What is a Motion for Summary Judgment in a Civil Case?

A motion for summary judgment is when a litigant in a case, either the plaintiff or the defendant, asks the court to end the case without holding a trial. A motion for summary judgment may be filed when one side believes that the evidence gathered during discovery shows that there is no longer any dispute left in the facts. Therefore, the case can be decided on the law alone.

So, who can file a motion for summary judgment? In Texas, summary judgment motions can be filed by any party in a case under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a to bring an end to claims, counterclaims, or cross-claims. A summary judgment determination by the court relies mainly on the law. Therefore, an attorney who understands the applicable case law related to the underlying claims and can navigate the waters of deep legal research is paramount to filing and winning a motion for summary judgment.

Other aspects regarding a motion

Lawsuits generally go to trial because the parties disagree about the facts of a case. But what if the important facts of a case aren’t disputed? A motion for summary judgment is a request made by a party asking the court to decide all or part of a lawsuit without going to trial because there’s no dispute about the key facts of the case.

Examples of summary judgment motions

For non-lawyers, this can all be a little confusing. Here is an examples: John and Linda are in a car accident. John says that Linda ran a red light and caused the crash. John happens to have a video of Linda running the red light and crashing into him. John’s attorney files a motion for summary judgment claiming that:

There are no material facts that can be reasonably disputed. In other words, Linda can’t produce any evidence that raises any doubt that she ran the red light and caused the accident. In light of the undisputed facts, John is entitled to judgment under the applicable law. In other words, because Linda ran the red light and caused the accident, she’s liable under the law of negligence. Based on the above example, a judge would likely grant John’s motion for summary judgment. As a result, there would be no need to litigate the issue of liability. Keep in mind that the parties might still need to litigate the issue of damages (i.e., the amount of money Linda owes John).

Now let’s take a look at the same example with a slightly different twist: John and Linda are in a car accident. John argues that Linda ran a red light and caused the accident, but John doesn’t have a video. He does have a statement from a witness who says they saw Linda run the red light. John’s attorney files a motion for summary judgment. Linda’s attorney responds to the motion by producing a statement from a different witness saying that the witness saw Linda stop at the red light.

The party making the motion (called the “movant”) can be the plaintiff or the defendant. Either way, the movant must prove two things to be successful:

• That there are no material facts that can be reasonably disputed, and
• In light of the undisputed facts, the movant is entitled to judgment under the applicable law.

Who can file a motion for summary judgment

Any party in a case can file a motion for summary judgment through their attorney or cross-motion for summary judgment as part of a response to a motion for summary judgment. This means that the plaintiff, who brought the case to the court, or the defendant, who is defending themselves in the case, may file summary judgment motions to try to bring part of the case, or the whole case, to an end.

In addition, if there are multiple plaintiffs or defendants, sometimes called “multi-party litigation.” Any of the litigants in the case may file a motion for summary judgment as to those claims and defenses that pertain specifically to them.

To file a strong motion for summary judgment, a party will want to include facts that cannot be refuted – and these may come in the form of declarations, affidavits, deposition testimony, documents, admissions, and answers to interrogatories. Any such evidence must be accompanied by a statement of facts, which serves as a roadmap to the evidence for the court to review to determine if a summary judgment should be granted.

Summary judgment meaning

In some cases, the key facts are not disputed and require that judgment be entered for one of the parties. This is known as a summary judgment, in that it summarily ends the case before trial. The purpose of a trial is to have somebody — the judge or the jury — decide what the facts are. If the facts are not in dispute, there is no need for a trial. Instead, the party who believes that the undisputed facts compel a ruling in his or her favor will file a motion for summary judgment. The motion for summary judgment asks the court to consider the undisputed facts and apply the law to them, and argues that the law requires a judgment for the party bringing the motion.

A motion for summary judgment is described as “a blunt instrument” that can abruptly terminate the litigation. To avoid a summary judgment, the other party must provide the court with evidence that would be permitted at trial that indicates that the key facts are disputable. If the court agrees with the party opposing the motion and finds that the key facts are in dispute, the court cannot enter judgment and must instead send the case to trial.

While a motion for summary judgment is not a substitute for trial, it is a tool that allows courts to weed out cases that do not need a trial to be resolved. It also allows the court to simplify and streamline the case so that trial is more efficient and focused on the areas of actual dispute.

