Cause of action

Legal terminology for a reason to go to court. Certain causes of action are specifically recognized in law as being sufficient to get a court to recognize and try them. Others are recognized in court as a matter of common law.

If a person runs over another in a car, this would generally constitute a cause of action. One may, in contrast, seek to file a suit over the fact that one was offended by an obscene gesture. The latter fact would not be recognized by a court of law as a cause of action, and the matter would be dismissed as a frivolous lawsuit, possibly resulting in sanctions.