Summary Judgment and Trial: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
25 flashcard terms for Civil Procedure Topic 7, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 15-question quiz — free, no account needed.
Judgment is granted where there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, testing whether a trial is needed at all.
Genuine dispute
A factual disagreement is genuine only if the evidence would permit a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmovant; a scintilla or metaphysical doubt is insufficient.
Material fact
A fact is material only if it might affect the outcome under the governing substantive law, so disputes about irrelevant details do not defeat summary judgment.
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby
The summary judgment inquiry mirrors the directed verdict standard and incorporates the applicable evidentiary burden, such as clear and convincing proof in a defamation case.
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett
A defendant without the burden of proof may obtain summary judgment by pointing out the absence of evidence supporting an essential element, without submitting affirmative evidence.
Matsushita Electric v. Zenith Radio
Where a claim is economically implausible the nonmovant must offer evidence tending to exclude the possibility of independent lawful action to create a genuine dispute.
Burden of production on summary judgment
The movant must first show the absence of a genuine dispute; the burden then shifts to the opponent to designate specific facts in the record showing a trial is required.
Scott v. Harris
A court may disregard a party's account that is blatantly contradicted by objective record evidence, there a police dashboard video of a high speed chase.
Partial summary judgment
Rule 56(g) allows the court to treat particular facts or issues as established even when it cannot dispose of the entire claim, narrowing what must be tried.
Rule 56(d)
A nonmovant who cannot yet present essential facts may obtain deferral or additional discovery by affidavit specifying what is sought and why it is unavailable.
Seventh Amendment
It preserves the jury trial right in suits at common law, which courts implement through a historical test asking whether the claim and remedy are legal or equitable in nature.
Legal versus equitable claims
Damages claims carry a jury right while injunctions, specific performance, and restitution-style relief do not, and mixed cases require common legal issues be tried to the jury first.
Beacon Theatres v. Westover
Where legal and equitable claims share issues, the legal issues must be tried to the jury first so the equitable resolution does not foreclose the jury right.
Rule 38 jury demand
A party must serve a written jury demand within fourteen days after the last pleading directed to the issue, and failure to do so waives the jury trial right.
Voir dire
The examination of prospective jurors to expose bias, supported by unlimited challenges for cause and a limited number of peremptory challenges exercised without stated reason.
Batson challenge
The rule barring peremptory strikes based on race or gender, extended to civil litigation by Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete because jury selection involves state action.
Rule 50(a) judgment as a matter of law
After a party is fully heard at trial the court may enter judgment if no reasonable jury would have a legally sufficient basis to find for that party on the issue.
Rule 50(b) renewed motion
A post-verdict motion that must be preceded by a Rule 50(a) motion before the case went to the jury, since the renewal is technically a reservation of the earlier ruling.
Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products
In reviewing a judgment as a matter of law, the court draws all reasonable inferences for the nonmovant and does not weigh credibility or evaluate the evidence itself.
Rule 49 special verdict
The jury answers specific factual questions rather than pronouncing a general winner, and a general verdict with interrogatories is the hybrid form permitted under the same rule.
Jury instructions
Rule 51 requires proposed instructions and timely objections stating the grounds distinctly, and an unpreserved instructional error is reviewed only for plain error.
Bench trial findings
Rule 52(a) requires the judge in a nonjury trial to state findings of fact and conclusions of law, which are reviewed on appeal only for clear error.
Rule 42 severance and consolidation
A court may consolidate actions sharing common questions or order separate trials of issues or claims to promote convenience, economy, or to avoid prejudice.
Directed verdict standard
The traditional label for the Rule 50 inquiry, which asks whether the evidence viewed most favorably to the nonmovant permits only one reasonable conclusion.
Adverse credibility on summary judgment
A court may not resolve credibility contests or weigh competing testimony at the summary judgment stage, because those functions belong to the trier of fact.