Litigation
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
A contest, authorized by law, in a court of justice, for the purpose of enforcing a right. The prime object of all litigation is to establish a right asserted by the plaintiff or to sustain a defence asserted by the party pursued; Tyler v. Judges of Court of Kegistration, 170 U. S. 400, 21 Sup. Ct 206, 45 L. Ed. 252, per Brown, J. Facts have been litigated when they were necessarily within the issue presented in a judicial proceeding, so that the judgment could not have been rendered without proof of them; Eastman v. Symonds, 108 Mass. 507.