Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Equity

Are you referring to an injuction? What is the issue?

Re: Equity

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Re: Equity

Well, historically the ideas of �equity� and �equitable remedy� refer to litigation that supplements the litigation derived from the statutes and case precedents that ordinarily govern adjudication. Derived from the old English court system, courts of law could only consider claims seeking an award of monetary damages; but courts of equity, venturing into what would be �fair and right� under the circumstances, could order people to do things or refrain from doing things (e.g., issue an injunction, or order �specific performance� of a contract to, for instance, convey real property). So remedies in equity would not be allowed where there could be an adequate remedy at law. Also, the right to jury trial would usually only pertain in legal, but not equitable, proceedings.

With the codification of the laws and rules of civil procedure in New York (the �CPLR�), much of the distinction between law and equity has been abolished, or at least rendered less meaningful, in this state. Section 103 of the CPLR prescribes that �[t]here is only one form of civil action. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity, and the forms of those actions and suits, have been abolished.� The same court may now decide both legal and equitable issues in the same action. Also, by section 4103 of the CPLR, for instance, the court can order a jury trial upon request on any issue that might entitle the plaintiff to legal relief, even if the action was filed seeking extra-legal�i.e., equitable�relief.