District court — civil · Motions
Motion for Summary Judgment (Rule 56)
Seeks judgment because there is no genuine dispute of material fact.
Filed by: Any party
Not yet verified. Compiled from the national rules and not yet verified by a reviewing attorney. The national rules are amended each December 1, and local rules, standing orders and judges' practices add to them. Confirm with the current rules before filing. This is not legal advice.
What it must include
- Caption: court name, title of the action, file number and document designation (FRCP 10(a))
- Motion identifying each claim or defense on which judgment is sought (FRCP 56(a))
- Memorandum of law
- Statement of undisputed material facts with record citations (required by many local rules; FRCP 56(c)(1))
- Supporting declarations or affidavits on personal knowledge (FRCP 56(c)(4)) and record excerpts
- Proposed order (required by many local rules)
- Signature of attorney of record with address, email and phone (FRCP 11(a))
- Certificate of service, unless served through the court’s electronic-filing system on registered users (FRCP 5(d)(1)(B))
- Redact Social Security and taxpayer-ID numbers, birth dates, minors’ names and financial-account numbers (FRCP 5.2(a))
Deadline and length
Deadline: Unless a local rule or order sets otherwise, any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery (FRCP 56(b)).
Governing rules
- FRCP 56
Check the local rules for
- Separate statement of facts format and response requirements
- Pre-motion letter or conference requirements
- Font, spacing, margin and page-limit rules
- Assigned judge’s individual practices or standing orders
Applies in federal district courts. Find your court for its local requirements.
Other motions
Draft this filing in DraftAria.
Court-formatted template with this checklist built in, and brackets where your matter details go.