Also known as: relief
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A form of judicial remedy consisting of monetary damages or other compensatory awards that a court may grant to redress a legal wrong. The remedy restores the injured party through payment rather than through orders compelling or prohibiting conduct. Courts award legal relief when the harm is capable of being measured in money and when no adequate equitable alternative exists.
Lola Langley sued Lone Peak Energy in federal court for breach of a supply contract. The company filed a motion under Rule 12(b) asserting lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. Because the motion was denied, Lone Peak Energy had to serve its answer within fourteen days and proceed to defend the claim for legal relief in the form of monetary damages.
Levi Lowe leased an apartment from Liberty Trust that became uninhabitable after the landlord failed to repair the heating system. Lowe elected to keep the lease in force and sued for damages covering the difference between the agreed rent and the cost of substitute housing. The court awarded him a money judgment equal to the prescribed damages.
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Lorenzo Lugo sought to stop Lotus Pharmaceuticals from continuing an advertising campaign he claimed was defamatory. The court weighed the potential harm to the defendant from granting temporary relief and denied the injunction, leaving Lugo to pursue a later claim for money damages.
Latoya Lane filed a complaint against Linden Bank alleging improper account fees but included only conclusory statements about the bank's knowledge. The court disregarded the conclusory allegations and dismissed the action because the remaining facts did not plausibly entitle her to monetary relief.
Logan Lane received service of a state-court complaint seeking legal relief in the form of damages from a former employer on March 1. He filed a notice of removal in federal court on March 25. Because the filing occurred within the thirty-day window measured from receipt of the initial pleading, the removal was timely and the claim for monetary damages proceeded.
Lila Lin executed a trust instrument directing that trust income be used to provide food and shelter for low-income families in her city. The trust satisfied the statutory requirement for creation of a charitable trust because its purpose was the relief of poverty, allowing the trustee to seek legal relief for any breach causing monetary loss to the beneficiaries.
Legal relief typically takes the form of monetary damages while equitable relief consists of injunctions or specific performance. The Federal Rules permit a plaintiff to request both types of relief in a single complaint because the distinction between law and equity has been abolished.
A court may still award damages at final judgment even if it denies a preliminary injunction. The decision to deny temporary relief considers the consequences to the defendant and does not preclude a later money judgment if the plaintiff prevails on the merits.
The complaint must contain a prayer for relief but the plaintiff is not limited to the amount requested. Rule 54(c) authorizes the court to grant the relief to which the party is entitled even if it differs from the demand in the pleadings.
…confessed to the arresting officer after being importuned to "cooperate" in order to prevent her children from being taken by relief authorities. This Court as in those cases reversed the conviction of a defendant in Haynes v. Washington , 373 U. S. 503 (1963), whose persistent request during his interrogation was to…