Motion for Summary Judgment

Response to Motion for Summary Judgment

What is a Motion for Summary Judgment?

A motion for summary judgment is a request by a party in a lawsuit for the Court to decide all or part of a case without a trial.  The party that files the motion for summary judgment is called the “moving party.”  The moving party does not think that a full trial is needed, because he or she believes that there are no genuine disputes as to any material fact in the case.  That basically means the moving party believes that the important facts all fall on their side, and that none of the important facts help your case.  More specifically, a “material fact” is a fact that is important to or will likely prove any of the claims or defenses in a case.  For example, in a case where someone was injured in a car accident and a party is suing to collect money against the party who caused the accident, the following would be (some of the) material facts:

  • Defendant was driving 100 miles per hour when her car hit with plaintiff’s car.
  • Defendant was using her cell phone to text message before her car hit with plaintiff’s car.

How is motion for summary judgment started?

The moving party files written materials with the Court.  The written materials usually include several separate documents. They include a motion for summary judgment (a formal written request for the Court to decide in their favor). Another document is a brief in support of motion for summary judgment (like a memo or report explaining why the Court should rule in their favor). Further, a statement of material facts (a list of all the important facts that are not in dispute) is also included. There is also an affidavit and/or other evidence to support their motion for summary judgment (documents that support their claim).

The moving party serves on the other party to the lawsuit (mails or delivers) all of the documents that are filed with the Court.  A motion for summary judgment is very powerful, because it can have a final effect on the case.  For this reason, it is very important when served with a motion for summary judgment by the other party that you file a response to that motion, stating your side of the matter.  A response is due within 20 days from the date the Motion for Summary Judgment is served.  It is not enough to defend a motion for summary judgment by only relying on what you said in earlier documents filed with the Court.

Key aspects of a response to a motion for summary judgment

You must prepare and file a response to the motion for summary judgment.  If you do not, the Court will rule in favor of the party that filed the motion for summary judgment.  If a motion for summary judgment is denied, the case will go to trial.  Denial of a motion for summary judgment does not mean that the non-moving party has won the case, only that the Court has decided a trial is needed to decide the case.

What must be included when responding to a motion for summary judgment?

The two most important things to give the Court when responding to a motion for summary judgment are: 1.) a list of material facts (important facts) that support your side of the case; and 2.) copies of any documents, papers, affidavits (sworn written statements) or other things that act as evidence for the facts supporting your side.  It is also recommended that you fill out a reply brief or other document explaining why the motion for summary judgment should be denied.

Legal provision on response to a motion for summary judgment

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense — or the part of each claim or defense — on which summary judgment is sought. The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The court should state on the record the reasons for granting or denying the motion.

Relevant documents to filed with a response to a motion for summary judgment

 

To respond to a motion for summary judgment, you should prepare, file with the Court, and serve on the other party (mail or deliver) the following documents:

  1. Opposition to motion for summary judgment

This is a summary of the facts of your case, including the important facts that you believe the Court should know that will help you win your case.  You should attach to this document any pieces of evidence that support your facts.  In the body of this document, you should also point out for the Court what pieces of evidence support what facts.  Name each piece of evidence as a separate exhibit.

  1. Statement of material facts

This is a list of material facts that you claim support your side of the case, and therefore go against the other side’s case.  Each material fact that is listed must have a note (citation) of where it can be found in the evidence that you include.

  1. Certificate of Service

A signed statement that each document you file with the Court has been served (mailed or delivered) on the other parties to the lawsuit.  The certificate of service must list the date that the documents were mailed or delivered, the type of mail service used, and the addresses where you sent the document(s).

  1. Supporting evidence

This is a set of documents, photos, affidavits and/or other sources of proof that support your side of the case.  Evidence is attached to the opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as exhibits.

  1. Affidavit

An affidavit is a common form of evidence.  It is a sworn statement about something that you write down on a piece of paper, and sign in front of a notary public.  An affidavit is like testifying in Court, but is done on paper outside of Court, then later filed with the Court.  You must be mentally fit to testify to the topics in your affidavit and you can only testify about things that you personally know about.  An Affidavit is then attached to the opposition to motion for summary judgment document.

