The Civil Law is the body of laws of the State of Arizona dealing with the rights of private citizens. These laws govern many areas, such as landlord/tenant disputes, small claims, dissolution of marriage, and name change. This page describes the process for a general civil case.

Civil cases typically involve legal disagreements between individuals, businesses, corporations or partnerships. A person can also be involved in a civil case with a government entity such as a state, county or city.

Most civil cases involve disputes related to breach of contract, the collection of a debt, monetary compensation for personal injuries, or property damage.

The party that initiates a civil case is the plaintiff and the party that responds to the case is the defendant.