Injunctions

Here at Hallmark Solicitors, our expert litigation team have extensive experience in obtaining injunctions on behalf of clients across many different industries.

An injunction is an Order made by the Court which stops an individual or company from taking a particular action or ordering them to do something specific.

Injunctions are often obtained to safeguard the interests of an individual or business whether that is preventing the loss of assets, preventing loss or damage, or protecting against harm.

Injunctions can be made before a matter goes to trial and these are known as “interim” injunctions.

It is important to recognise that the granting of injunctions is not taken lightly by the Court. You must prove that you have a “substantive” cause of action and that your opponent has invaded, or is threatening to invade, your rights and/or is acting in such a manner.

The Court must feel that it is just to grant the injunction and that no obstacles to granting the injunction exist. The Court must also agree that damages would not be an alternative remedy instead of granting an injunction.

It is important to recognise that time is of the essence if you think you need an injunction and a court may refuse to grant an injunction if it feels that there has been a delay in applying. It is important to note that the Court will only grant a without notice injunction if the application is of such urgency that there is no time to deal with your opponent or if there is a risk that assets will be disposed of if your opponent is given prior knowledge of an application for an injunction.

Injunctions can be made either with notice to your opponent or without notice to them. There is an obligation upon the party applying for the injunction to inform the court of anything that might help or hinder its case. 

Freezing Injunctions

A freezing injunction is a court order that prohibits a party disposing of his assets. A freezing injunction can be brought into effect against a wide range of assets held by your opponents. Hallmark Solicitors have experience of bringing freezing injunctions against a wide range of assets including, cars and other vehicles, shares and bonds, land and property and bank accounts.

In the case of freezing injunctions, it is particularly important that any action is brought quickly as the court will take particular notice of any delay on the applicant’s part when an application for a freezing injunction is made. 

Search Orders

An injunction in the form of a court order can be made in order to allow the representatives of the Claimant in a case to search the Defendant’s premises and search for information or documents relating to a case.

The purpose of a Search Order is to preserve evidence or preserve property which may be the subject of the case. The Search Order focusses on “preservation” – it is not a way of gathering evidence or enforcing any obligation by a party to make disclosure of evidence as part of the litigation process.

In order to obtain a Search Order, the court must be satisfied that on the face of it, you have a very strong case, that the actions of your opponent have resulted in serious damage (whether actual or potential) to you and that is evidence that incriminating documents or materials are in your opponent’s possession and that there is a real possibility that your opponent may destroy or dispose of the material.

It is important to note that Search Orders can be expensive to obtain and enforce.

Susman Injunctions

At Hallmark Solicitors we also have experience of utilising “Susman” injunctions in respect of electronic data only. These orders are similar to search orders, but require the subject of the order to deliver up relevant I.T. equipment to a nominated third party computer expert so that they can be examined and any relevant data retrieved.

Norwich Pharmacal Orders

It is also possible to obtain what is known as a “Norwich Pharmacal” order – this type of court order would require disclosure relevant documents or material. This type of order is obtained when you are seeking information from a third party. This type of order is often used where you are looking to trace assets or transactions or are seeking further information to assist you in pleading a case. This differs from what is known as “non-party disclosure” which will only be ordered after you have commenced court proceedings.

With our Head Office based in Hull and two Consulting Offices in London and Leeds we are easily accessible for consultations. Call us on 01482 616 616 or 0800 037 1305 to book a free telephone consultation to discuss your issues and requirements.