A federal lawsuit is one that is brought before a federal court rather than to a state or local court. Most cases are held at lower level courts, but there are circumstances in which a federal court may become involved. If the defendant or the plaintiff is a state or local government, or some organization associated with it, the case is tried in a federal court. In addition, in cases where there are multiple defendants or multiple plaintiffs that come from different states, it is often necessary for a federal court to handle the lawsuit to avoid the complications of different state laws.