What Is Injunctive Relief?

Not every legal action ends in a monetary award. Although most people file civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages, sometimes you need the defendant to stop doing something they’ve been doing, or do something they’re supposed to be doing. This remedy is injunctive relief.

Courts rarely grant injunctive relief because the order places limits on a person’s freedom of movement or right to act. For this reason, the bar for proving and granting an injunction is higher than that for a monetary award.

Injunctive Relief Explained

An injunction is a formal court order requiring an individual or agency to either:

• Stop doing something
• Perform a specific action that they have not been doing

An injunction is an equitable remedy when monetary remedies are insufficient or do not resolve the problem. A common example is a temporary restraining order (TRO) granted during a domestic violence case. In this instance, a monetary remedy would not resolve the situation, so the plaintiffs seek an equitable remedy.

Types of Injunctive Relief

Courts may issue several types of injunctions, depending on their purpose. A TRO lasts only long enough for the parties to come to court and state why they need an injunction or why the court should dismiss it. Temporary injunctions prevent immediate harm to the parties pending a hearing.

A preliminary injunction is issued during trial or while the appeals process goes on. A preliminary injunction maintains the “status quo,” essentially freezing things in place while a trial is underway.

The permanent injunction is part of the final judgment. A court order is made final by a judge, who may either continue the preliminary injunction, remove it, or alter parts to conform with the final decision.

The permanent injunction may be mandatory or prohibitory. A mandatory injunction requires the enjoined party to do something, while a prohibitory injunction requires them to stop doing something.

Proving You Need Injunctive Relief

When do you need injunctive relief? In general, a party needs injunctive relief when facing an issue that will cause immediate harm that cannot be corrected by money damages. Some common examples of injunctive relief cases include:

• Domestic violence victims who need the other party to stay away
• Requiring former employees to honor non-compete agreements
• Forcing specific performance on a contract, which is seldom granted except in unusual situations like land sales or custom projects

In these situations, a monetary award is not an adequate remedy. The claimant needs the other person to obtain a court order compelling action.

How to Request Injunctive Relief

The federal Rules of Civil Procedure outline the requirements for requesting and granting injunctive relief. Most states follow the same basic outline. Courts require the moving party to show:

• A likelihood of success on the merits, with you demonstrating that you have a good chance of winning your case when it goes to trial
• You will suffer irreparable harm or an irreparable injury if the order is not granted
• A balance of hardships that shows that the hardship caused by the injunction to the other party doesn’t outweigh the hardship to you without it
• The relief requested cannot be adverse to the public interest, such as requesting a noisy power plant shut down to the detriment of everyone else’s need for electricity

Each situation is different and may have different requirements.

Example of a Motion for Injunctive Relief

Theft of trade secrets is a major cause of injunctive relief requests. A former employee or competitor who steals intellectual property can seriously damage the company’s profits, client relationships, and reputation. The resulting bad press can be equally damaging.

The company can file a lawsuit against the suspected violator and request preliminary injunctive relief. In this case, the company can show:

• If the evidence is as they suspect, they have every chance of succeeding on the merits of their claim
• If the violator continues selling their trade secrets, the company will suffer continuing serious harm, and a potential for future harm through loss of revenue and goodwill
• Asking the defendant to cease activities for the duration of the trial is less harmful than the harm to the company if the injunction is not granted
• This action will not affect the public interest, since it is an in-house matter

The court should grant the preliminary injunction and order the defendant to cease their activity until the trial.

Challenging a Motion for Injunctive Relief

Because the bar for proving the need for injunctive relief is so high, it is fairly easy to challenge one in court. If another person files a motion for an injunction against you, some of the same grounds for requesting an injunction can oppose it. Common grounds for opposing a motion for injunctive relief may include:

• Lack of standing: The person bringing the claim must be the person harmed by the defendant’s actions or lack of action.
• Lack of irreparable harm: The harm must be irreparable, immediate, and not remedied by a monetary award.
• Adequate remedy through money damages: If monetary compensation will make the plaintiff whole, the court will not issue an injunction.

Injunctions are restrictions on a person or agency’s freedom of movement, so injunctive relief must be narrowly tailored to restrict the actions. For instance, a non-compete order must allow a worker to continue working in their field within a reasonable geographic area, and without unreasonable time constraints.

Courts will not grant an injunction if it impacts the public interest or violates the doctrine of “laches,” which means the plaintiff waited too long to request relief. Other reasons for refusal may also apply.

Get Legal Advice When Seeking Injunctive Relief

Injunctions appear in all areas of law. Family law, contract law, and civil rights law are all areas where you may need to seek injunctive relief. Contact an attorney in your area for legal advice on how to request equitable relief in your claim.