Regardless of Merits, Court Should Not Have Granted Injunction When Money Damages Sufficient

On October 19, 2017, the First Department issued a decision in JSC VTB Bank v. Mavlyanov, 2017 NY Slip Op. 07339, holding that regardless of the strength of the plaintiff's case, the court should not have issued an injunction when money damages were sufficient to redress its injuries, explaining:

[O]n the merits, the court should not have granted a preliminary injunction, because the primary relief sought in this action is money damages. Plaintiff has no specific right to the properties at issue; it seeks to enjoin defendants from transferring, encumbering, or otherwise disposing of their properties so that it will be able to satisfy the judgments it obtained in Russia on defendant Igor Mavlyanov's (Igor) guaranties.

Even if this were an appropriate case for an injunction, the injunction should not be granted, because the fact that plaintiff can be fully compensated by damages shows that he would not suffer irreparable injury absent the injunction.

(Internal citations omitted).