“An oft-recited requirement for the granting of equitable relief is that the remedy at law must be inadequate or the damage must be irreparable. The party seeking equitable relief has the initial burden to establish the inadequacy of the remedy at law as one of the elements necessary for equitable relief, so one may ask why the requirement is suitable for inclusion in a book on affirmative defenses. Inadequacy of the remedy at law is an example of a legal concept often categorized and treated as an affirmative defense that is not, in truth, an affirmative defense. Perhaps the primary reason for such treatment in this instance is that the equitable remedies of injunctive relief and specific performance frequently arise in cases in which real property is in issue.”
[California Affirmative Defenses [certain citations omitted]]
