Remedies

A remedy is the amount of money or specific action that the person filing the lawsuit requests the court to order. A remedy can be as simple as recovering payment for painting your neighbor's home or as complex as halting construction of a road. In contract cases, the remedy requested is often the specific performance of some action by the person sued.

Example: An employee may agree in writing not to compete with her employer in the same clothing business if she quits. If she then starts her up her own competing clothing store, the employer's requested remedy is to make her perform under the agreement, i.e., stop operating the competing store.

Legal Remedies

The plaintiff who is requesting monetary damages is asking for a legal remedy. The money she recovers will compensate her for her injury. However, there are cases where an award of money does not provide a complete remedy (or any remedy at all). In those situations, the court may order equitable relief.

Equitable Remedies

An equitable remedy requires a specific act instead of a tangible award of money or property. Injunctions and restraining orders are common examples of equitable remedies.

Example: The court that orders a farmer to cease operation of a pig farm (which creates a terrible odor) at the request of a neighbor has entered an injunction. Because an award of money will not remedy the neighbor's problem with the odor, the judge decided equitable relief was appropriate.

Sidebar: A person who is defending a lawsuit where an equitable remedy is requested has particular defenses she can allege:

• Unclean hands. The defendant alleges that the plaintiff has acted unjustly in the very transaction upon which his lawsuit is based.
• Unconscionability. Under the doctrine of unconscionability, a court can refuse to enforce a contract if it is unfair.
• Laches. The defendant alleges that the plaintiff unfairly delayed in bringing the lawsuit and, because of the delay, she suffered some legal detriment.
• Estoppel. The defendant alleges that the plaintiff did or said something intended to make her believe that certain facts existed and she acted on those beliefs to her detriment.