Indianapolis Litigation

Your Indianapolis Attorney at Alerding Castor Hewitt here with another litigation post for the business and technology world, this time regarding preliminary injunctions.  What is a preliminary injunction?  In simple terms, it is an equitable remedy that you can seek asking a court to order someone else to stop doing something or cease threatening to do something that is causing or is likely to cause you irreparable harm.  It is another weapon in the litigation arsenal, one to restore the status quo between you and another entity until a court can resolve your dispute.

A request for a preliminary injunction can arise in any number of situations.  I won’t try to name all of those that I have encountered, but one example involves claims of infringement of intellectual property (trademark, copyright or patent).  Another example is interference with a contract.  And of course, a recent example is the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Workman v. Greenwood Community School Corp., cause no. 1:10-cv-0293-SEB-TAB (S.D. Ind. Apr. 30, 2010), enjoining a school from permitting a school-endorsed prayer at a high school graduation.

The difficulty in obtaining a preliminary injunction should not be underestimated.  This is in part due to the hefty applicable standard for this remedy, which includes a showing of a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits.  And sometimes just finding time on a court’s calendar on short notice to hear your arguments can be a challenge.  But if you can convince a court to issue a preliminary injunction, it is not unusual for a settlement to follow on the heels of the court’s order, in part due to the fact that the court will have concluded at that point that you will likely succeed on the merits of your claim.

Another possible result, though rare, is a decision by the court to consolidate a preliminary injunction hearing with a trial on the merits.  This happened recently on a case handled by Brian Hewitt and Angela Hopper (a contract attorney who has provided assistance on a number of occasions).  Brian and Angela were seeking to obtain a preliminary injunction in a probate litigation matter involving the appointment of a guardian to oversee the health care of an elderly lady.  Their clients’ claim boiled down to a request that a settlement agreement be enforced.  Not only were they successful, but the court took the interesting step of consolidating the hearing on their motion with a trial on the merits and entered judgment outright on their clients’ claims.     

Brian and Angela’s case reveals an exciting aspect of litigation:  sometimes the outcome of a hearing can be a surprise (and better than anticipated).  In any event, deciding whether to seek a preliminary injunction is no light undertaking.  As with any litigation matter, you should consult with your counsel to weigh the pros and cons before making a decision on whether a request for a preliminary injunction will advance your interests.