How do I fill out the top part (the Caption) of the forms?

The Caption is the same for all papers filed in a lawsuit and is made up of information to help the court employees know which lawsuit the document applies to.  It helps the court organize the papers.  The easiest way fill out the Caption is to look at how the other party filled it out on their motion for summary judgment that you received.

Where there is a box, you need to mark the appropriate box.  If your case is in District Court, mark that box with an “x”, if your case is in Circuit Court, mark that box with an “x”.  If you are the Plaintiff, mark that box with an “x”.  If you are the Defendant, mark that box with an “x”.  If you are the one who started the lawsuit, you are the Plaintiff.  If you did not start the lawsuit, you are the Defendant.    Where there are lines, you need to fill in that space.  There is a space for the county that your case is in, there is a space for the judicial district your case is in and the case number given to your lawsuit (ask the clerk of court if you are unsure), and there are spaces for the names of the Plaintiff and the Defendant in your case.

What do I do once I have filled out all the documents?

You need to file all documents and evidence with the Court, and send a copy of all documents and evidence to the other party in the case.  Be sure to save a copy of everything for your records, too.  All documents and evidence in response to a motion for summary judgment must be filed with the Court within 20 days from the date you received the motion for summary judgment.

The facts section of the response to motion for summary judgment

Here you want to tell the Court the factual background of your case, along with the reasons why the motion for summary judgment should be denied.  Start by shortly telling the Court what the case is about.  Explain to the Court what the other side is trying to do in the case.  Also, write down the facts that are important to your side of the case and/or those facts that you believe show that you should win the case.  Whenever possible, tell the court what evidence supports what facts. You will attach copies of all evidence you have to the back of this document.  Whenever possible, separate each piece of evidence as its own exhibit and give it a title. For each piece of evidence, write the title at the bottom of the first page for each exhibit.

Certificate of service in the response to motion for summary judgment

In this section, the undersigned certifies that the response to motion for summary judgment was served on the relevant party. This is by depositing a true and correct copy of the same in the United States Mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the party.

How to complete a material fact form for a response to motion for summary judgment

  1. Fill in the blanks on the top of the form (the Caption). See instructions above.
  2. Complete the body of the statement of material facts form. In the table, list each and every material fact (important fact) you would like the Court to consider in deciding on the moving party’s motion for summary judgment.  Here is where you want to list each and every material fact that you feel is important to your case, and point out where in the evidence each fact can be found.  You need to number and list each material fact separately, and provide a pin point source in the evidence that has been presented.  Continue listing each material fact and citation until all material facts supporting your case are listed.  Attach additional pages as needed. See example below.
  3. Sign and date the Statement of Material Fact form.
  4. Fill out the certificate of service. This includes the date that you will be mailing a copy of the form to the other party in the law suit. List the other party’s address and sign the certificate of service.

Instructions for filling out an Affidavit

  1. In the title of the affidavit, write the name of the person who is making the statement. the person giving the statement is known as the affiant.
  2. In the body of the affidavit, you want to write one statement or fact for each numbered line.
  3. Include in the body of the affidavit any facts that the affiant has personal knowledge of, that support your side of the case.
  4. Use the affidavit to lay out evidence that will support your case by having the affiant talk about evidence they have personal knowledge of.
  5. You can submit as many affidavits as you want.
  6. There can be only one affiant for each affidavit. If you want another witness to provide a statement, you must make a separate affidavit.
  7. Attach any documents you refer to in the affidavit as an exhibit to the affidavit.
  8. When you have finished your affidavit, have the affiant sign and date the affidavit in front of a notary public. A notary public is someone who will verify that the person signing the affidavit is the person listed as the affiant.
  9. The notary public will sign the affidavit on the notary block and stamp the affidavit with his/her credentials as a notary public. This is the part that makes the affidavit a sworn statement.

References

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