Defendant’s Summary Judgment
Once discovery has been completed, either party may file a Motion for Summary Judgment. This is a motion that defendants almost always file to “kill the case.” This motion is the Cadillac motion from a defense perspective and requires significant time and strategy to respond to it. The defendant employer argues to the court that the employee is not entitled to a jury trial as a matter of law. On behalf of the plaintiff employee, we dedicate numerous hours compiling all the evidence in our case, testimony excerpts from deposition transcripts, affidavits and legal arguments in what usually is a large binder full of paper that we submit for the courts review arguing why you are entitled to have a jury decide the case.
This is a motion in which the defendant employer argues that given the evidence revealed in the discovery process, that there is no question of fact for the jury to decide the case and as a matter of law the moving party should win. The judge can rule as a matter of law in favor of the party making the motion, thereby denying a jury trial on the facts. If the judge believes that there is disagreement on a materially significant point then it is up to a jury to hear the testimony of witnesses and to decide who is telling the truth. This is done at a trial.