What is an Equitable Remedy?

A remedy in law is relief–essentially, the damages that you get, or the relief that a judge orders, to make things right in a case. Often, that relief is about money–in the majority of cases, some level of money damages is the appropriate way to measure who is owed what in a business litigation case.

But sometimes, money can’t solve the problems in the case, or sometimes, the party in the case doesn’t even want money–it wants an action, or something to take place, or property to be transferred.

Legal vs. Equitable Remedies

When money is at stake, it is called a legal remedy (even though yes, all remedies are technically legal in that they involve application of the law). But when non-monetary relief is asked for or received by a court, it is called an equitable remedy.

Equitable remedies can be things like

• Asking a court to return property to its rightful owner
• Asking a court to partition a home, property, or business
• Asking a court to compel a party to take an action
• Filing an injunction, which orders a party to do or to refrain from doing something
• Rescission, or the complete cancellation of a contract
• Reformation, or asking a court to rewrite a contract
• Accounting actions, which ask a court to account for funds or money that is received or to account for how money was used or expended

Compelling Tasks

While equitable remedies can compel people to do certain things–for example, compelling them to dissolve a business, or compelling them to return property–a court cannot compel someone to do “work” such as finishing an unfinished, but contractually owed job.

Specific Performance

Specific performance of a contract is a commonly requested equitable remedy–but again, a court can only do so to the extent it isn’t ordering someone to physically do something it doesn’t want to do.

So, for example, a court could order someone to return stolen property to its rightful owner. But it could not order someone who promised under a contract to, but never did, paint a house, to paint the house.

Legal With Equitable Relief

Usually, a court cannot order both equitable and legal relief; if you can get the relief you need through money, courts are hesitant to also award money. That’s why, to get equitable relief, you often have to show that legal (monetary) relief won’t help or isn’t available.

A typical example is a contract to buy a home. If you’re the buyer, and there is a breach of contract, you don’t necessarily want money–homes and properties are unique, and just handing you money doesn’t replace the loss of that particular property. Rather, you want specific performance–specifically, you want the court to order that the property you were supposed to be purchasing be transferred to you, as it would have been had the contract been fulfilled.

However, there are times when both can be awarded.

Imagine rescission of a contract, which is asking a court to “undo” a contract, as if it had never been entered into. That is an equitable remedy, but it may also entail returning money paid from one party to another under that contract, to put the parties in the position they would have been had the contract never been executed.

What damages are available in your breach of contract case?  Call our West Palm Beach commercial litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig for help.

Source:

contractbook.com/dictionary/equitable-remedy