Style of cause

1 definition found for this term.
Definitions are presented in the order source books were published (most recent first).

Source:

The names of the parties in a lawsuit. A style of cause in a civil lawsuit could be Smith v. Jones (meaning, most likely, that someone named Smith is suing someone named Jones). In a criminal matter, a style of cause in Canada could be R. v. Williams, in which the “R.” stands for Regina, being the symbolic name in which all prosecutions by the government against an accused are brought. (If there is a King in power, the “R.” stands for Rex); in the foregoing example, Williams would be the accused, the person being tried by the government. The style of cause is always italicized. In online commercial databases, such as LexisNexis Quicklaw, one can usually search for cases by the style of cause in the “case name” field.

Scroll to Top