Sample Motion for Preliminary Injunction in California

A sample motion for a preliminary injunction in California is built as a four-document package: a notice of motion (or order to show cause), a memorandum of points and authorities, supporting declarations, and a proposed order. The papers have to persuade the judge on two things at once — that you are reasonably likely to win the underlying case, and that you will suffer harm money cannot fix if the court waits until trial to act. Everything else in the motion serves those two showings.

What Goes in the Motion Package

You can bring the request either as a noticed motion or through an order to show cause (OSC). An OSC is required when you are also seeking a temporary restraining order, or when the opposing party has not yet appeared in the case.¹ Either route uses the same four core documents.

Notice of Motion or OSC. States the hearing date, time, and location, and describes the specific relief you want.²
Memorandum of Points and Authorities. The legal argument, organized around the statutory grounds, the evidence, and the applicable case law.
Declarations. Sworn statements under penalty of perjury supplying the facts. Every factual assertion in the memorandum should trace to a declaration.
Proposed Order. A draft of the injunction for the judge to sign, describing the prohibited or required conduct in specific terms.

Under CCP Section 527, the court can grant a preliminary injunction based on a verified complaint or on supporting affidavits (declarations) showing sufficient grounds.³ A verified complaint is one the plaintiff swears is true. If your complaint is not verified, the motion is still available, but the declarations have to carry the full evidentiary load. Most attorneys file declarations either way, because they allow facts beyond what the complaint pleads.

Formatting is not optional. Every document in the package must list the hearing date, the hearing judge (if known), the filing date of the action, and the trial date on the first page.² Pages must be numbered consecutively. Exhibits need an index describing each one, and paper exhibits must be separated by tabs. In an existing case, you also have to make sure the court file gets to the judge hearing the application.¹

Statutory Grounds Under CCP 526

The notice and the memorandum should identify the statutory basis for the injunction. CCP Section 526 lists seven grounds, and you need to name the ones that fit your facts.⁴ The most commonly cited grounds are:

Irreparable injury to the plaintiff during the pendency of the lawsuit.
Harm that a money judgment could not adequately repair.
Damages that would be extremely difficult to measure.
The need to prevent a multiplicity of judicial proceedings.
Protection of duties arising from a trust.

You do not need to hit all seven. Most motions rely on the first two and often argue both. Whichever grounds you invoke, the memorandum has to connect them to the specific facts in the declarations.

What the Memorandum Has to Prove

California courts weigh two factors against each other: the likelihood you will prevail at trial, and the relative harm to each side in the meantime. The factors work on a sliding scale. A stronger showing on one reduces what is needed on the other, but both need some support.

Likelihood of Success on the Merits

Identify the cause of action — breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, trespass, unfair competition, or whatever supports the injunction — and list its legal elements. Then match each element to the evidence in your declarations. In a breach of contract case, that means the existence of a valid agreement, your own performance, the other party’s failure to perform, and the resulting harm. A judge reading the motion should be able to walk from each element to a fact in a declaration without guessing.

Irreparable Harm

This is where most motions succeed or fail. The papers must show harm that a later money judgment cannot adequately fix.⁴ Classic examples: destruction of unique property, loss of business goodwill built over years, disclosure of trade secrets that cannot be un-disclosed, environmental damage that cannot be reversed. Purely financial losses rarely qualify, because a damages award is presumed to cure them.

The declarations on this point have to be specific. “My business will suffer” is not enough. The declarant should describe the harm that is occurring or imminent, explain why it is different from ordinary business losses, and explain why waiting for trial would make the damage impossible to undo.

Balance of Hardships

Address the opposing party’s side honestly. If the injunction would only stop conduct that is already unlawful, the hardship is minimal. If it would shut down a business or halt a construction project, the court needs a strong reason. A dramatic imbalance in hardships can carry a weaker showing on the merits under the sliding scale, so if you will lose everything without the order and the other side loses only a minor convenience, say so plainly.

How to Structure the Papers

The outline below reflects what most California practitioners file. It is not a form to fill in, but the sequence and content are standard.

Notice of Motion or OSC. Case caption with number, court, and department. Hearing date, time, and location. A statement of the specific relief requested, phrased concretely — for example, an order enjoining a defendant from operating within a defined distance of the plaintiff’s premises during the pendency of the action. Identification of the statutory basis (CCP Sections 526 and 527). A list of the supporting documents.

Memorandum of Points and Authorities. A statement of facts drawn from the declarations. A short section on the legal standard, including the sliding-scale analysis. A section applying the elements of the cause of action to the evidence. A section on irreparable harm tied to the CCP 526 grounds. A section on the balance of hardships. A brief conclusion asking for the specific relief.

Declarations. Each declaration opens by identifying the declarant, establishing personal knowledge, and confirming competence to testify. Numbered paragraphs set out facts the declarant personally observed or knows. Exhibits — contracts, correspondence, photographs, financial records — are attached and authenticated within the declaration. The closing line reads: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.”

