CAUSE OF ACTION - A set of facts
or allegations that make up the grounds for filing
a lawsuit.
The right to bring an action, which implies that
there is some person in existence who can assert,
and also a person who can lawfully be sued. For example,
where the payee of a bill was dead at the time when
it fell due, it was held the cause of action did not
accrue, and consequently the statute of limitations
did not begin to run until letters of administration
had been obtained by some one.
There is no cause of action till the claimant can
legally sue, therefore the statute of limitations
does not run from the making of a promise, if it were
to perform something at a future time, but only from
the expiration of that time, though, when the obligor
promises to pay on demand, or generally, without specifying
day, he may be sued immediately, and then the cause
of action has accrued. When a wrong has been committed,
or a breach of duty has occurred, the cause of action
has accrued, though the claimant may be ignorant of
it.
