Equity and Equitable Remedies
Equity and Equitable Remedies tests the discretionary remedies that supplement damages: injunctions, specific performance, rescission, reformation, accounting, constructive trusts, and equitable defenses.
Core rules
- Equity acts when the legal remedy is inadequate. Equitable relief is discretionary, not automatic.
- Maxims guide analysis: clean hands, laches, he who seeks equity must do equity, and equity looks to substance over form.
- A temporary restraining order preserves the status quo briefly; a preliminary injunction requires notice and a hearing; a permanent injunction follows a merits determination.
- Specific performance is available for unique subject matter, such as land, when damages are inadequate and enforcement is feasible.
- Rescission restores the parties to their pre-contract positions; reformation corrects a written instrument that misstates the agreement.
- Equitable defenses include unclean hands, laches, estoppel, and hardship.
Worked example
N threatens to cut down a mature tree that shades P's house. P seeks an injunction. The court asks whether P has a legal interest, whether damages are inadequate, whether P will suffer irreparable harm, whether the balance of hardships favors P, and whether P has clean hands. Because the tree's loss may be hard to value and the harm is imminent, a temporary restraining order may issue, followed by a preliminary injunction after notice and hearing.
Traps
Do not assume equity will always remedy a wrong. Laches is not mere delay; it requires prejudice. Unclean hands must relate to the same transaction. Do not seek specific performance of personal services. Injunction factors are cumulative, not optional.