What Is the Difference Between a Legal and Equitable Claim?

The difference between a legal and an equitable claim lies in the type of remedy a plaintiff seeks from the court. A legal claim typically involves a request for monetary compensation. This includes payments for medical bills, lost wages, or other financial losses, and is intended to make the plaintiff whole after being harmed by the defendant’s actions. An equitable claim asks the court to order the defendant to do or stop doing something. This could include injunctions, restraining orders, or requirements for a party to fulfill a contract. While legal claims are focused on compensating past harm with money, equitable claims aim to prevent ongoing or future harm through court orders. 

Some lawsuits, especially in employment or contract law, may combine both legal and equitable requests. These seek both compensation and changes in behavior or policy. Choosing the right type of claim is essential for legal relief. If you’re unsure of which to pursue,  speaking with an attorney is a good idea.

In criminal law, the state prosecutes offenses to protect citizens from wrongdoers. Civil law lets individual citizens seek relief when someone has caused monetary or personal harm. This includes personal injury lawsuits, where an injured victim sues a defendant for monetary damages. Civil law includes  tort law, contract law, property law, and family law. Civil claims may involve jury trials, but don’t often involve criminal actions against the plaintiff.

Causes of Action

To file a tort case, a plaintiff (you) must have a cause of action. A cause of action is any violation of your rights due to another person’s act or failure to act. If their action violates a criminal statute, they will be arrested. Either way, you still have a cause of action for equitable or monetary relief.

To prove a cause of action, the plaintiff must show that the defendant had some responsibility to the plaintiff and failed in some way. For example:

• In a personal injury case, the plaintiff must show that the defendant acted negligently and caused the plaintiff’s injury.
• In a breach of contract claim, the non-breaching party must show the breaching party violated the terms of the contract.
• In a request for injunctive relief, the injured party must show that the other party’s actions caused them continuing harm.

A cause of action cannot be speculative or hypothetical, but it can be for a future harm. It also applies to a potential harm if the defendant’s continued action isn’t prevented.

Legal and Equitable Claims

When you file a request for relief in court, you can request monetary compensation or specific performance. It depends on the defendant’s actions that caused the harm.

Legal Claims

If the defendant’s actions caused you a physical or monetary loss, your cause of action requests money damages. In legal terms, you are asking the defendant to “make you whole" after harming you. For  a personal injury claim, you may ask for medical expenses and lost wages to put in the same position you were in before the accident.

Equitable Claims

It is often more difficult to win equitable relief. You must show that monetary damages are inadequate and that irreparable harm will result without the court’s intervention. A common form of injunction is a restraining order, compelling the defendant to stay a certain distance from the plaintiff.

Equitable remedies are more common in the public arena, when citizens ask for an injunction against a corporation or government agency. A neighborhood committee may seek an injunction to stop a city from putting a landfill upwind of the local park.

A lawsuit can request legal remedies and equitable relief. Employment law cases often include both types of requests. The plaintiff may ask for lost wages (legal claim) and a change in policy (equitable claim).

Contractual Claims

Contract law is a separate branch of law, but it often appears in legal and equitable claim discussions. Breach of contract cases often involve small businesses and clients when one party believes the other failed to perform. A good example is when a building contractor seeks payment for a job that the homeowner feels was not up to par.

A court can order the breaching party to pay monetary damages to the non-breaching party. In small-claims cases, courts are more likely to issue something like equitable relief. For instance, the judge could order a contractor to work with a homeowner dissatisfied by the finished job.

Get Legal Advice From a Tort Law Attorney

You have a legal right to recover compensatory damages if someone legally wrongs you. However, you must request the correct type of remedy for your case. Talk to an attorney  before initiating any legal actions. Entering a court of law for civil cases without a legal expert can be an expensive mistake.