Editing Plaintiff (section)

==In case names==
Case names are usually given with the plaintiff first, as in ''Plaintiff v. Defendant'' (orally, ''Plaintiff '''and''' Defendant''). The party against whom the complaint is made is the [[defendant]]; or, in the case of a petition, a respondent. Subsequent references to a case may use only one of the names, typically that of the first nongovernmental party.<ref>{{cite book|title=New York Official Reports Style Manual|publisher=New York State Law Reporting Bureau|location=Albany, New York|date=2012|accessdate=April 7, 2023|url=https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/new_styman.htm#1.3%20%28b%29}}</ref>

Criminal cases are usually brought by the prosecution, not a plaintiff. The prosecution may bring the case formally in the name of the monarch, state or government. In many Commonwealth realms, this is the king (or queen, when the monarch is female), named ''the Crown,'' abbreviated ''R'', thus ''R v Defendant'' (orally, ''R against (versus) Defendant''). In several U.S. states, including California, Illinois, Michigan, and New York, the prosecution of a criminal case is captioned as ''The People of the State of'', followed by the name of the state, or ''People'' for short.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Place of 'The People' in Criminal Procedure|first=Jocelyn|last=Simonson|journal=[[Columbia Law Review]]|volume=119|issue=1|date=2019|url=https://columbialawreview.org/content/the-place-of-the-people-in-criminal-procedure/}}</ref>