Settlement. Mediation. Arbitration. Trial. These are the anticipated outcomes we generally consider in civil litigation, but there are other possible positive or negative outcomes depending which side you are on.

“Summary Judgment” is another outcome in the litigation process.

To understand summary judgment, it is helpful to first understand the role of a trial in a civil case. The purpose of a trial is for the jury (or judge, if there is no jury) to decide which “side of the story” to believe. Doing so requires the judge or jury to hear the disputed facts and determine which side is more credible. Once doing so, the jury or judge applies these determined facts to the law and offers a final judgment in the matter.

Summary Judgment, however, is an attempt to get a court judgment without going the distance of the litigation process to trial. Thus, Summary judgment is the stop sign in the road in the litigation process.

Summary Judgment, by definition, is where judgment is granted to the party that moves the court by motion because: “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”

This definition perplexes lawyers and non-lawyers alike, so dissecting the definition to understand what this means is worthwhile.

What is Summary Judgment?

A judgment is essentially a final decision or a court order in response to a legal action. A judgment is something that can be appealed to a higher court and is considered final in that court. Though a non-prevailing party may file a motion to reconsider, a judgment is generally considered final.

There is one very basic premise upon which summary judgment motions are based. The job of the trier of fact (whether jury or judge) is to determine the facts, while determining the law is a job for the judge alone. If there are no facts actually in dispute between the parties, there can be no trial, because there is no role for the trier of fact to play. However, even with that basic premise, summary judgment has many different moving parts that must be explained.

The Sea of Uncertainty of Summary Judgment

Summary Judgment suggests that judgment has been issued to a part or all of a case or controversy—however, summary judgment rarely disposes of an entire case.

Summary Judgment allows the court to make a final decision regarding one count, one aspect, or one fact of a case, allowing the matter to proceed on every issue except that which was dealt with at summary judgment. The idea is to save the parties and the court time and expense in having to deal with something that is essentially not at issue—thus there is “no genuine issue as to any material fact,” as mentioned above.

Motion for Summary Judgment

The discovery portion of litigation usually exposes the facts, the big outstanding questions, and the controversies that cannot seem to be agreed upon by the opposing parties.

As the parties' plow through the materials that both sides gave to each other in discovery, either the plaintiff or the defendant can move for Motion for Summary Judgment.

Once a moving party is confident that no additional information is needed to ensure success on at least one of their main points, they may motion for summary judgment so they can continue on the matters that are still in controversy.

How To File for Summary Judgment?

To file a Motion for Summary Judgment, you will need to prepare the following documents:

·      Notice of Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Summary Judgment

·      Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment

·      Declaration in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment

·      Statement of Uncontroverted Facts and Conclusions of Law

·      Proposed Judgment

·      Proof of Service by Mail

Summary Judgment Procedure in Massachusetts

Procedure in Summary Judgment is tricky because each court in Massachusetts (Probate and Family, District Court, Superior Court, Housing Court, etc.) have their own rules regarding filing and timed deadlines.

Normally, a moving party sends the opposition their motion for summary judgment and the opposition gets a certain number of days to respond to the motion.

After the Motion and Opposition are filed, a hearing date will be scheduled by the court.

A litigant must keep in mind, that if any part of their motion does not prove that there is “no genuine issue as to any material fact,” the motion will fail.

Bentley Law Group’s Approach to Summary Judgment.

At Bentley Law Group, our lawyers have over three decades of experience in handling these Summary Judgment Motions and Opposing Summary Judgment Motions.

Attorney Ian S. Kahanowitz has never lost a Summary Judgment motion in his three decades of practicing law.

As a caring practitioner, Attorney Kahanowitz goes the distance for his clients in researching and applying the law to the facts in the Summary Judgment Process.

At Bentley Law Group, we know that your case is important, and clients need tough lawyers fighting for them in Summary Judgment motions.

Give us a call and let us guide you through “Demystifying the Summary Judgment” process.