At one time, based on the very remedies they had jurisdiction to provide litigants, American courts were split in two, with courts of equity and courts of law. (suffolklawreview.org)
Years before Justice Story's Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence, Hamilton argued that courts of equity provided relief «in extraordinary cases, which are exceptions to general rules.» (suffolklawreview.org)
What we refer to as fiduciary duty is the obligation imposed in earlier centuries by courts of equity, and authoritatively recognized in the early years of this century...» (duhaime.org)