  We present preliminary results of an imaging survey for companions to
low-luminosity dwarfs with spectral types ranging from M7 to L9. A K-band study
with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRC) at the Keck telescope discriminates
against background sources by searching for common proper motion. A
complimentary HST/WFPC2 snapshot survey is better able to resolve close
companions, but is not as sensitive at wide separations. Preliminary results
from the Keck/NIRC survey have yielded the detection of 3 binaries in a sample
of 10 L dwarfs, including one previously identified in HST imaging (Marti'n et
al. 1999). All three have equal-component luminosities and physical separations
between 5 and 10 AU. This result leads us to speculate that binary companions
to L dwarfs are common, that similar-mass systems predominate, and that their
distribution peaks at radial distances in accord both with M dwarf binaries and
with the radial location of Jovian planets in our own solar system. To fully
establish these conjectures, however, will require quantitative analysis of an
appropriate sample. To this end, we outline a Bayesian scheme to test models of
the underlying companion distribution with our completed imaging survey.
