Summary Judgment is a tool which a party in litigation uses to win and end the lawsuit. When the facts are not in dispute, there is no need for a trial because the court can consider both sides’ positions based upon papers, affidavits and documents, and other items that are part of the evidentiary record. When this happens, the parties can appear before the court and argue about what the result should be based upon application of the undisputed facts to the controlling law. For reaching this desired outcome, a party files a motion for summary judgment.

How can you oppose a motion for summary judgment? There are two ways to oppose a motion for summary judgment. The first is to establish that there is a dispute over the facts. For example, there might be a dispute regarding how much money is owed under a promissory note. Or, there may be a dispute as to whether payments were actually made. There might be a question of whether a party acted reasonably under the circumstances. These are facts that could lead to a dispute which requires a court to conduct a trial in order to reach resolution.

The second way for opposing a motion for summary judgment is when there is no dispute regarding the material facts. Where the material facts aren’t disputed, but the law favors the side opposing the motion, that party should defeat the motion (and probably win their own motion for summary judgment).

A motion for summary judgment must be supported by facts and evidence that would be admissible in a trial. The affidavits would need to be sworn under penalty of perjury under personal knowledge. Sometimes people may say, “On knowledge and information I’m going to testify.” That would not be good enough in a motion for summary judgment. The affidavits must be based on the personal knowledge of a witness and often a party may neglect to submit a complete affidavit. If this happens, they may lose and the court then might grant that the motion for summary judgment has been unopposed.