Injunctive Relief
A court order directing a party to do or refrain from doing a specific act. Texas recognizes three principal forms based on duration: temporary restraining orders, temporary injunctions (preserving status quo through trial), and permanent injunctions (final relief on the merits).
Injunctive relief is a court order directing a party to do or refrain from doing a specific act. Texas recognizes three principal forms of injunctive relief based on duration: temporary restraining orders (very short term, ex parte if necessary), temporary injunctions (preserving status quo through trial), and permanent injunctions (final relief on the merits). Each requires distinct procedural and substantive showings.
Temporary restraining order (TRO)
A TRO may be issued without notice to the opposing party where immediate and irreparable injury would occur before notice could be served. TRCP 680. A TRO granted without notice expires on the date the court sets, no more than 14 days after signing, and may be extended for a like period for good cause. Only one extension is allowed unless later ones are unopposed, and the restrained party may consent to a longer one. The applicant must post bond.
Temporary injunction
A temporary injunction preserves the status quo pending trial on the merits. To obtain a temporary injunction, the applicant must plead and prove (1) a cause of action against the defendant, (2) a probable right to the relief sought, and (3) a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury in the interim. An injury is irreparable if damages cannot adequately compensate it or cannot be measured by any certain pecuniary standard (Butnaru v. Ford Motor Co., 84 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. 2002)). Bond is generally required (TRCP 684).
Permanent injunction
A permanent injunction is final relief entered after trial on the merits, requiring the party to do or refrain from specified acts. The applicant must prove its claim at trial, and an injunction resting on general equitable principles rather than a statute issues only where there is no adequate remedy at law (Butnaru v. Ford Motor Co., 84 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. 2002), quoting the general equitable rule).
Bond requirement (TRCP 684)
Both TROs and temporary injunctions generally require posting of a bond to indemnify the enjoined party for any damages caused if the injunction is later determined to have been wrongfully issued. Bond amount is set by the court. A court may not require a bond from an applicant who files the indigency affidavit described in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 65.043 when the order is to stop foreclosure on the applicant's residential homestead (§§ 65.041, 65.042), and in a divorce the court may dispense with bond for an ancillary injunction between spouses (TRCP 693a).
Statutes expressly authorize injunctions against actual or threatened trade secret misappropriation (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.003) and for breach of a covenant not to compete (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.51). For a temporary injunction, the inadequacy of money damages is tested within the irreparable-injury element, which asks whether damages can adequately compensate the injury or be measured by a certain pecuniary standard (Butnaru).
Companion article: Non-Competes in Texas
Practice guide: Cease and Desist Letters