Equity Actions


In most jurisdictions equity actions are encompassed within civil actions, although a few states provide separate courts of equity. In equity cases the party who brings suit is called the petitioner or complainant. The petitioner asks the court to order the opposing party, usually known as therespondent, to perform or to cease from performing a specific act. Equity will be sought when relief is not available to the petitioner through money damages. There is no right to jury trial at equity; the judge alone makes the decision. The decision of the judge in a case in equity is, technically, adecree rather than a judgment; in practice, however, the words are commonly interchanged.