irreparable harm

Irreparable harm is a legal term that refers to harm or injury that cannot be adequately compensated or remedied by any monetary award or damages that may be awarded later. Irreparable harm is a necessary requirement for a court to grant a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order.

The movant, or party seeking the injunction, usually has to prove that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted. This is because the purpose of an injunction is to prevent harm before it occurs, and once harm has occurred, it may be too late to adequately compensate the injured party.

Some examples of irreparable harm include:

• Injury to reputation or goodwill - In cases involving defamation or other types of reputational harm, the harm caused may not be able to be fully compensated with a monetary award.
• Deprivation of constitutional rights - Depriving someone of their constitutional rights, such as the right to free speech or due process, may cause irreparable harm that cannot be fully compensated with money.
• Environmental harm - In cases where irreparable environmental harm may occur, such as enjoining dredging operations in living coral reefs that were about to be declared a national monument, an injunction may be necessary to prevent the harm from occurring.
• Sports-related harm - In cases involving sports teams, loss by an athletic team of the services of a star athlete may cause irreparable harm that cannot be fully compensated with money.
• Professional harm - In cases involving professional licenses, such as the suspension of the boxing license of the World Heavyweight Champion, the harm caused by the suspension may not be able to be fully compensated with a monetary award.