Plaintiff

A plaintiff (Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order (e.g., an order for damages). "Plaintiff" is the term used in civil cases in most English-speaking jurisdictions, the notable exception being England and Wales, where a plaintiff is called a "claimant". In criminal cases, the prosecutor brings the case against the defendant, but the key complaining party is often called the "complainant".

In some jurisdictions the commencement of a lawsuit is done by filing a summons, claim form and/or a complaint. These documents are known as pleadings, that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the defendant or defendants with a demand for relief. In other jurisdictions the action is commenced by service of legal process by delivery of these documents on the defendant by a process server; they are only filed with the court subsequently with an affidavit from the process server that they had been given to the defendant(s) according to the rules of civil procedure.

State Farm Insurance

State Farm is an American group of insurance and financial services companies in the United States.

The group's main business is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, a mutual insurance firm that also owns the other State Farm companies. The corporate headquarters are in Bloomington, Illinois.

State Farm is ranked 44th in the 2013 Fortune 500, which lists American companies by revenue.

In 2014, the company sold its operations in Canada to Desjardins Group, which is continuing to use the State Farm name.

History

State Farm was founded in 1922 by retired farmer George J. Mecherle as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. The firm specialized in auto insurance for farmers, and later expanded its services into other types of insurance, such as homeowners and life insurance, and to banking and financial services.

The State Farm jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") was written by American songwriter Barry Manilow in 1971. A cover was released by Weezer in 2011. In the 1960's State Farm's first commerical jingle was originally created for The Jack Benny Program.

Judge Judy

Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by retired Manhattan family court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show features Sheindlin adjudicating real-life small claim disputes within a simulated courtroom set. All parties involved must sign contracts agreeing to arbitration under Sheindlin. The series is in first-run syndication and distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

Judge Judy, which premiered natively on September 16, 1996, reportedly revitalized the court show genre. Only two other arbitration-based reality court shows preceded it, The People's Court (its first life canceled in 1993 from low ratings) and Jones & Jury (lasting only the 1994–95 season, short-lived from low ratings). Sheindlin has been credited with introducing the "tough" adjudicating approach into the judicial genre, which has led to several imitators. The only two court shows that outnumber Judge Judy's seasons, The People's Court and Divorce Court, have both lasted via multiple lives of production and shifting arbiters. Thus Sheindlin's span as a television judge or arbitrator has lasted longer than any other—a distinction that rewarded her a place in the Guinness World Records in September 2015. With no cancellations or temporary endings in its series run, Judge Judy also enjoys the longest lasting individual production life of any court show.