Legal Definitions - ADS

ADS is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase Ad Sectam.

In legal contexts, Ad Sectam literally translates to "at the suit of" or "at the prosecution of." It is primarily used in case captions or docket entries to identify the parties involved in a lawsuit. When used in this manner, it indicates that the party listed immediately before "ads." is the defendant (the party being sued or accused), and the party listed immediately after "ads." is the plaintiff (the party bringing the lawsuit or prosecution).

Here are some examples to illustrate its use:

• Civil Lawsuit Caption: Imagine a property dispute where a homeowner, Ms. Chen, is suing a construction company, "Build-It-Right Inc.", for shoddy work. In some court documents or older legal texts, the case might be captioned as "Build-It-Right Inc. ads. Chen."

  This means the case is "Build-It-Right Inc. at the suit of Chen." Here, Build-It-Right Inc. is the defendant, the party being sued, and Chen is the plaintiff, the party who initiated the lawsuit.

• Appellate Court Filing: Consider a situation where a state environmental agency has fined a factory, "Green Valley Mills," for pollution violations. Green Valley Mills appeals the decision. An appellate court filing might list the case as "Green Valley Mills ads. State Environmental Agency."

  In this context, Green Valley Mills is the party appealing the decision (often referred to as the appellant), and the State Environmental Agency is the party whose decision is being challenged (often referred to as the appellee or respondent), effectively being "sued" in the appeal process by Green Valley Mills.

• Historical Court Record: In older court records, you might find an entry for a debt collection case simply stating "Doe ads. Roe."

  This notation signifies that the case involves Doe as the defendant, being sued "at the suit of" Roe, who is the plaintiff seeking to collect a debt. It concisely identifies the roles of the parties in the legal action.