Rule 2.One Form of Action

Rule 2 is one sentence, but it erases a distinction that once shaped how a case had to be labeled and pursued. Before rules like this one, a claim seeking money damages followed one set of procedures as an "action at law," while a claim seeking an injunction or other equitable relief followed a different set as a "suit in equity." Rule 2 collapses both into a single category: the civil action. A plaintiff no longer has to decide which historical label fits before filing — the same procedural rules apply whether the relief sought is damages, an injunction, a declaration, or some combination.

This unification does not change what remedies a court can award or what a plaintiff has to prove to get them; it changes only the procedural path for getting there. The substantive law of contracts, torts, property, and equity remains exactly as demanding as it was before. What Rule 2 removes is the risk of losing a case on a technical mismatch between the form of the pleading and the type of relief requested.

Behind the scenes, the Clerk's Office still distinguishes between types of matters for administrative purposes — different letter codes appear before a case number depending on which branch handles it — but that sorting has nothing to do with law versus equity. It is purely a filing and docketing convenience, unrelated to the single civil-action framework Rule 2 establishes for every case within its scope.