What Is A Summary Judgment And Why Is It Important_

A Levels Academy Islamabad

Transcript

00:00Sometimes, we've just seen enough to make a judgment.

00:04Same goes for court.

00:06A summary judgment is when a civil court rules in favor of one party over the other without a full trial.

00:12Now, this may sound like it's all willy-nilly, that maybe the court has a long weekend in mind.

00:18But a summary judgment is sought out by one of the parties.

00:21When a party files a motion for summary judgment, they are then referred to as the moving party.

00:27There are a few reasons a summary judgment may be issued by a court,

00:31besides the moving party just, well, wanting them to.

00:35There are two main requirements.

00:37First, the parties to the lawsuit have to agree on the material facts,

00:41the facts that are important to the legal decision.

00:44Second, the law must say these undisputed facts entitle the moving party to a judgment.

00:49If you are seeking a summary judgment in your case or defending against one,

00:53there are a handful of procedural steps that you should be aware of.

00:56LegalYou will help you with those.

00:58Now, if you are the moving party, substantial evidence must be given to back up your argument,

01:03just as it would in a trial.

01:05There are many ways to bring evidence, but the key is that it must be admissible.

01:10That means the judge can only look at what is allowed by the evidence code.

01:14The most common way of bringing evidence is to put your testimony or that of a key witness down on paper.

01:20You or the witness will have to swear to that by signing it in front of a notary.

01:24That paper is called an affidavit.

01:27Both you and your opponent can bring affidavits.

01:30Also, before your hearing, both parties can also give the judge written arguments as to why they should win.

01:36These written arguments are called memoranda.

01:39There are rules as to when affidavits or other evidence must be given to the judge and to your opponent.

01:45Check these rules and other helpful videos available at LegalYou.