The Purpose of the Preliminary Injunction

Authors

Samuel L. Bray Professor of Law,, University of Notre Dame

First Page

809

Abstract

This Article explores a reshaping of the preliminary injunction that is occurring in the federal courts. A preliminary injunction is designed to be a “hold in place” order, blocking actions by the parties that would undermine the efficacy of the court’s remedial options. But the preliminary injunction is becoming a device for accelerating the merits decision. Instead of a four-factor test for preliminary relief, increasingly there is one factor: the merits. This Article critiques this transformation, and it argues that the preliminary injunction should be recentered on the protection of the court’s remedial options.

Recommended Citation

Samuel L. Bray Professor of Law,, The Purpose of the Preliminary Injunction, 78 Vanderbilt Law Review 809 (2025)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol78/iss3/2