Also known as: remedy at law · legal remedies · common law remedies
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Monetary awards or other compensatory relief granted by courts of common-law jurisdiction. These remedies focus on making a plaintiff whole through payment of damages rather than compelling specific conduct or altering legal relations.
Rebecca Ross paid a nonlawyer to prepare divorce papers and explain available options for dividing property and seeking support. When the court later reviewed the documents, it treated the matter as one seeking only money damages for any overpayment rather than ordering the nonlawyer to perform additional legal tasks.
Rosa Ruiz challenged a writ of replevin issued against her household goods after she missed payments on a purchase contract. The court noted that her available remedies at law included pursuing a damages action in state court rather than seeking immediate equitable intervention in federal proceedings.
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Roger Ramirez sued federal agents for an unlawful search that damaged his property. Because no statute authorized injunctive relief against the officers, the court limited him to remedies at law consisting of a damages award to compensate for the harm.
Regina Robinson brought a stockholder derivative action alleging corporate mismanagement. The court separated the underlying corporate claim, which presented legal issues triable by jury, from the equitable stockholder standing issue, allowing remedies at law to be decided by the jury.
Ronald Reed sought a federal injunction to halt his ongoing state criminal prosecution. The court declined the request and directed him instead to pursue remedies at law available through the state court process.
Rhea Reynolds, as bankruptcy trustee, sued to recover assets allegedly transferred to avoid creditors. The court held that the action sought remedies at law in the form of a monetary recovery, entitling the defendants to a jury trial on the factual issues.
Remedies at law typically provide monetary compensation to restore a plaintiff to the position occupied before the wrong. Equitable remedies instead compel specific performance or issue injunctions when money damages would be inadequate.
Courts view remedies at law as adequate when a monetary award can fully compensate the plaintiff for the loss. In such cases, equitable relief such as specific performance is ordinarily denied.
Yes. Claims seeking remedies at law generally carry a right to jury trial on factual issues, whereas purely equitable claims do not. Modern merger of law and equity has not eliminated this distinction.
Modern procedure permits joinder of legal and equitable claims. The court may award damages at law while also granting equitable relief when both are necessary to provide complete redress.
…U. S. C. § 1331 (a), then it seems to me that the same statute is sufficient to empower a federal court to grant a traditional remedy at law.[^maj-14] Of course, the special historical traditions governing the federal equity system, see Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank , 307 U. S. 161 (1939), might still bear on the comparative…