CASE - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

CASEAuthored

The Law Mind • 1405 words

Definition

(Procedural) A dispute, action, suit, or controversy submitted to a court of justice for resolution. In its broadest sense, "case" encompasses any matter properly before a tribunal — whether civil or criminal, at law or in equity. It is often used interchangeably with "action," "cause," and "suit," though each term carries distinct procedural connotations.

(Constitutional) Under Article III, § 2 of the U.S. Constitution, "cases and controversies" defines the outer boundary of federal judicial power. A constitutional "case" arises when a matter touching the Constitution, federal laws, or treaties is submitted to a court through regular judicial proceedings for the enforcement or protection of rights. This usage carries specific doctrinal weight: without a qualifying case or controversy, federal courts lack jurisdiction to act.

(Factual) The aggregate of facts that gives occasion for the exercise of a court's jurisdiction. In this sense, a "case" is what a party presents — the story of events that the law is asked to resolve. Lawyers speak of "building a case," "the facts of the case," or "the case for the plaintiff" in this register.

(Action on the Case / Trespass on the Case) Historically, a specific common law form of action — a catch-all writ designed to provide a remedy for wrongs not covered by other established forms. This usage is largely obsolete in modern pleading but appears extensively in pre-twentieth-century legal writing and case reporters.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A box, sheath, or covering; a container of identical manufactured items; a suitcase or enclosing frame.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A box and its contents; an enclosing frame; a shallow tray for holding printer's type; a covering for a book or watch.

The common meaning of "case" is almost entirely physical — a container or enclosure. The legal meaning is almost entirely abstract — a controversy, cause, or aggregate of facts. Researchers consulting historical sources must be alert to context: the same word in an eighteenth-century legal text may mean an action before a court, a particular set of circumstances, or (in the phrase "action on the case") a specific procedural vehicle. None of these track the physical sense at all.

Common Confusion

Three usages frequently collapse into one another in historical legal writing:

CASE vs. CAUSE vs. ACTION vs. SUIT: These terms are used interchangeably in many sources, but they are not strict synonyms. "Action" generally refers to the formal legal proceeding itself. "Cause" often refers to the underlying substantive matter or the right being vindicated. "Suit" historically connoted equity proceedings but is now general. "Case" is the broadest and most informal of the four. In constitutional interpretation, however, "cases and controversies" carries a technical meaning tighter than any of these ordinary equivalents.

CASE (reported decision) vs. CASE (pending matter): Modern practitioners routinely use "case" to mean both a pending dispute before a court and a published judicial opinion. Historical dictionaries do not distinguish these. A researcher encountering "the leading case on this point" in nineteenth-century writing means a reported decision; "the case now before the court" means a live dispute.

ACTION ON THE CASE vs. CASE generally: Pre-code sources often use "case" as shorthand for "trespass on the case" — the historical form of action. This bears no relationship to the general procedural use of the word and can mislead researchers who encounter it without context.

Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

Cases and Controversies (Constitutional): The Article III requirement limiting federal judicial power to genuine disputes between adverse parties with real stakes. Distinguished from advisory opinions, moot questions, and hypothetical inquiries.

Action on the Case (Trespass on the Case): The historical common law writ for indirect harms not remediable under trespass vi et armis. The ancestor of modern tort liability for negligence and nuisance.

Stated Case / Case Stated: A procedural device by which parties agree on facts and submit a legal question to a court for decision without full trial. Appears in English and early American practice.

Case Reserved: A question of law reserved by a trial judge for appellate review, often without disturbing the verdict.

Why It Matters in Research

"Case" is one of the most overloaded words in legal literature, and that overloading creates real research hazards.

Researchers working in pre-code primary sources — particularly before the Field Code reforms of the mid-nineteenth century — must recognize when "case" means "action on the case" (a specific common law writ) rather than a dispute generally. Confusing the two distorts the substantive law being described. If a historical source says a plaintiff "brought case" or "declared in case," it is describing a pleading choice with technical consequences, not simply filing a lawsuit.

In constitutional research, the phrase "cases and controversies" is a term of art with a developed doctrinal superstructure — standing, mootness, ripeness, political question — that the historical dictionaries only gesture toward. Bouvier's entry is the most attentive to this constitutional dimension; Black's treats it more as a procedural generality.

In the Law Mind corpus, "case" appears in virtually every doctrinal area. The term's procedural meaning connects the civil procedure materials to the constitutional law materials through the Article III framework. The factual meaning — the "case" a party must prove — drives causation analysis in torts, including the case-within-a-case doctrine in legal malpractice. The law of the case doctrine, which governs when courts are bound by their own prior rulings in a proceeding, is a distinct body of law that uses "case" in yet another register.

Researchers should also note that "case" in the sense of a reported judicial opinion — the standard modern usage among lawyers — is almost entirely absent from the historical dictionaries. That meaning is assumed rather than defined. When historical sources say "the cases hold" or "it is settled by the cases," they mean reported decisions, not pending matters.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical sources agree on the core definition — a contested question before a court, or an action or suit — but vary in depth and emphasis.

