How do you sue for assault and battery?

Answer 1

There are two concepts here: the Criminal offense of "Assault and Battery", and the Civil tort of "Damages from Assault" (the latter may have a different name in your jurisdiction).

The Criminal offense case is determined by the local district attorney (after an investigation by the police), and is a criminal case of the State vs the defendant (who committed the A&B). You, the victim, are evidence in the State's case. The outcome of a conviction here is that the perpetrator of the A&B may have to (a) serve jail time (b) serve community service (c) undergo various therapy classes (e.g. anger management, etc.), and/or (d) pay monetary damages to the victim. The exact details of the punishment are left to the judge to decide, based on the circumstances of the case.

The Civil tort (lawsuit) pits the victim of the assault as the complainant and the perpetrator of the assault as the defendant. The victim should retain a civil lawyer who specializes in civil injury claims, who will help press your case in Civil court. Likewise, the defendant should retain the services of a civil defense lawyers who specializes in personal injury law. A "win" in the suit will generally result in only one thing: money to be paid from the defendant to the plaintiff.

There is a third option in most places: sue in Small Claims Court, if your damages are within fairly low limits (which vary by jurisdiction). It proceeds in the manner described in the preceding paragraph, but the procedure in Small Claims Court is less formal.