I keep hearing about preliminary injunctions and preliminary mandatory injunctions in my lawsuit — what's actually the difference between the two?

Injunctions are provisional, issued before judgment

Rule 58, Section 1 defines a preliminary injunction as an order that can be granted at any stage of an action or proceeding, so long as it comes before the judgment or final order. This timing is what makes it provisional — it addresses the situation while the case is still being litigated, rather than resolving the underlying dispute itself. A court can issue it as early as when the complaint is filed, or later in the proceedings, as circumstances warrant, but always before the case is finally and completely decided.

The default form: restraining an act

In its ordinary form, the injunction requires a party, or even a court, agency, or person, to refrain from a particular act or acts. This prohibitory function is the traditional core of the injunction remedy, aimed at preventing harm that would occur if the targeted conduct continued unchecked. A neighbor building on disputed land, an agency about to enforce a contested order, or a party threatening to dispose of property in litigation are the kinds of situations this restraining form is meant to address.

The mandatory variant: compelling an act

The section also recognizes a second form: when the order instead requires the performance of a particular act or acts, it is specifically called a preliminary mandatory injunction. This variant is more intrusive because it compels affirmative action rather than merely preserving the status quo, which is one reason courts tend to scrutinize mandatory injunctions especially carefully. Ordering a party to reconnect utilities, restore possession, or reinstate an employee are typical examples, since each requires the respondent to actively do something rather than simply stop doing it, which is why the label 'mandatory' attaches specifically to this form. Neither form of preliminary injunction, mandatory or prohibitory, resolves the underlying case on its merits; both remain provisional measures that can be dissolved, modified, or superseded once the court renders its judgment or final order, and neither guarantees that the party who obtained it will ultimately prevail on the substantive dispute.

Related provisions

• Rule 58, Section 1 — Preliminary injunction defined; classes
• Rule 58, Section 3 — Grounds for issuance of preliminary injunction
• Rule 58, Section 9 — When final injunction granted