Black's (both editions) leads with the procedural and general meaning, noting that "case" is a general term encompassing action, cause, suit, and controversy. The second edition adds the useful gloss that "case" refers to "an aggregate of facts which furnishes occasion for the exercise of the jurisdiction of a court of justice" — a formulation that captures the factual dimension the first edition underemphasizes.

Bouvier's is the most constitutionally attentive, tracking the Article III "cases and controversies" requirement with reference to early Supreme Court authority. Bouvier correctly identifies that a constitutional "case" requires regular judicial proceedings for the enforcement of rights, not merely any question with legal content. This is the most useful historical entry for federal jurisdiction research.

Burrill's notes the Latin antecedent casus and confirms the equation of "case" with suit and action, adding the important observation that the constitutional usage — a suit in law or equity according to the regular course of judicial proceedings — carries a narrower technical meaning than the word bears in ordinary legal parlance.

The historical dictionaries collectively underserve the "action on the case" meaning. None of the retrieved entries gives it sustained treatment, though this was one of the most practically significant uses of the word in pre-code common law pleading. Researchers working in that period should supplement with pleading treatises and the specific writ forms.

Jurisdictional Note

The constitutional "cases and controversies" limitation applies only to federal courts; state courts may (and some do) issue advisory opinions, hear friendly suits, or entertain matters that would fail Article III standing analysis in federal court. Researchers analyzing whether a matter was properly before a federal tribunal must apply the constitutional definition; state court jurisdiction analysis requires separate inquiry into that state's constitutional and statutory framework.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

The Law Mind Civil Procedure & Evidence Encyclopedia: civpro_100 — The Law of the Case Doctrine
The Law Mind Torts & Personal Injury Encyclopedia: torts_63 — Professional Malpractice: Legal Malpractice Causation (Case-Within-a-Case)
The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia: criminal_208 — Hearsay Exceptions in Criminal Cases

CASEmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

particularly ordered to carry no cargo, am- munition, or implements of war, except a single gun for the purpose of signals. Enc. Lond.

CASEmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

1. A general term for an action, cause, suit, or controversy, at law or in equity. A question contested before a court of jus- tice. G H | The primary meaning of "case" is "cause. "K When applied to legal proceedings, it imports a state of facts which furnishes occasion for the ex- ercise of the jurisdiction of a court of justice. In its generic sense, the word includes all cases, spe- cial or otherwise. 12 N. Y. 592, 596. 2. A statement of the facts involved in a a L transaction or series of transactions, drawn up in writing in a technical form, for sub- mission to a court or judge for decision or opinion. Under this meaning of the term are included a "case made" for a motion for new trial, a "case reserved" on the trial of M

CASEmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

A question contested before a court of justice. An action or suit at law or in equity. 1 Wheat. 352. Within the meaning of § 2 of Article III of the U. S. Constitution, a case is a com- plaint of a plaintiff "brought before the court[s] for determination by such regular proceedings as are established by law or custom for the protection or enforcement of rights, or the prevention, redress, or punish- ment of wrongs." 258 U.S. 129. See 32 Fed. 241. 255. quoted in 219 U. S. 346. 356. A case arising under a treaty, within U. S. Const. art. 3, § 2; is a suit in which the validity or construction of a treaty of the United States is drawn into question; 2 Sto. Const. § 1647; and under the judiciary act of 1789, § 25, the U. S. supreme court exercises an appellate jurisdiction in such cases decided by a state court only when the decision of the latter is against the title, right, privilege, or exemption set up or claimed by the party seeking to have the decision reviewed: 1 Wheat. 856. The de- cision of the state court against the claimant must be upon the construction of the treaty; if it rests upon other grounds it is not a case arising under a treaty, and the supreme court is without any jurisdiction; 5 Cra. 544; 11 How. 529; 12 id. 111. See also as to cases under treaties; 6 Cra. 286; 8 Wall. 304; 8 id. 650; 20 id. 522; 29 Ct. of Cl. 62; id. 144; id. 288; 31 S. W. Rep. (Tex.) 1064. In Practice. A form of action which lies to recover damages for injuries for which the more ancient forms of action will not lie. Steph. Pl., And. ed. § 52. Case, or, more fully, action upon the case, or tres- pass on the case, includes in its widest sense as- sumpsit and trover, and distinguishes a class of actions in which the writ is framed according to the special circumstances of the case, from the ancient actions, the writs in which, called brevia formata, are collected in the Registrum Brevium. By the common law, and by the statute Westm. 2d, 18 Edw. I. c. 24, if any cause of action arose for which no remedy had been provided, a new writ was to be formed, analogous to those already in exist- ence which were adapted to similar causes of action. The writ of trespass was the original writ most com- monly resorted to as a precedent; and in process of time the term trespass seems to have been so ex- tended as to include every species of wrong causing an injury, whether it was malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, apparently for the purpose of en- abling an action on the case to be brought in the king's bench. It thus includes actions on the case for breach of a parol undertaking, now called us- sumpsit (see ASSUMPSIT), and actions based upon a finding and subsequent unlawful conversion of property, now called trover (see TROVER), as well as many other actions upon the case which seem to have been derived from other originals than the writ of trespass, as nuisance, deceit, etc. And. as the action had thus lost the peculiar char- acter of a technical trespass, the name was to a great extent dropped, and actions of this character came to be known as actions on the case. As used at the present day, case is distinguished from assumpsit and covenant, in that it is not founded upon any contract, express or implied; from trover, which lies only for unlawful conver- sion; from detinue and replevin, in that it lies only to recover damages; and from trespass, in that it lies for injuries committed without force, or for forcible injuries which damage the plaintiff conse- quentially only, and in other respects. See 8 Reeves, Eng. Law 84; 1 Spence, Eq. Jur. 287; 1 Chit. Pl. 123; 8 Bla. Com. 41; Poll. Tort 645; 5 Term 648. A similar division existed in the civil law, in which upon nominate contracts an action distinguished by the name of the contract was given. Upon innomi- nate contracts, however, an action præscriptis ver- bis (which lày where the obligation was one already recognized as existing at law, but to which no name had been given), or in factum (which was founded on the equity of the particular case), might be brought. The action lies for: Torts not committed with force, actual or implied; 2 Ired. 38; 2 Gratt. 866: 20 Vt. 151; 8 Ga. 190; as, for malicious prosecu- tion; 6 Munf. 27, 118; 11 G. & J. 80; 7 Β. Monr. 545; 21 Ala. N. S. 491; 30 Mo. App. 524; 92 Mích. 428; 8 Conn. 537; 5 M. & W. 270; see MALICIOUS PROSECUTION; fraud in purchases and sales; 1 T. B. Monr. 215; 17 Wend. 193; 22; Ala. 501; 3 Cush. 407; 17 Pa. 293; 4 Strobh. 69; 15 Ark. 109; 18 Ill. 299; 92 Mich. 304; conspiracy to de- fame; 111 Pa. 335. Torts committed forcibly where the matter affected was not tangible; 2 Conn. 529; 2 Vt. 68; as, for obstructing a private way; 14 Johns. 383; 5 H. & J. 467; 18 Pick. 110; 23 Pa. 348; 2 Dutch. 308; disturbing the plaintiff in the use of a pew; 1 Chit. Pl. 43; injury to a franchise. Torts committed forcibly when the injury is consequential merely, and not immediate; 6 S. & R. 348; 6 H. & J. 230; 4 D. & Β. 146; 81 Mich. 21; as,

CASEn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A box, sheath, or covering; as, a case for holding goods; a case for spectacles; the case of a watch; the case (capsule) of a cartridge; a case (cover) for a book. A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box; as, a case of goods; a case of instruments. A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type. An inclosing frame; a casing; as, a door case; a window case. A small fissure which admits water to the workings. Knight.

CASEv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To cover or protect with, or as with, a case; to inclose. The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle. Prescott. To strip the skin from; as, to case a box. [Obs.]

CASEn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

Chance; accident; hap; opportunity. [Obs.] By aventure, or sort, or cas. Chaucer. That which befalls, comes, or happens; an event; an instance; a circumstance, or all the circumstamces; condition; state of things; affair; as, a strange case; a case of injustice; the case of the Indian tribes. In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge. Deut. xxiv. 13. If the case of the man be so with his wife. Matt. xix. 10. And when a lady's in the case. You know all other things give place. Gay. You think this madness but a common case. Pope. I am in case to justle a constable, Shak. A patient under treatment; an instance of sickness or injury; as, ten cases of fever; also, the history of a disease or injury. A proper remedy in hypochondriacal cases. Arbuthnot. The matters of fact or conditions involved in a suit, as distinguished from the questions of law; a suit or action at law; a cause. Let us consider the reason of the case, for nothing is law that is not reason. Sir John Powell. Not one case in the reports of our courts. Steele. One of the forms, or the inflections or changes of form, of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, which indicate its relation to other words, and in the aggregate constitute its declension; the relation which a noun or pronoun sustains to some other word. Case is properly a falling off from the nominative or first state of word; the name for which, however, is now, by extension of its signification, applied also to the nominative. J. W. Gibbs.

casenoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture. | A box, sheath, or covering generally. | A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine. | An enclosing frame or casing. | A suitcase. | A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed. | The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer. | A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces). | The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter. | Four of a kind. | A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces. | A small fissure which admits water into the workings. | A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft. | A cardboard box that holds (usually 24) beer bottles or cans. | A counterfeit crown (five-shilling coin).

Casenoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

abstract feature of a noun phrase that determines its function in a sentence, such as a grammatical case and a position.

Casename

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A surname. | A place name: | A township in Presque Isle County, Michigan, United States. | A place name: | An unincorporated community in Laclede County, Missouri, United States. | A place name: | An unincorporated community in Warren County, Missouri.

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