What Is a Summary Judgement Motion?

A motion for summary judgment is a motion asking the court to issue decision judgment on the plaintiff’s claim. A summary judgment is a judgment without a full trial entered by a court in favor of a party and against another party.

Douglas Wade, Attorney

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. What Is a Summary Judgement Motion?

2. Why File a Summary Judgement Motion?

3. What Evidence Does the Court Consider When Reviewing a Summary Judgement Motion?

4. How to Defend Against a Summary Judgment Motion

What Is a Summary Judgement Motion?

This motion asks the court for a judgment on the merits of the case before the trial. A motion for summary judgment ask to court determine the prevailing party based on undisputed facts. However, if there are disputed facts, the court cannot issue a summary judgment.

Filing a summary judgment motion is filed by civil litigation attorneys without without the case going to trial. In normal litigation, the facts are in dispute, and the case goes in front of a judge or jury to determine the facts. If the facts are not in dispute, only the interpretation of them, then the case does not need to go to trial. Either party can request a summary judgement motion to ask a judge to look at the facts and make their judgement forgoing a trial.

Why File a Summary Judgement Motion?

The benefit of filing a summary judgement motion is to try and resolve the case without the need for an expensive trial. A summary judgement motion asks the judge to apply the law to the facts of the case and make a ruling. Either party in the dispute may file a summary judgement motion, but it is usually only filed by the party that believes the facts put them in a favorable position.

The courts like summary judgement motions as it does not waste the time of the court on cases that do not actually need a trial. In some cases, a summary judgement motion will be filed for one or more parts of the case instead of the whole case. This will help the court focus on the disputed facts in the case rather than the facts that all parties agree on.

What Evidence Does the Court Consider When Reviewing a Summary Judgement Motion?

The court will consider the pretrial record when reviewing the facts of a case presented in the summary judgement motion. This includes:

Affidavits
Deposition testimony
Documents
Answers to written discovery requests

How to Defend Against a Summary Judgment Motion

A summary judgement motion can only be successful if the facts presented in the summary judgment motion are not in dispute. Therefore, to defend against it, you and your legal team need to prove that the facts are in dispute. If the judge agrees that the facts are in dispute, then the case will go to trial. Similarly, if the judge reviews the evidence for the summary judgement motion and decides they doubt the credibility of one or both of the parties, they will send the case to trial.

When defending against a summary judgement motion, it is vital to ensure your attorney has all the information they need to defend your case. Remember, you have attorney-client privilege, so be forthcoming and do not leave out important facts. Even something small may be enough to cast doubt on the other party’s credibility.

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