Temporary Restraining Orders
What is it?
A temporary restraining order is an emergency court order that can stop harmful conduct before it causes irreparable damage, and the window in which it can meaningfully limit that damage is often measured in hours or days rather than weeks. TROs are available without notice to the opposing party in circumstances where giving notice would itself cause or accelerate the harm, making them one of the most powerful tools available in emergency business litigation and one of the most demanding to obtain. Courts grant ex parte relief reluctantly and only when the applicant demonstrates that the harm is immediate, that it cannot be adequately remedied by money damages after the fact, and that the balance of hardships and the likelihood of success on the merits favor the relief requested.
The preparation required for a TRO application is substantial and needs to happen quickly. A sworn factual record that establishes the emergency, a legal brief that addresses the governing standard and applies it to the specific facts, and proposed order language that gives the court exactly what it needs to act are all required, and they need to be prepared with the care and precision that would normally take days in a matter that may need to be filed within hours of engagement.
How we can help:
We pursue temporary restraining orders when the situation demands immediate court intervention, building the evidentiary and legal record that gives our clients the best possible chance of obtaining the emergency relief they need. That means moving from first contact to court filing as quickly as the facts allow while maintaining the quality of preparation that courts require before granting relief that affects the other party without giving them an opportunity to be heard.
When a TRO is granted, we manage the transition to the preliminary injunction hearing that follows, preserving the emergency relief while building the fuller evidentiary record that supports the longer-term injunction the situation may require. The period between the TRO and the preliminary injunction hearing is often the most strategically important phase of emergency business litigation, and we use it with the urgency and preparation it deserves.
Preliminary Injunctions
What is it?
A preliminary injunction maintains the status quo while litigation proceeds, preventing a party from taking actions that would cause irreparable harm before the case can be resolved on the merits. Unlike a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction is granted after both parties have had an opportunity to be heard, which means the evidentiary record and legal arguments need to be more fully developed and the court’s scrutiny of the application is correspondingly more rigorous. The standard requires the moving party to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits, a likelihood of irreparable harm in the absence of relief, that the balance of hardships favors the injunction, and that the public interest does not weigh against it.
Preliminary injunction hearings can be among the most consequential proceedings in a business dispute, because the relief granted or denied often shapes the practical outcome of the litigation more decisively than the eventual merits ruling. A party that obtains a preliminary injunction stopping a competitor from operating in a restricted market, enforcing a non-compete, or preserving assets that would otherwise be dissipated has secured relief that may effectively resolve the dispute before trial. A party that fails to obtain preliminary relief in these situations may find that the harm has progressed to the point where a later merits victory provides inadequate remedy.
How we can help:
We handle preliminary injunction proceedings with the urgency and preparation these high-stakes hearings require, building the evidentiary record and legal arguments that give our clients the best available chance of obtaining this significant form of relief. That means preparing witness declarations and expert evidence that establish the factual foundation for each element of the preliminary injunction standard, briefing the legal issues with the depth and precision that courts expect in contested injunction proceedings, and presenting the case at the hearing with the clarity and force that persuades judges who are being asked to act before the full merits of the dispute have been resolved.
For clients opposing preliminary injunction motions, we challenge the moving party’s showing on each element of the standard, present the countervailing factual record, and make the legal arguments that establish why the court should decline to exercise its injunctive authority at this stage of the proceeding.
Non-Compete Injunctions
What is it?
When a former employee or partner begins competing in violation of a restrictive covenant, an injunction may be the only way to stop the harm before it becomes irreversible. The competitive damage from a violated non-compete compounds with each passing day as the departing party leverages client relationships, recruits former colleagues, and uses confidential knowledge to compete in the market the restriction was designed to protect. Money damages calculated after the fact rarely capture the full extent of the harm, which makes the injunctive remedy not just preferable but often essential to meaningful relief.
Non-compete injunction proceedings move fast, and the party that is better prepared at the outset has a significant advantage. Courts considering non-compete injunctions need to assess both the enforceability of the restriction and the likelihood that it has been violated, which means the factual record supporting the application needs to be developed quickly and presented in a way that addresses both of those questions with the specificity the court requires. A non-compete injunction application that doesn’t directly address the enforceability questions that North Carolina courts apply to these restrictions is unlikely to succeed regardless of how clear the violation appears.
