There shall be one form of action to be known as “civil action.”
Rule 2.One Form of Action
Chapter I: Scope of Rules; One Form of Action · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 2 abolishes the old separate forms of action and replaces them with a single kind of proceeding called a "civil action," carrying both legal and equitable claims through the same procedure without changing the substantive rights or remedies available.
Full Text of Rule 2
Advisory Committee Notes
Rule 2 does not affect the various remedies that previously have been available in the courts of Mississippi. The abolition of the forms of action furnishes a single, uniform procedure by which a litigant may present a claim in an orderly manner to a court empowered to give whatever relief is appropriate and just; the substantive and remedial principles that applied prior to the advent of these rules are not changed. What was an action at law before these rules is still a civil action founded on legal principles and what was a bill in equity before these rules is still a civil action founded upon equitable principles.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 2 is one sentence long: there shall be one form of action, called a civil action. Short as it is, that sentence did away with the old division between an action at law and a bill in equity as separate procedural tracks. Whatever kind of civil claim a person brings now travels under the same label and the same set of rules.
The change is procedural, not substantive. A claim that used to be an action at law is still founded on legal principles, and a claim that used to be a bill in equity is still founded on equitable principles — Rule 2 doesn't touch the remedies a court can award or the legal theories that support a claim. What it removes is the need to pick a separate procedural form before a lawsuit can even get off the ground.
That simplification serves the goal Rule 1 sets out. One uniform procedure, applied to every kind of civil claim, lets a court give whatever relief is appropriate and just without the parties first fighting over which set of technical rules applies to their dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rule 2 mean legal and equitable claims are now identical?
No. Rule 2 merges the procedure for bringing legal and equitable claims into one civil action, but the substantive and remedial principles that applied before these rules haven't changed. A claim founded on legal principles or on equitable principles is still governed by those principles.
What do I call the lawsuit I file under Rule 2?
A civil action. That single term now covers what used to be filed separately as an action at law or a suit in equity.
Did Rule 2 eliminate any remedy that existed before these rules?
No. The rule states plainly that it doesn't affect the remedies previously available in Mississippi's courts; it only creates one uniform procedure for presenting a claim.
How does Rule 2 relate to Rule 1's just, speedy, and inexpensive goal?
By collapsing separate procedural forms into a single civil action, Rule 2 removes a layer of technical dispute over which set of procedures applies, which supports Rule 1's directive to resolve cases justly, speedily, and inexpensively.
If my claim used to be called a "bill in equity," does filing it as a civil action change what I need to prove?
No. The claim is still founded on the same equitable principles that applied before these rules; Rule 2 changes only the procedural label and the rules that govern how the case moves forward.
Source & verification. Rule text and Advisory Committee Notes are
reproduced verbatim from the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Mississippi. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Official source
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