Proposed Order. Identify the parties bound. Describe the specific acts restrained or required in enough detail that the opposing party knows exactly what they can and cannot do. State the effective date and duration (until trial, until further order of the court). Include a blank for the undertaking amount. Add a signature line for the judge.

One disclosure requirement is easy to miss: if you have previously sought similar relief in the same case and been denied, the application must say so.¹ Omitting a prior failed request damages your credibility fast.

Filing, Service, and Notice Deadlines

File the package with the Superior Court clerk and pay the filing fee. Most California courts now accept or require electronic filing. If you are starting the lawsuit the same day you seek the injunction, file the complaint first.¹

Under CCP Section 1005, all moving and supporting papers must be served and filed at least 16 court days before the hearing.⁵ Service by mail within California adds 5 calendar days. Mail to or from another state adds 10. Overnight delivery or fax adds 2. Mail outside the United States adds 20. Opposition papers are due at least 9 court days before the hearing, and reply papers at least 5 court days before. Count backwards from the hearing date, skipping weekends and court holidays.

If the opposing party has not yet appeared, the OSC must be served the same way as a summons and complaint, which typically means personal delivery.¹ File a proof of service documenting method, date, and person served.

The Undertaking

If the court grants the injunction, you must post a security bond, called an undertaking, before the order takes effect. The bond guarantees payment of any damages the restrained party sustains if the court later decides you were not entitled to the injunction.⁶ The judge sets the amount based on the estimated financial harm the injunction will cause.

You have one court day after the injunction is granted to present the signed proposed order along with the undertaking, unless the court sets a different deadline. Miss that window and any temporary restraining order already in place can be vacated without notice.¹ The restrained party has five days after being served with the injunction to challenge the adequacy of the bond, and if the court agrees the undertaking is insufficient and you do not file an adequate one in the time allowed, the injunction must be dissolved.⁶ Line up your surety before the hearing, not after.

If You Cannot Wait: The TRO Path

A preliminary injunction takes weeks because of the notice and briefing schedule. When the harm is imminent, a temporary restraining order preserves the status quo until the court can hold the preliminary injunction hearing.

Under CCP 527, a TRO can issue without notice only if two conditions are met. First, the verified complaint or declarations must show that serious, irreparable injury will occur before the other side can be heard. Second, your attorney must certify in writing either that the opposing party was informed of the application, that good-faith efforts to inform them failed, or that specific reasons justify not giving notice.³ The moving party or the attorney must appear in person to request the TRO.¹ The application itself must include a declaration showing irreparable harm or immediate danger based on personal knowledge, not speculation.⁷ A separate declaration must document what notice was given, when, and by what method.⁸

A TRO issued without notice expires no later than 15 days after issuance, or 22 days if the court finds good cause.³ Within five days of issuance, or two days before the hearing (whichever is first), you must serve the opposing party with the complaint, the OSC, the supporting declarations, and the memorandum. The opposing party is entitled to at least one continuance of at least 15 days to prepare an opposition, so the full preliminary injunction papers need to be ready before the TRO is even granted.

After the Ruling

An order granting or denying a preliminary injunction is immediately appealable under CCP Section 904.1, as is an order dissolving one or refusing to dissolve one.⁹ Filing an appeal does not automatically stay the injunction, so the order typically stays in effect during the appeal unless the appellate court orders otherwise.

Enforcement runs through contempt. A person found in contempt of a court order faces a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, up to five days in jail, or both, and the court can order payment of the other side’s reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in bringing the proceeding.¹⁰ Each separate violation can be a separate count. Contempt in California is treated as quasi-criminal even in a civil case, which means notice, a presumption of innocence, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mistakes That Sink These Motions

Weak declarations are the most common problem. A declaration that recites conclusions (“Defendant is destroying my business”) instead of specific facts (“On March 12, Defendant contacted three of my largest clients and told them our contract was void”) gives the judge nothing to work with. Every factual claim in the memorandum should trace back to something a human being personally saw or documented.

Treating irreparable harm as an afterthought is the next trap. Motions often spend most of their space on the merits and barely touch why the harm cannot wait for trial. Courts are cautious about this kind of relief, and a thin irreparable-harm argument gives the judge an easy path to denial.

The proposed order matters more than most people realize. An order that says “Defendant shall cease all harmful conduct” is not enforceable. Specify exactly what the restrained party must do or stop doing, in language clear enough that a contempt motion could be brought if they violate it. Draft the order as if you will need to enforce it, because you might.

1
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1150 – Preliminary Injunctions and Bonds
2
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1110 – General Format
3
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 527
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 526
5
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure – Motions and Orders
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 529
7
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1202 – Contents of Application
8
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1204 – Contents of Notice and Declaration Regarding Notice
9
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 904.1
10
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1218