Meaning & use
plaintiff in error
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Meaning
nouncountablelegallawold-fashioned
In older legal usage, the party who brings a writ of error asking a higher court to review and correct a lower court's judgment.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'the' when referring to a specific party.
Patterns
- the plaintiff in error
- plaintiff in error in a case
In the old common law procedure, the plaintiff in error had to file a writ of error to challenge the judgment.
The plaintiff in error argued that the trial court had misinterpreted the statute.
Historically, the plaintiff in error was the party seeking review, similar to today's appellant.
Word forms
| plural | plaintiffs in error |
|---|
Common combinations
- writ of error
- The plaintiff in error filed a writ of error with the appellate court.
- bring a writ of error
- He brought a writ of error as the plaintiff in error.
- court of error
- The court of error reviewed the decision at the request of the plaintiff in error.
Synonyms and how they differ
- appellant
- Modern term for the party who appeals; 'plaintiff in error' is the historical equivalent and is rarely used today.
Opposites
Commonly confused: plaintiff in error or plaintiff?
plaintiff in error vs plaintiff
A plaintiff is the party who starts a lawsuit; a plaintiff in error is specifically the party seeking review of a judgment, which is a narrower historical role.
Practice
In historical legal usage, who was the 'plaintiff in error'?
Choose one answer.
The plaintiff in error was the party initiating the review by writ of error, similar to an appellant. The other options describe different roles: the defendant in error, the judge, or the jury.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “plaintiff in error”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.