Sue, Suit

SUE - To prosecute or commence legal proceedings for the purpose of recovering a right.

SUIT - An action. The word suit in the 25th section of the judiciary act of 1789, applies to any proceeding in a court of justice, in which the plaintiff pursues, in such court, the remedy which the law affords him. An application for a prohibition is therefore a suit. According to the code of practice of Louisiana, a suit is a real, personal or mixed demand, made before a competent judge, by which the parties pray to obtain their rights, and a decision of their disputes. In that acceptation, the words suit, process and cause, are in that state almost synonymous. In its most extended sense, the word suit, includes not only a civil action, but also a criminal prosecution, as indictment, information, and a conviction by a magistrate.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.