A civil suit against a person or organization simply means that it is not a criminal case. What happened may have been illegal and that is what will be disputed in court, but it is not a case such as murder or theft which requires that the case be heard in criminal court. A civil lawsuit was filed recently by 5 people against the social networking site Facebook claiming they violated state privacy laws. That is probably the most prominent civil suit recently but there are many across the country every day. A civil suit against a person or organization is still done in a courtroom and with a judge present. There also may be a jury. When a civil lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff is responsible for the costs, which is the opposite of a criminal lawsuit. A civil suit against someone is won when monetary damages are awarded to the plaintiff based on the evidence provided. There is no jail time involved in a civil suit. A case does not have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt as it does in criminal court but rather proven more likely than not the plaintiff's story is true. The victim also has more say in a civil suit than a criminal one.