The security a court requires before restraining someone, and what it actually covers.
Esshaki Legal Media TeamCurrent as of May 2024
Preliminary injunctive relief is generally conditioned on the applicant giving
security for costs and damages sustained by a party found to have been
wrongfully enjoined.
Amount. Set in the court’s discretion, based on a reasonable estimate of the
harm from an erroneous injunction. Applicants argue for a nominal bond;
respondents should submit evidence of quantifiable harm — lost sales, carrying
costs, delay damages — because courts cannot set a meaningful figure without it.
The bond as a cap. In many jurisdictions recovery for a wrongful injunction
is limited to the bond amount, absent bad faith. That makes the amount the most
consequential number in the proceeding and one that respondents frequently
neglect to contest.
Wrongfully enjoined generally means the party had a right at all times to do
what it was restrained from doing. A dissolution of the injunction on other
grounds, or a settlement, may not establish that.
Procedure to recover. A motion in the same action, usually before the case
concludes, against the surety and the applicant.
Waivers. Some statutes and some circumstances permit dispensing with a bond,
including for indigent parties and for public interest litigants. That is an
exception argued for, not assumed.
Practical note. A properly supported bond application often reduces the
practical attractiveness of the injunction to the applicant.