Summary Judgment Law in California

Part 2, Title 6, Chapter 5 of the California Code of Civil Procedure deals with motions for summary judgments and motions for judgment on the pleadings.

Section 437c provides that a party may move for summary judgment in an action or proceeding if it is contended that the action has no merit or that there is no defense to the action or proceeding. The motion may be made at any time after 60 days have elapsed since the general appearance in the action or proceeding of each party against whom the motion is directed or at any earlier time after the general appearance that the court, with or without notice and upon good cause shown, may direct.

Notice of the motion and supporting papers must be served on all other parties to the action at least 81 days before the time appointed for hearing. If the notice is served by mail, the required 81-day period of notice is increased by 5 days if the place of address is within the State of California, 10 days if the place of address is outside the State of California, but within the United States, and 20 days if the place of address is outside the United States.

The motion is required to be heard no later than 30 days before the date of trial, unless the court for good cause orders otherwise. The filing of the motion does not extend the time within which a party must otherwise file a responsive pleading. A party is prohibited from bringing more than one motion for summary judgment against an adverse party to the action or proceeding. This limitation does not apply to motions for summary adjudication.

The motion has to be supported by affidavits, declarations, admissions, answers to interrogatories, depositions, and matters of which judicial notice shall or may be taken. The supporting papers must also include a separate statement setting forth plainly and concisely all material facts that the moving party contends are undisputed. Each of the material facts stated is followed by a reference to the supporting evidence. The failure to comply with this requirement of a separate statement may constitute a sufficient ground for denying the motion.

An opposition to the motion is served and filed not less than 20 days preceding the noticed or continued date of hearing, unless the court for good cause orders otherwise. The opposition papers must include a separate statement that responds to each of the material facts contended by the moving party to be undisputed, indicating if the opposing party agrees or disagrees that those facts are undisputed.

Evidentiary objections not made at the hearing are deemed waived. The motion for summary judgment is granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

A party may move for summary adjudication as to one or more causes of action within an action, one or more affirmative defenses, one or more claims for damages, or one or more issues of duty, if the party contends that the cause of action has no merit, that there is no affirmative defense to the cause of action, that there is no merit to an affirmative defense as to any cause of action, that there is no merit to a claim for damages, or that one or more defendants either owed or did not owe a duty to the plaintiff or plaintiffs.

A motion for summary adjudication is granted only if it completely disposes of a cause of action, an affirmative defense, a claim for damages, or an issue of duty. A motion for summary adjudication may be made by itself or as an alternative to a motion for summary judgment and proceeds in all procedural respects as a motion for summary judgment.

Upon the denial of a motion for summary judgment on the ground that there is a triable issue as to one or more material facts, the court is required to specify, by written or oral order, one or more material facts raised by the motion that the court has determined there exists a triable controversy. This determination specifically refers to the evidence proffered in support of and in opposition to the motion that indicates that a triable controversy exists.

In an action arising out of an injury to the person or to property, if a motion for summary judgment is granted on the basis that the defendant was without fault, no other defendant during trial, over plaintiff’s objection, may attempt to attribute fault to, or comment on, the absence or involvement of the defendant who was granted the motion.

A summary judgment entered under this section is an appealable judgment as in other cases. Upon entry of an order pursuant to this section, except the entry of summary judgment, a party may, within 20 days after service upon the party of a written notice of entry of the order, petition an appropriate reviewing court for a peremptory writ.

Before a reviewing court affirms an order granting summary judgment or summary adjudication on a ground not relied upon by the trial court, the reviewing court affords the parties an opportunity to present their views on the issue by submitting supplemental briefs. The supplemental briefs may include an argument that additional evidence relating to that ground exists, but the party has not had an adequate opportunity to present the evidence or to conduct discovery on the issue.

A cause of action has no merit if either of the following exists: One or more of the elements of the cause of action cannot be separately established, even if that element is separately pleaded. A defendant establishes an affirmative defense to that cause of action.

A plaintiff or cross-complainant has met that party’s burden of showing that there is no defense to a cause of action if that party has proved each element of the cause of action entitling the party to judgment on the cause of action. Once the plaintiff or cross-complainant has met that burden, the burden shifts to the defendant or cross-defendant to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists as to the cause of action or a defense thereto.

A defendant or cross-defendant has met that party’s burden of showing that a cause of action has no merit if the party has shown that one or more elements of the cause of action, even if not separately pleaded, cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action. Once the defendant or cross-defendant has met that burden, the burden shifts to the plaintiff or cross-complainant to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists as to the cause of action or a defense thereto.

Section 438 defines the terms “complaint,” “plaintiff,” and “defendant.” A party may move for judgment on the pleadings. The court may upon its own motion grant a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The motion provided for in this section may only be made on one of the two specified grounds, and the motion provided for in this section may be made as to either of the two specified circumstances.

If the court on its own motion grants the motion for judgment on the pleadings, it must be on one of the specified bases. Also, the grounds for motion provided for in this section appear on the face of the challenged pleading or from any matter of which the court is required to take judicial notice.

The motion provided for in this section may be made only after one of the two specified conditions has occurred. The motion provided for in this section may be made even though either of the specified conditions exist. The motion provided for in this section may be granted with or without leave to file an amended complaint or answer, as the case may be.

If the motion is granted with leave to file an amended complaint or answer, as the case may be, then the specified procedures must be followed. Where a motion for judgment on the pleadings is granted with leave to amend, the court cannot enter a judgment in favor of a party until the specified proceedings are had.

Section 439 provides that, before filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to this chapter, the moving party is required to meet and confer in person, by telephone, or by video conference with the party who filed the pleading that is subject to the motion for judgment on the pleadings for the purpose of determining if an agreement can be reached that resolves the claims to be raised in the motion for judgment on the pleadings.

The moving party must file and serve with the motion for judgment on the pleadings a declaration stating either of the specified requirements. This section does not apply to any of the four specified actions.