(A) practice. He who, in a personal action, seeks a remedy for an injury to his rights. 2. Plaintiffs are legal or equitable. The legal plaintiff is he in whom the legal title or cause of action is vested. The equitable plaintiff is he who, not having the legal title, yet, is in equity entitled to the thing sued for; for example, when a suit is brought by Benjamin Franklin for the use of Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin is the legal, and Robert Morris the equitable plaintiff. This is the usual manner of bringing suit, when the cause of action is not assignable at law, but is so in equity. (B) A person, corporation or other legal entity that begins a lawsuit, such as filing a complaint with a clerk, and who seeks damages for an injury from a defendant.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
A person who brings an action; the party who complains or sues in a personal action and is so named on the record. Gulf, etc., R. Co. v. Scott (Tex. Civ. App.) 28 S. W. 458; Canaan v. Greenwoods Turnpike Co., 1 Conn. 1. Plaintiff In error. The party who sues out a writ of error to review a judgment or other proceeding at law. Use plaintiff. One for whose use (benefit) an action is brought in the name of another. Thus, where the assignee of a chose in action is not allowed to sue in his own name, the action would he entitled “A. B. (the assignor) for the use of C. D. (the assignee) against E. F.” In this case, C. D. is called the “use plaintiff.”