instigate proceedings

Meaning

To 'instigate proceedings' means to officially initiate a formal legal action, a lawsuit, or a serious disciplinary process. It is a highly formal collocation used primarily in corporate law, human resources, or board-level communications. The tone is serious, legalistic, and decisive.

Examples

• The board of directors decided to instigate proceedings against the former CEO for breach of contract.

  The board of directors decided to instigate proceedings against the former CEO for breach of contract.

• If they do not pay the outstanding invoice by Friday, we will have no choice but to instigate proceedings.

  If they do not pay the outstanding invoice by Friday, we will have no choice but to instigate proceedings.

• The compliance department has chosen to instigate proceedings to investigate the alleged insider trading.

  The compliance department has chosen to instigate proceedings to investigate the alleged insider trading.

• Before you instigate proceedings, make sure you have documented all correspondence with the supplier.

  Before you instigate proceedings, make sure you have documented all correspondence with the supplier.

• The landlord threatened to instigate proceedings for eviction if the rent remained unpaid.

  The landlord threatened to instigate proceedings for eviction if the rent remained unpaid.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We decided to instigate a lawsuit against them.

  ✓ We decided to instigate proceedings against them.

  'Instigate' is highly collocated with 'proceedings' or 'disciplinary action'. For a lawsuit, native speakers typically use the verbs 'file', 'initiate', or 'bring'.

• ✗ The HR manager instigated proceedings to the employee.

  ✓ The HR manager instigated proceedings against the employee.

  When starting a legal or formal action targeting someone, the correct preposition to use is 'against', not 'to'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• If the contractor fails to deliver the project, the legal team will ___ against them.

  💡 Start formal legal action.

  Show answer

  instigate proceedings

• The committee has decided to ___ to look into the financial discrepancies.

  💡 Officially start a formal investigation or process.

  Show answer

  instigate proceedings