Injunctions Can Be Useful Tools in Commercial and Business Litigation

Many clients often ask us whether they are able to obtain an injunction in thier cases or defend against one that one is trying to have entered against them.  Athough injunctions, commonly referred to as restraining orders in some cases, are very powerful tools in litigation, they are often misunderstood by the general public or misapplied by many lawyers.   Of all the decisions regarding the possible remedies one can seek in litigating any case, perhaps  no single one is more important than determining whether to request an injunction.

An “injunction” is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing specific acts.  Injunctions should be considered in certain types of civil or business or commercial litigation matters, including cases involving employment, business, contract, condominium, corporation/partnership, and landlord/tenant disputes. They can be effectively utilized to prevent the wrongful competition of an ex-employee, prevent theft of trade secrects or customer lists, prevent a landlord from wrongfully evicting a tenant, prevent violations of condominium rules/covenenants, prevent a company’s officer/director from breaching his/her fidcuiary duties, prevent infringement of intellectual property, or prevent the fraudulent transfer by a debtor/borrower.  Alternatively, they can be applied to force someone to do something or perform some type of act.

To determine whether an injunction is appropriate in a given case, we consider various things, such as:

•  the client’s goals;
• the possibility of success;
• the type of injunction to have entered;
• length of time to have an injunction in place and whether it can become permanent;
• will the injunction impact non-parties to the case;
• effect on the claimant or plaintiff of bringing injunction action; and
• costs of seeing an injunction through to the end.

Under Florida law, any person/entity may obtain a preliminary or temporary injunction after pleading and proving the following legal elements: (1) an equitable ground, such as the necessity of prevening irreparable injury; (2) a clear legal right in favor of the party requesting the injunction; (3) an inadequate remedy at law; and (4) considerations of public interet.  An injunction must provide of a bond for damages that could be suffered by the party against whom the injunction is entered. The key to obtaining a proper injunction is timing. You do not want to bring it too early or too late. They can be entered with or without notice to the other side, even before another party is served with a lawsuit.  Injunctions can also be dissolved if they were entered incorrectly.

Martindale “AV” rated business and commercial litigation lawyers at Chane Socarras, PLLC regularly handle cases involving injunctions in a variety of complex business disputes and litigation matters.  The firm has experience representing clients in Florida state and federal courts, including those involving contractual claims, fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, intellectual property claims, employment related disputes, real estate and title claims, condominium/association disputes, and shareholder disputes and derivative actions.  Contact Chane Socarras, PLLC at info@cslawfl.com or 561-609-3190.

The information in this article site was developed by Chane Socarras, PLLC for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Furthermore, this information on this web site is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between you and the firm.  You must first retain our firm, and we must acknowledge that you hired the firm, before the attorney-client relationship is created. Persons receiving the information from this article should not act upon the information provided without seeking profession legal counsel.