1. the succession of events in the process of judicialaction;
2. the form in which actions are to be brought and defended, the manner of intervening in suits, of conducting them; the mode of deciding them, of opposing and of executing judgments.
COLLATERAL PROCEEDING: any proceeding not instituted for the express purpose of annulling, correcting, or modifying a judgment. Instead, a collateral proceeding will attempt to change or affect the result of the judgment while allowing the judgment to remain intact.
see collateral estoppelINFORMAL PROCEEDING: see informal proceedingSUMMARY PROCEEDING: see summary proceeding