As long as there is business litigation, there will be a need for emergency injunctive relief to prevent the proverbial wrecking ball from smashing through your client’s business.
Across virtually all businesses, situations calling for emergency injunctive relief will occur from time to time. For example, when an employee departs for the competition in blatant violation of a non-compete agreement, the business will likely want to not only sue but also consider injunctive relief. Similarly, when a fraudster somehow attained a position of trust with your client and abused that trust, you may need immediate emergency relief. You need to act to protect your client; and you need to act immediately.
Seeking emergency injunctive relief packs what feels like an entire case into just a few days. The stakes are high and time is short.
The basic factors considered by Minnesota courts for emergency relief are well known: (1) the nature of the relationship between the parties before the dispute giving rise to the request for relief; (2) the harm to be suffered by the moving party if the preliminary injunction is denied as compared to that inflicted on the nonmoving party if the injunction issues pending trial; (3) the likelihood of success on the merits; (4) the public interest; and (5) the administrative burdens in enforcing a temporary decree. Dahlberg Bros., Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 137 N.W.2d 314, 321-22 (Minn. 1965).
