Multiplicity of suits is a term to describe when more than one

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

exists regarding the same transaction or occurrence. The law generally attempts to avoid this situation and there are several rules in place when such situations occur. The main risk with several lawsuits over the same subject matter is that the different lawsuits may result in clearly contradictory results. For example, a litigant is injured when crossing a bridge in Ottawa, Ontario, joining it to Hull, Quebec due to defects in the roadway. This could result in a lawsuit against the city of Ottawa, the city of Hull, the province of Ontario, the province of Quebec, and even the federal government of Canada. However, court rules often require governments to be sued in their own courts. This situation would require three different lawsuits - one in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, one in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and one in the Federal Court of Canada. As such, usually one court will accept

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

over the entire matter, and any proceedings or attempt to remove it to the other court will be stayed. In addition, courts discourage more than one lawsuit being started between the same parties in the same dispute. For example, in a business dispute, if new causes of action arise out of the same problem (for example, ongoing

patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...

), the court will generally require new allegations to be brought into the existing lawsuit rather than allowing a new lawsuit to be started.

See also