There shall be one form of action to be known as “civil action.”
Rule 2.One form of action
Group 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 separation between actions at law and suits in equity, replacing them with a single form of proceeding called the civil action.
Full Text of Rule 2
Notes
Reporter’s Notes: This rule, like Federal Rule 2, accomplishes the procedural merger of law and equity. See Reporter’s Notes to Rule 1. The rule also supersedes 12 V.S.A. § 971, which in identical terms provided one form of action for actions at law. Rule 81 makes clear that references in existing statutes to the forms of action or to chancery proceedings should be understood as referring to a civil action under these rules. Of course, as the enabling act, 12 V.S.A. § 1, makes clear, the rules affect only procedure. The right to a specific kind of legal or equitable relief upon proof of specific facts is not changed.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 2 is one sentence, but it erased a distinction that had shaped Vermont litigation for generations: the line between actions at law, heard by the County Courts, and suits in equity, heard by the Court of Chancery. The rule folds every civil claim, legal or equitable, into one form: the civil action. A plaintiff no longer needs to decide whether a claim belongs in law or equity before filing, and no separate chancery pleading or procedure survives.
The merger tracks the same move Congress made in the original Federal Rule 2, and the Reporter's Notes tie it to the Vermont Legislature's 1969 abolition of the separate Court of Chancery. Vesting equitable powers in the presiding judges of the County Courts required a matching procedural merger, and Rule 2 supplied it. Nothing about the change touches substance: a court still grants only the relief the facts and law support, whether that relief looks legal or equitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Vermont Rule 2 change about how lawsuits are filed?
It replaced the separate forms of action at law and suits in equity with a single form of proceeding, the civil action, so a plaintiff files one type of case regardless of whether the underlying claim is legal or equitable.
Did Rule 2 eliminate equitable relief in Vermont?
No. The Reporter's Notes state that the rules affect only procedure, not the right to a specific kind of legal or equitable relief upon proof of specific facts.
Why was Rule 2 needed when the rules took effect in 1971?
Because the Vermont Legislature had abolished the separate Court of Chancery effective on the rules' effective date and vested its powers in the presiding judges of the County Courts, which required a procedural merger of the rules for law and chancery matters.
Does Vermont Rule 2 have a federal counterpart?
Yes. The Reporter's Notes describe Rule 2 as accomplishing the same procedural merger of law and equity as Federal Rule 2.
Does Rule 2 replace any prior Vermont statute?
According to the Reporter's Notes, Rule 2 supersedes former 12 V.S.A. section 971, which had provided one form of action for actions at law in identical terms.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Reporter's Notes, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure,
adopted by the Vermont Supreme Court. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: vrcp 2vermont civil action mergerlaw and equity merger vermontone form of action vermontvermont chancery court abolished