Injunctions: How to Get Them and Why You May Need Them

If you have the need to sue someone, you may at first wonder what you can stand to gain in damages; that is, how much money will a jury or court compensate you for your business losses. But sometimes, money itself isn’t enough. Sometimes, offending, hurtful, or damaging behavior needs to be stopped, immediately. That’s when a temporary injunction comes in.

What is an Injunction?

An injunction is a court order that requires that a party cease whatever behavior the other side finds to be offensive or illegal.

And while stopping illegal or damaging activity is very helpful if you are the one being damaged, there is often an inherent problem: When someone is doing something to harm your business or cause you damage, you need that behavior to stop now, immediately: not a year from now when your case eventually makes its way on the court’s trial docket.

That’s why the law allows parties to ask for a temporary injunction. A temporary injunction is where a court stops offending behavior temporarily, pending the ultimate outcome of a case.

As it is temporary, it can be lifted anytime, especially if the final outcome of the case ends up in favor of the party against whom the injunction was entered against.

Proof to Get the Temporary Injunction

To ask a court for a temporary injunction, the party that is asking for the injunction should be able to show three things:

1)      That the party asking for the injunction, has a good chance at winning the case. This often involves proffering evidence to show the court why there is a strong case

2)      That there is irreparable harm that will be caused, if the offending behavior is allowed to continue, and

3)      That the party that is asking for the injunction can’t be fully made whole, though money damages alone

Temporary injunctions are often used in cases that may involve:

• Dissemination or sharing of confidential or trade secrets, where the longer the misappropriation goes on, the worse that the damage becomes
• Defamation or defamatory statements, where the longer the statements are published or available, the more harm someone suffers
• Breaches of noncompete agreements, where a former employee is working with a competitor, and perhaps, taking employees or customers from the former employer
• Infringement of intellectual property, where someone is diluting a trademark, or profiting off someone else’s copyrighted works

There Are Risks

One risk of asking for a temporary injunction is that to show your case is strong, thus warranting the entry of the injunction, you could be “showing your hand” to the other side, early on in the case. And if your request for the injunction is denied, it could embolden your opponent, who now, during the pendency of the lawsuit, can continue doing what it was doing.

Do you need an injunction to protect your business? Call our Fort Lauderdale business lawyers at Sweeney Law P.A. at 954-440-3993 today.

Sources:

casetext.com/rule/florida-court-rules/florida-rules-of-civil-procedure/rules/rule-1610-injunctions

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0060/0060.html