Permanent Injunction

Under Missouri law, temporary restraining orders typically last ten (10) days, but can be extended for additional 10 day increments See Rule 92.02(b). A preliminary injunction typically lasts for the duration of the underlying litigation. Permanent injunctions, as the name suggests, can last in perpetuity — but a trial court has broad discretionary power to shape and fashion the relief it grants to fit particular facts, circumstances, and equities of the case before it. Heinrich v. Hinson, 600 S.W.2d 636, 640-41 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980).
Whether an injunction should be granted is a matter of the court’s discretion in balancing the equities. Id. at 640. In “balancing the equities,” courts consider all the equities between the parties as disclosed by the circumstances of the case. Edmunds v. Sigma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity, Inc., 87 S.W.3d 21, 29 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002). This can include the willfulness of the encroaching party and the conduct of the non-encroaching party. Equitable defenses such as laches — whether a party has waited too long to seek relief — and unclean hands can also come into play.
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