COURT OF EQUITY

A 'chancery court', 'equity court' or 'court of equity' is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity (as opposed to law) to cases brought before it. These courts began with petitions to the Lord Chancellor of England. Some common law jurisdictions--such as the American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Tennessee--preserve the distinctions between law and equity and between courts of law and courts of equity.