When it decides a motion for summary judgment, the court may only consider facts in the pretrial record, such as deposition testimony, affidavits (sworn statements of fact) answers to written discovery requests, documents, and the like. It cannot decide which side is more credible than the other. If the court has concerns about the credibility of witnesses or which side to believe, the case should be resolved in a trial.

The motion for summary judgment is crucial to your case. If you are defending against the motion, hoping to go to trial or to settle the case, you will want to provide your lawyer with whatever assistance he or she needs in pulling the facts together. The most likely way you will be asked to help is to provide an affidavit setting forth facts that rebut the facts the moving party has relied on. Do not ignore calls from your lawyer when the motion is pending.

A party may also seek partial summary judgment, which is a request for a ruling on just a portion of the claim. For example, suppose you have a case in which liability is clear, such as when the defendant ran a red light and broad-sided the plaintiff proceeding on green, there is no reason ask a jury to decide if the defendant should be required to pay damages. However, the parties have completely different ideas over how much money the plaintiff should receive as damages. In that case, the court can order that judgment be entered on the question of liability and that the case will go to trial only to determine damages.

How to start a motion for summary judgement

The movant must file their motion for summary judgment with the court by a specific date. Depending on the state, this deadline is set forth in the case scheduling order (an order signed by the court listing various deadlines) or the local rules of civil procedure.

Contents of a motion of summary judgment include the motion which is a written request for the court to rule in the favor of the movant. The second part is a memorandum which supports the motion. It explains why the court should rule in favor of the movant.

Response to a motion for summary judgment

The non-moving party always has an opportunity to respond to the motion for summary judgment. This is called a “response” or an “opposition motion.” The non-moving party only has a certain amount of time to file a response. This amount of time varies by state, but is usually around 21 days. Like the original motion, the non-moving party’s response typically consists of two parts. These include the motion which entails a written request for the court to rule in the non-moving party’s favor. The second is a memorandum that explains why the court should rule in the non-moving party’s favor.

In responding to a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must do 1 of 2 things:

• Show that there’s a disputed fact (this can be done by producing evidence), or
• Accept that there are no disputed facts, but dispute the movant’s recitation of the law.

If the non-moving party doesn’t believe they’ve had enough time to uncover the facts of the case, the party can ask the court for a “continuance” to permit additional discovery. The court has a great deal of discretion in determining whether to grant such a request.

The purpose of motion for summary judgment hearing

Once the motion and response has been filed, the judge will read both and then preside over a hearing. At the hearing, each party will be given a certain amount of time to reiterate their argument in front of the judge. The judge may ask some questions and at the end of the hearing the judge will grant or deny the motion. Sometimes the judge will require additional time to make a decision and the parties will be notified days or weeks later.

A hearing on a motion for summary judgment doesn’t involve oral testimony. Because of this, some lawyers don’t bother taking their clients to the hearing. Other lawyers like to take their clients. The decision usually depends on the lawyer, the client, and the nature of the case. A motion for summary judgment can be a very effective tool when used properly. However, it also requires a lot of time and money in order to draft the documents and participate in the hearing. An experienced attorney will be able to tell you if a motion for summary judgment is appropriate in your case.

Motion for partial summary judgment

A motion for partial summary judgment only attacks some of the issues in a case, meaning that the entire case will not end once the motion is decided. For example, parties may seek summary judgment on some issues, claims, or defenses in a case to help strengthen their position in the litigation and leverage a settlement from the other side. Often a complex case with many claims can be reduced to just a handful of claims when the other side has fired multiple volleys of summary judgment.

Responding to and opposing a motion for summary judgment

The party responding to a motion for summary judgment by filing an opposition to a motion for summary judgment is trying to keep their claims or defenses alive. So, to successfully defeat a summary judgment motion, the opposing party will want to submit evidence showing that there are still issues of fact in dispute.

Like the filing party, the opposing party will submit a statement of facts serving as a roadmap to their evidence which shows that issues of fact remain. The opposing party hopes that the court will deny summary judgment and allow the case to proceed to a factfinder, either judge or jury. A summary judgment motion is heavily steeped in legal arguments, primarily case law. Working with an attorney expert in researching cases, drafting pleadings, and making oral arguments is crucial for responding to a motion for summary judgment.

What Is a Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment?

A cross-motion for summary judgment is basically a recasting or recharacterizing of the facts a party submits for summary judgment to show the opposite outcome is warranted, based on the same or substantially similar facts (occasionally, a few more points will be added). Therefore, a cross-motion for summary judgment is ‘using the filing party’s motion against them’ to achieve the opposite result.

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