TRO: Relief During A Civil Lawsuit

A TRO, a temporary restraining order, acts like a “pause button” during a civil lawsuit. Alternatively referred to as a temporary injunction, a TRO halts actions that might cause irreparable damage to one party in a lawsuit until the court reaches a final decision. Typically, before issuing the order, courts require that the person seeking the temporary restraint obtain a type of bond, known as a TRO bond. Essentially, the court bond serves as financial protection to the other party in the lawsuit pending resolution. TRO bonds are especially relied upon in some states, including Texas, New York and California. 

Court Ordered: Equitable Remedy

As attorneys at Cook, Keith & Davis in Texas explain: “An injunction, or TRO, is a type of court order known as an ‘equitable remedy.’ It is designed to give you relief against the violation or threatened violation of your rights when other remedies are inadequate. ….An injunction is normally used to prevent someone from taking a specific action.”

A TRO can only provide relief with a civil lawsuit, and the lawsuit and the application for a TRO are generally filed at the same time. To secure the temporary restraining order, sometimes referred to as a temporary injunction, the applicant must have a valid cause. For example, Cook, Keith & Davis explain that winning a TRO generally involves the establishment of: 

• A Real Underlying Claim: You must have a cause of action against the defendant, meaning a legitimate legal claim on which a court could grant permanent relief at the end of the case.

• A Probable Right to Win the Underlying Lawsuit:You must show a reasonable likelihood that you will succeed at trial….You do need a real claim grounded in specific facts.

• That the Harm Is Imminent: The harm must be happening now or about to happen. A speculative future harm will not support emergency relief.

• That the Harm Is Irreparable: The harm must be the kind that money alone cannot adequately fix. Lost customer relationships, disclosed trade secrets, and dissipated assets often qualify.

• That No Adequate Legal Remedy Exists: You must show that suing for money damages would not give you complete relief.

Case Examples of Temporary Restraining Orders

As the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law sums up: “A temporary restraining order (TRO) is a short-term pre-trial temporary injunction. To obtain a TRO, a party must convince the judge that they will suffer immediate irreparable injury unless the order is issued.” Four examples illustrating the applicable use of a temporary restraining order are:

• Former Employees Violating Non-Compete Agreements: A former employee who keeps contacting your clients in violation of a signed agreement does harm that builds day by day and cannot be fully undone. A TRO can stop the violation before the damage becomes permanent.

• Trade Secret and Confidential Information Theft: When an employee takes your client list, pricing data, proprietary processes, or software on the way out the door, no amount of money can make that information secret again. Once it is in a competitor’s hands, a lawsuit after the fact cannot put it back.

• Business Partner Disputes: When one partner is looting the business, diverting customers, or taking unilateral actions that will cause irreversible harm, an injunction is often the only remedy that works right now.

• Real Property and Construction Disputes: Courts can enjoin trespass, construction that violates deed restrictions, and activities threatening irreversible damage to real property, including the destruction of natural resources that cannot be replaced.

Understanding and Obtaining TRO Bonds

What if the results of a civil lawsuit ultimately find that the temporary restraining order should not have been issued? In other words, what if the person who obtained the order against the other party is found to have been in the wrong? That’s where a court bond, specifically referred to as a TRO Bond, or temporary injunction bond, serves to balance the scales, as attorneys explain:

The bond exists to protect the restrained party against an order that should not have been issued. Picture the scenario. Someone gets an emergency TRO against you, your business is disrupted for two weeks, and then it turns out the order should never have existed, because the applicant was not entitled to the relief or lost at the temporary injunction hearing. You took real harm from an order that was wrong. The bond is where your recovery comes from: if the TRO is dissolved because it should not have been granted, you can recover your actual damages out of the deposit the applicant had to put up before the order took effect.

In structure, a TRO Bond, like other court bonds, is a three-party surety arrangement. As such, a TRO bond, involves:

• The principal — the party asking the court for the restraining order, who is required to post the bond.
• The obligee — in this context, the court itself (acting on behalf of the party who could be wrongfully restrained).
• The surety — the bonding company that financially guarantees the principal will cover any costs or damages the bond is meant to secure.

Courts have discretion in setting the amount of a TRO bond, based on the specifics of the dispute, and what the court considers appropriate to cover costs and damages if the restrained party is later found to have been wronged. In that case, the restrained party can file a claim against the bond, and the surety pays out up to its face amount once the claim is validated — protecting that party from an uncollectible judgment against someone who can’t or won’t pay. 

Because TRO Bonds and other court bonds are usually tied to strict deadlines and requirements, speed and accuracy obtaining them are essential. Colonial Surety Company, in business since 1930 and rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best, is a direct provider of TRO, injunction, replevin, and other court bonds in all 50 states, with quotes available online and instant printing or e-filing — even from the courthouse.

Quote and Obtain A TRO or Injunction Bond Right Here:

Temporary Restraining Order Bond or Injunction Bond

Busy Civil Law Practice? 

To make it easy and speedy for attorneys to keep all their cases moving forward Colonial Surety Company provides direct access to all types of court and fiduciary bonds with just a few clicks on The Partnership Account® for Attorneys. Once you’ve signed up for this free business service, just:

• Log into your private dashboard
• Choose from our complete portfolio of fiduciary and court bonds
• Get a quote and send it to your client for completion, or go ahead and complete it on their behalf—the choice is yours.
• Download, print or e-file the bond, and move on to your next case. That’s how easy we make bonding for attorneys.

Court bonds include: appeal, supersedeas, injunction, TRO, attachment and many more. 

Fiduciary bonds include: administrator, executor, estate, probate, personal representative, trustee, conservator, guardian and more. 

As direct bond writers, Colonial Surety Company’s team is here to help ensure you meet even the most persnickety of court bonding requirements for every jurisdiction in the country. 

The Partnership Account® for Attorneys

In business since 1930, Colonial Surety Company is rated “A Excellent” by A.M. Best Company, U.S. Treasury listed, and licensed for business everywhere in the USA. Our customers have awarded us a 4.8 Trustpilot score.