Injunctions as a Business Tool

With the advent of e-mail, Blackberries, cell phones, instant messaging and other technologies, business today moves at an incredibly fast pace. Decisions are made and strategies implemented quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, the deliberate pace of the traditional lawsuit has not kept pace.

We are a society which seeks to resolve disputes in courtrooms, not on the street. Unfortunately for most businesses initiating litigation, however, what they hoped to be a blitzkrieg strike often bogs down into trench warfare, with attrition and endless delays seemingly the norm. By the time that the case is finally resolved, many initial participants are gone, the initial reasons for fighting largely forgotten and the costs of continuing the battle disproportionate to the likely gain. Yet, there seem to be few viable alternatives when parties are at an impasse. One approach to consider is the possibility of seeking injunctive relief from a court.

Injunctions are court orders either compelling a party to do something or prohibiting it from doing something. They can be powerful devices, up to and including shutting down a competing business (such as in the Napster case a few years ago). Common situations calling out for injunctions are those in which even a brief delay will render any litigation useless, such as when a salesman walks out the door with a customer list and new product specs, or the strikers are blocking the entrances to the plant, or a competitor is wrongfully using a trademark to compete.