The defendant knows that, to oppose, the plaintiff has no choice but to reveal their case. You might ask yourself, why bother? It is a tactical move.
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Sometimes, a defendant will file knowing full well there is zero hope of prevailing. The motion is based on evidence and it is the defendant’s attempt to defeat the plaintiff’s case prior to trial. For purposes of this article, the “moving party” is the defendant and the “opposing party” is the plaintiff, but keep in mind that this is not necessarily true in all cases.Īn MSJ is the defendant’s effort to show conclusively that there is no merit to the plaintiff’s case. My natural tendency when talking about these motions, however, is to refer to them as a defendant’s motion because I have spent the last eighteen years working in a plaintiffs’ firm. The statute is written in terms of the moving and opposing party not plaintiffs or defendants. What is a motion for summary judgment (MSJ) and how is it different from a motion for summary adjudication of issues (MSAI)? What documents can you expect to see and what is the purpose of each? What is involved in preparing an opposition and what documents need to be included? What things can you do in order to avoid last-minute fire drills, ensure that the opposition gets completed and filed timely, and how do you best support the attorneys who are preparing the opposition?Īn MSJ or MSAI can be filed by either plaintiffs or defendants. Wilton, (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 936.) The court could not make more clear the importance of understanding the statute. Failure to comply with any part of it could be fatal to the offending party.
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The fundamental principle surrounding motions for summary judgment or motions for summary adjudication of issues is this: The summary judgment statute, Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, is a complicated statute. Could it be that it is your first time dealing with this type of motion and you’ve heard countless war stories from your colleagues regarding how complicated the statute is, and how involved and time-consuming preparation of the opposition will be? Whatever the reason, in order to best support your attorneys as they prepare the opposition, as legal assistants you must understand the pieces of the motion, the rules surrounding it and your role in making certain that the opposition is completed and filed with the court in a timely fashion. Maybe it is because while you know the rules surrounding this type of motion, you may not understand what all of the pieces mean. Why does this stack of papers cause so much angst? Perhaps it is because you understand that this one document can mean the end of your client’s case if the opposition is not strong enough to overcome it. You are having what all would agree is a wonderful day your attorneys are in great moods you’ve only had to put out ten fires instead of the usual fifty there aren’t any rush projects that need your attention and you think to yourself, “nothing could ruin this day.” You saunter over to your mailbox wondering if there will be anything interesting to deal with when you see it that dreaded stack of papers, 400 pages at least, rubber-banded together a Motion for Summary Judgment! Immediately, the wheels in your head start to spin, hearing dates, oppositions, discovery, experts, declarations.
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