§ 681 Judgment defined.

A judgment is the court's final decision that settles a case. It answers the main question the lawsuit was about, like who is right, who owes what, or what each side must do. Once a judge issues a judgment, it wraps up the legal fight between the people involved.

Think of it as the official ending point of a case. Before the judgment, both sides are still arguing their positions and the outcome is unsettled. After the judgment, the court has spoken, and that decision becomes binding unless someone successfully appeals it or asks the court to change it through a proper legal process.

This matters because a judgment is what gives a court decision its power. It's not just an opinion or a suggestion, it's the official result that can be enforced, such as collecting money owed or requiring someone to follow a specific order.