Cause of Action
The legal basis for a lawsuit. It is the set of facts and legal theory that gives a person the right to sue someone.
A cause of action is the legal reason for a lawsuit. It combines the facts of what happened with the legal rules that were broken. To have a valid cause of action, you must be able to show that the other party did something (or failed to do something) that the law says is wrong, and that you were harmed as a result.
Common causes of action include breach of contract (someone broke a deal with you), negligence (someone’s carelessness hurt you), fraud (someone deceived you), and discrimination (someone treated you differently because of a protected characteristic).
Why it matters: Before filing a lawsuit, you need to identify your cause of action. A lawyer will evaluate whether the facts of your situation fit a recognized legal claim. If you do not have a valid cause of action, the court will dismiss your case.
Example: A customer pays a contractor $5,000 for a kitchen renovation, but the contractor never starts the work and stops returning calls. The customer’s cause of action is breach of contract – they had a deal, the contractor broke it, and the customer lost money.
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