Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case. Civil law courts provide a forum for deciding disputes involving torts (such as accidents, negligence, and libel), contract disputes, the probate of wills, trusts, property disputes, administrative law, commercial law, and any other private matters that involve private parties or organizations including government departments. The objectives of civil law are different from other types of law. In civil law there is the attempt to right a wrong, honor an agreement, or settle a dispute. If there is a victim, they get compensation, and the person who is the cause of the wrong pays, this being a civilized form of, or legal alternative to, revenge.
Norwalk is a city in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 16,238 at the 2000 census, while the 2007 population estimate puts Norwalk at 16,596. It is the county seat of Huron County. The city is the center of the Norwalk Micropolitan Statistical Area. Norwalk is located approximately 10 miles south of Lake Erie, 51 miles west/southwest of Cleveland, 59 miles southeast of Toledo, and 87 miles north of Columbus. The city is at the center of the Firelands, a subregion of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The subregion's name recalls the founding of the area as one for settlers from cities in Connecticut that were burned during the Revolutionary War. Several locations in the Firelands were named in honor of those cities, including Danbury, Greenwich, Groton, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Norwich, and Ridgefield. Other locations were named for the settlers, including Clarksfield, Perkins, and Sherman.