Charge copper getting appeal in lawsuit (10)
I believe the answer is:
accusation
'charge' is the definition.
(accusation is a kind of charge)
'copper getting appeal in lawsuit' is the wordplay.
'copper' becomes 'Cu' (chemical symbol).
'getting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'appeal' becomes 'sa' (old-fashioned abbreviation for sex appeal).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'lawsuit' becomes 'action' (synonyms).
'cu'+'sa'='cusa'
'cusa' placed inside 'action' is 'ACCUSATION'.
(Other definitions for accusation that I've seen before include "Complaint" , "Charge" .)