Rule 2.One form of action

Rule 2 is one sentence, but it does real work: "There shall be one form of action to be known as 'civil action.'" Before rules like this existed, courts distinguished sharply between actions "at law" and suits "in equity," each with its own procedures, pleadings, and sometimes its own separate court. Rule 2 erases that distinction for procedural purposes in Utah's courts. Whether a claim seeks money damages, an injunction, a declaration of rights, or some other equitable remedy, it proceeds as one kind of case — a civil action — under one set of procedural rules.

This rule works hand in hand with Rule 1(a), which says the rules govern civil actions "whether cognizable at law or in equity." Together they mean a litigant does not have to sort a claim into the right historical category before filing, and does not lose a remedy because it was pleaded under the wrong procedural label. The old law-versus-equity divide can still matter for substantive questions — for example, whether a party is entitled to a jury trial — but it no longer determines which procedural rulebook applies.

In practice, Rule 2 is rarely litigated on its own. Its effect shows up throughout the rest of the rules, which speak uniformly of "actions," "claims," and "parties" without carving out separate tracks for legal and equitable relief.