How we can help:
We pursue non-compete injunctions with the speed and preparation these situations demand, moving from engagement to court filing as quickly as the facts allow while building the application with the care and legal precision that courts require before they will enter relief that restricts someone’s ability to earn a living. That means assessing the enforceability of the restriction honestly at the outset, developing the factual record that establishes the violation, and presenting the application in a way that directly addresses the legal standards North Carolina courts apply to non-compete injunctions.
For clients defending against non-compete injunction applications, we challenge the enforceability of the restriction, contest the characterization of the conduct as a violation, and present the factual and legal record that gives the court the basis to deny the requested relief, drawing on our experience on both sides of these proceedings to anticipate and counter the strongest arguments against us.
Trade Secret Injunctions
What is it?
Trade secret misappropriation can cause devastating harm in a very short time, and an emergency injunction is often the only way to stop the bleeding while the case is litigated on the merits. When confidential business information walks out the door in the hands of a departing employee, a disloyal partner, or a competitor who obtained it through improper means, every day without an injunction is a day the stolen information is being used to compete, to solicit clients, or to build a competing business that couldn’t exist without the misappropriated knowledge. The legal remedies available after that harm has fully run its course are almost always inadequate to restore what was lost.
Trade secret injunction proceedings are also among the most technically demanding in emergency business litigation. Establishing that the information qualifies for trade secret protection, that the business took the reasonable steps to maintain confidentiality that the law requires, and that the defendant actually misappropriated the specific information rather than independently developing competing knowledge all require factual development that needs to happen simultaneously with the preparation of the emergency legal filings. The investigation and the litigation preparation have to run in parallel, which demands the kind of coordinated effort and efficient resource deployment that emergency trade secret cases always require.
How we can help:
We pursue trade secret injunctions with the speed and precision these situations demand, combining the thorough factual investigation necessary to establish misappropriation with the aggressive legal advocacy that gives our clients the best available chance of obtaining the emergency relief they need. That means mobilizing quickly when a trade secret emergency is identified, conducting the investigation that establishes the factual foundation for the injunction application, and preparing the filing with the care and legal precision that courts require before they will enter relief of this significance.
For clients defending against trade secret injunction applications, we challenge the scope of the claimed trade secrets, contest the adequacy of the steps the plaintiff took to maintain confidentiality, and present the factual record that establishes the defendant’s independent development of the knowledge at issue, drawing on our experience on both sides of these proceedings to build the most effective defense available on the facts.
Asset Freeze Orders
What is it?
An asset freeze order prevents a party from dissipating, transferring, or concealing assets while litigation is pending, preserving the possibility of meaningful recovery when the case is ultimately resolved. In fraud and financial misconduct cases, the concern that motivated the litigation in the first place, that the defendant obtained assets through deceptive or wrongful conduct, is often accompanied by a well-founded concern that those assets will disappear before a judgment can be obtained and collected. A defendant who knows litigation is coming has both the motive and, in many cases, the means to move assets beyond the reach of a future judgment, and an asset freeze order obtained early in the proceedings can be the difference between a judgment that is collectible and one that is not.
The standards for obtaining an asset freeze order are demanding because the relief is significant. Courts are reluctant to freeze assets before a merits determination, and the factual showing required to justify that relief needs to demonstrate both a strong likelihood of success on the underlying claim and a genuine risk that assets will be dissipated or transferred if the order is not entered. Building that showing requires a factual investigation that identifies the assets at risk, documents the defendant’s conduct in a way that supports the underlying claim, and presents the risk of dissipation with the specificity that courts require before acting.
How we can help:
We pursue asset freeze orders in fraud and financial misconduct cases, moving quickly to secure our clients’ ability to recover what they are owed before the assets that make recovery possible are beyond reach. That means conducting the expedited factual investigation necessary to identify the assets at risk and document the conduct that supports the underlying claim, preparing the application with the legal precision that the demanding standard for this relief requires, and presenting it to the court with the urgency that the risk of dissipation demands.
When asset freeze orders are in place, we manage the ongoing obligations that the order creates, work with the court and opposing counsel on the practical implementation of the freeze, and pursue the underlying litigation with the preparation and conviction that gives our client the best available path to a judgment that can actually be collected against the preserved assets.