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.
Ridgefield is a city in the pastoral, rolling-hills countryside of northern Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,147 at the 2000 census. Ridgefield is notable for the significant Native American and Lewis and Clark Expedition history of the area, but is also the home of the beautiful and verdant Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, a primary reserve for migrating waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway, and the somewhat oddly-named Ridgefield High School "Spudders" (reflecting the area's potato-farming heritage). The city is home to several annual community events, such as their old-fashioned Fourth of July Celebration, and also holds a bird festival that attracts bird lovers from around the region and beyond. While the town of Ridgefield is in itself relatively modest in size, the geographic area that is locally also called Ridgefield is quite a bit larger, extending from the Columbia River to its immediate west, the Lewis River to the north, several miles past Interstate 5 to the east, and south nearly to Vancouver, Washington, encompassing both the Clark County Fairgrounds and the Amphitheater at Clark County .