Risk of Loss After Contract
Lucas Lee signed a binding contract to buy Lily Lopez's lakeside cabin. Before closing a fire destroyed the structure. Equity treats Lucas as owner from contract formation, so he must pay the full price despite the loss.
Also known as: equity · equitable principles
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A body of remedial principles and procedures administered by courts when monetary damages from civil actions prove inadequate. It supplies relief such as rescission, reformation, partition, quiet title, and accounting for unique or irreplaceable property and other situations in which legal remedies fall short.
Lucas Lee signed a binding contract to buy Lily Lopez's lakeside cabin. Before closing a fire destroyed the structure. Equity treats Lucas as owner from contract formation, so he must pay the full price despite the loss.
Lucia Lopez sued a state official in federal district court seeking injunctive relief for an alleged constitutional violation. The court exercised its equity powers under Article III to hear the case alongside any legal claims.
Lars Lindstrom held a house in tenancy by the entirety with his spouse. While divorce proceedings were pending he executed a will leaving the house to Leah Lamb. Upon his death equity left title in the surviving spouse and refused to impose a constructive trust.
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Lily Lopez sued Lakeshore Industries after a bench trial and lost. Within twenty-eight days she located previously unavailable internal emails and moved for a new trial. The court granted the motion on traditional equitable rehearing grounds.
Lucy Liu held a power of appointment that failed to meet formal requirements. She appointed a natural object of her affection. Equity upheld the appointment because it substantially approximated the donor's prescribed manner.
Lexicon Media held a security interest in inventory sold by the debtor. Cash proceeds were deposited into a commingled account. Equity permitted the secured party to trace the funds by methods allowed under non-UCC law.
Equity supplies relief when monetary damages are inadequate, particularly for unique property or when fairness requires rescission, reformation, or specific performance.
No. Article III expressly extends judicial power to cases in law and equity, allowing federal courts to grant both legal and equitable relief in appropriate cases.
A court may grant a new trial after a nonjury trial for any reason that historically justified a rehearing in equity, including newly discovered material evidence.
Yes, when the appointment substantially approximates the donor's prescribed manner and the appointee is a natural object of the donee's affection or otherwise favored under equitable principles.
A secured party may identify proceeds by any tracing method, including equitable principles, permitted under other law for commingled property of that type.
…Supp. Introducing the EQ (Education Quotient), Expansion Management, Sept./Oct. 1991, pp. 18-24. Investment in Education: The Equity-Efficiency Quandary (T. Schultz ed. 1972). Itzkoff, America's Unspoken Economic Dilemma: Falling Intelligence Levels, 18 J. Social, Pol. & Econ. Studies 311 (1993). Johnson, The Private…