Election of Remedies Doctrines

This lesson explores the many uses of the doctrine of election of remedies. Students will discover that attorneys will invoke the doctrine of election of remedies to enforce statutory or contractual exclusivity of remedy; to require plaintiffs to be bound by their intentional choice; to protect defendants from prejudice due to their detrimental reliance on plaintiff's actions; to eliminate double recovery for the same wrong; or to eliminate splitting and relitigation of claims. By working through the problems in this lesson, students will become familiar with the many different purposes of the doctrine and recognize the overlap with other remedial doctrines, such as waiver, estoppel, laches, and res judicata.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Identify the most common areas of law in which you will see the doctrine of election of remedies.
2. Analyze the underlying principles that drive the doctrine of election of remedies.
3. Describe situations in which the election may occur.
4. Explain issues of inconsistent remedies, overlapping remedies and contractual or statutory election of remedies.