  The defendant may add additional parties to the action by including  counterclaim against plaintiff or other parties in the defendant's Statement of Defence or require court to issue third party claim against individuals and legal entities not included in the original claim. Normally, the court rules require that the claims against individuals be somehow connected to the plaintiff's action either factually  or legally.

There can be more than one plaintiff and defendant in one law suit.  The parties can be individuals, corporations or other legal entities, such as partnerships, banks, non-profit organizations or unions.  An individual can choose to be self-represented, the courts almost always require legal entities, such as corporation, to retain a lawyer.

Some litigation may involve hundreds of parties either in the Statement of Claim or in the resulting Counterclaims and Third Party Claims.  It is always good idea to contact an experienced litigation lawyer immediately after receiving a notice of litigation against individual or business.

Lawyer's Practice.