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.
Reedville is an unincorporated town in Northumberland County in the Northern Neck region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located at the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 360 (the Northumberland Highway) east of Heathsville at the head of Cockrell's Creek on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Reedville is home to the fishing industry for Atlantic menhaden, a small oily fish found in great abundance in Mid-Atlantic coastal waters. By some accounts, it is second only to Dutch Harbor, Alaska for the annual quantity of fish brought to port in the United States. A popular place to begin fishing charters and trips to Tangier Island in the Bay, Reedville is a destination itself, steeped in the history of the menhaden fishing industry, with its Millionaire's Row of Victorian-era mansions and several watercraft of the Fishermen's Museum each listed on the National Register of Historic Places.