At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury; pure economic loss is rarely recognized for the award of damages.
In the United States, a state court has jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state. State courts handle the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States; the United States federal courts are far smaller in terms of both personnel and caseload, and handle different types of cases. States often provide their trial courts with general jurisdiction and state trial courts regularly have concurrent jurisdiction with federal courts. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and their subject-matter jurisdiction arises only under federal law.
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. In both common law and civil law legal systems, courts are the central means for dispute resolution, and it is generally understood that all people have an ability to bring their claims before a court. Similarly, the rights of those accused of a crime include the right to present a defense before a court.
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties against one or more parties in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used with respect to a civil action brought by a plaintiff who requests a legal remedy or equitable remedy from a court. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint or else risk default judgment. If the plaintiff is successful, judgment is entered in favor of the plaintiff, and the Court may impose the legal and/or equitable remedies available against the defendant (respondent). A variety of court orders may be issued in connection with or as part of the judgment to enforce a right, award damages or restitution, or impose a temporary or permanent injunction to prevent an act or compel an act. A declaratory judgment may be issued to prevent future legal disputes.
Scott Frederick Turow is an American author and lawyer. Turow has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies. Turow’s novels are set primarily among the legal community in the fictional Kindle County. Films have been based on several of his books.
The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters.
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 American legal thriller film based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, and written by Pakula and Frank Pierson, it stars Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raúl Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield and Greta Scacchi. The film follows Rusty Sabich (Ford), a prosecutor who is charged with the murder of his colleague and mistress Carolyn Polhemus (Scacchi).
Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney for a client, in or out of court.
Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit has suffered harm to their body or mind. Personal injury lawsuits are filed against the person or entity that caused the harm through negligence, gross negligence, reckless conduct, or intentional misconduct, and in some cases on the basis of strict liability. Different jurisdictions describe the damages in different ways, but damages typically include the injured person's medical bills, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life.
Presumed Innocent, published in August 1987, is a legal thriller novel by American writer Scott Turow. His first novel, it is about a prosecutor charged with the murder of his colleague, Carolyn Polhemus. It is told in a first person point of view by the accused, Rožat "Rusty" Sabich. A motion picture adaptation starring Harrison Ford was released in 1990. A second adaptation for Apple TV+ starring Jake Gyllenhaal was released in 2024.
A personal injury lawyer is a lawyer who provides legal services to those who claim to have been injured, physically or psychologically, as a result of the negligence of another person, company, government agency or any entity. Personal injury lawyers primarily practice in the area of law known as tort law. Examples of common personal injury claims include injuries from slip and fall accidents, traffic collisions, defective products, workplace injuries and professional malpractice.
Ordinary Heroes, published in 2005, is a novel by Scott Turow. It tells the story of Stewart Dubinsky, a journalist who uncovers writings of his father while going through his things following his funeral. The novel, told in first person, traces Stewart's uncovering of his father David's role in World War II in the European Theatre as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. It includes scenes set during the Battle of the Bulge. This develops into a startling revelation about who Dubinsky's mother really is and how his father came to meet her.
The Burden of Proof, published in 1990, is Scott Turow's second novel, somewhat of a sequel to Presumed Innocent. The Burden of Proof follows the story of defense attorney Sandy Stern in the aftermath of his wife's death and the growing realization that there is much about his marriage that he has never understood. Stern's bereavement coincides with his latest case, defending commodities broker Dixon Hartnell. Hartnell is a complex figure, one that Sandy admires but doesn't trust. Stern soon realizes that defending "Dix" will force him to tread a narrow path between zealous advocacy for a client and his ethical responsibilities to the courts.
Pleading Guilty (1993), is Scott Turow's third novel, and like the previous two it is set in fictional Kindle County. The story is a legal thriller about Mack Malloy, a middle-aged lawyer basically waiting to retire, who is assigned by his firm to track down another attorney who has embezzled millions from the firm and disappeared.
The Laws of Our Fathers, published in 1996, is Scott Turow's fourth and longest novel, at 832 pages.
Reversible Errors, published in 2002 is Scott Turow's sixth novel, and like the others, set in fictional Kindle County. The title is a legal term.
Limitations is a novel by Scott Turow which was published in 2006. It is by far his shortest novel and prior to publication as a novel was released as a serial story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine.
Innocent is a 2010 novel by Scott Turow that continues the story of the antagonistic relationship between ex-prosecutor Rožat "Rusty" Sabich and Tommasino "Tommy" Molto as a direct follow-up to his 1987 debut novel, Presumed Innocent. Sabich, now chief judge of the Court of Appeals, is indicted by Molto for the murder of Sabich's wife Barbara; Alejandro "Sandy" Stern returns to defend Sabich. The novel was adapted into a television drama of the same name, starring Bill Pullman as Sabich, which first aired on TNT in November 2011.
Identical, published in 2013, is a novel by Scott Turow which details the complicated relationship between the Kronon and the Gianis families, who are neighbors, friends, enemies, and rivals at different times throughout. Cass Gianis is sent to prison for the murder of Dita Kronon, his girlfriend; later Paul Gianis, Cass's identical twin brother, is running for mayor and Hal Kronon, Dita's older brother, uses his wealth to attempt to derail his campaign by accusing him of participating in Dita's murder.
Testimony, published in 2017, is a novel by Scott Turow which details ex-United States Attorney for Kindle County Bill ten Boom's first case on the International Criminal Court (ICC); ten Boom investigates the overnight disappearance and suspected massacre of an entire refugee village of more than 400 Romani people in the unsettled political atmosphere following the Bosnian war.
