Equity is law in the sense that it is part of the law of England; it is not law only in the sense that it is not part of the common law." Glanville Williams, Learning the Law 25–26 (11th ed. 1982).

True equity does not overturn legal justice, but supplements it. Equity works to achieve the deepest aim of the law—rendering justice and upholding the common good—within the framework of the law.

The law of equity is like that. It is law administered according to what is “equitable” under the circumstances, as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law. Equity is based upon ...

Most of us will be familiar with Ashburner’s “fluvial metaphor” describing the common law and equity as “two streams of jurisdiction [which], though they run in the same channel, run side by side and ...

Common law is a body of unwritten laws based on legal precedents; may guide court rulings when outcome undetermined based on written rules of law.