Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Election of Remedies

The liberty of choosing (or the act of choosing) one out of several means afforded by law for the redress of an injury, or one out of several available FORMS OF ACTION. An election of remedies arises when one having two coexistent but inconsistent remedies chooses to exercise one, in which event she or he loses the right to thereafter exercise the other. Doctrine provides that if two or more remedies exist that are repugnant and inconsistent with one another, a party will be bound if he or she has chosen one of them.

The doctrine of the election of remedies was developed to prevent a plaintiff from a double recovery for a loss, making the person pursue only one remedy in an action. Although its application is not restricted to any particular CAUSE OF ACTION, it is most...