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There are a lot of people who don’t understand the difference between a civil lawsuit and a criminal action. To get a better idea of what the differences are, think O.J. Simpson. He was found not guilty in criminal court, but guilty in a civil court. How can that happen?

The civil case was a wrongful death lawsuit. In the civil suit, the Brown family (Simpson’s wife’s family) was seeking money damages for the wrong the O.J. was accused of committing. That is true of all civil cases involving injury or death; money damages is the only means of compensation.

In a criminal case the prosecutor charges a person with a criminal act. If the judge or jury finds that personal responsible or guilty, the person faces, jail, fines, other penalties or all three. The victim’s only compensation in a criminal case is seeing a perpetrator punished by incarceration or other penalty. In a criminal action, the government brings suit against a criminal; in a civil action, a citizen brings suit against another citizen, usually for money damages. In civil cases the plaintiff needs to prove the defendant (by a preponderance of evidence) committed the acts they are being sued for in court. In criminal cases, the level of required proof is higher; the prosecution must demonstrate guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the main reason why O.J. lost his civil trial even though he was found not guilty in the criminal trial.

One type of civil lawsuit is a personal injury case. Suit may be filed as the result of an automobile accident, or wrongful death, nursing home abuse and medical malpractice. Other examples are construction site accidents, boating accidents, airplane crashes, or defective products cases.

To commence a civil lawsuit resulting from an injury, it is wise to retain an experienced personal injury attorney to pursue justice for you and prove and request an appropriate award of money damages for your injuries. In most courtrooms around the country, personal injury cases take a long time to be resolved because of the discovery process and the volume of cases filed in civil court. If you find yourself involved in contentious personal injury litigation, you may be having financial difficulties while waiting for your case to resolve. If so, you may wish to investigate a service known as lawsuit funding. Personal injury cases often involve long stretches of work loss and bills can pile up. A lawsuit cash advance may be just what you need to pay your immediate bills without having to consider an early and inexpensive settlement. That only helps the insurance company.

A lawsuit cash advance would let you not only pay your bills right away, but be able to wait for a resolution to your case, whether that is through negotiation or a court decision. Legal finance is relatively easy to access. It merely takes a phone call, an answer to some quick and easy questions and cooperation by and information from your attorney. The legal funding you need will be on its way in 48 hours or less.

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