Introduction
When signing up for commercial or business litigation, most parties expect to either settle out of court of go to trial. Nonetheless, in some situations, the trial is cut short before trial since one of the parties files a motion for summary judgment and the judge grants the motion.
A summary judgment in business litigation entails two basic aspects at any trial; the law and facts. The facts entail the parties, issues, time, place and reason of the trial. For instance, a jury or judge may be asked to determine the party that breached a certain contract, the date of breach, jurisdiction of the said breach and the reason for breach. Upon determination of the facts, the judge applies the relevant law. Upon determination of the facts, the judge applies the law. Some of the legal questions pertain the validity of the contract and justification for breach.
Summary judgment is also key in business litigation
Some of the facts may be disputed. Parties can also dispute the applicable laws and how they should be applied to the matter at hand.
A summary judgment under business litigation also entails a claim that there lacks a genuine dispute in a case. Basically, the movant contends that there is no need for trial since the parties agree to the facts hence no disputed facts. Also, considering the facts, the other party is not capable of winning the said case. The motion is file at the preliminary stages of trial in an effort to avert unnecessary litigation.
Parties should consider summary judgment before going to trial
How a Motion for Summary Judgment is decided
How the judge decides a motion for summary judgment based on business litigation is accepting, for the sake of argument, the non-movant statement of facts. For instance, if the defense files a motion for summary judgment against the plaintiff for breaching a business contract. The plaintiff then claims that their contract was oral and entailed the purchase of mineral right on the property of the plaintiff, however, the defendant failed to maintain his end of the bargain.
Summary judgment is issued by court before trial
On the other hand, the defendant’s motion for summary judgment claims that the plaintiff case has no merit. In issuing a ruling, the judge assumed that all the plaintiff’s claims are true. In such an instance, the motion of summary judgment of the defendant could be granted. This is since transfer of real property, mineral rights included, should be in writing to be valid. Thus, despite the possibility of the plaintiff telling the truth regarding the rights, the contract is unenforceable.
How Summary Judgment Helps Business Litigation Parties
A summary judgment is efficient to business litigation parties in various ways. They include;
- Saving on costs and time. Going to trial is expensive and takes a lot of time owing to the backlog of cases in court. Summary judgment could significantly decrease the costs linked with lengthy trials which include court fees, attorney fees and discovery costs. Such savings come in handy for those that lack resources to endure lengthy litigation.
- Through elimination of trial when there are no facts in dispute, summary judgment promotes judicial efficiency. The preceding permits the court to channel their resources to cases where trial is needed to resolve the dispute.
- Reduction of emotional stress. Litigation could be emotionally draining to the parties in business litigation. A summary judgment is thus recommended to spare the parties the uncertainty and stress that comes with a full trial.
- A summary judgment provides a certain legal decision granting parties closure without the requirement for the speculation and longevity that comes with trial.
Conclusion
Just like many other cases, business litigation can be brought to an end expeditiously by resorting to summary judgment. This saves the parties involved the costs and time that results from a trial. It also promotes judicial efficiency and saves court resources hence highly recommended.
