Summary Judgment- What is it? What does it mean?
So you have met with your lawyer, signed pleadings, signed medical authorizations, called him/her a million times, attended a deposition and agreed to a demand. You understood that your lawyer has placed your case on the trial calendar. All of the sudden, your lawyer calls you up and tells you that the "Defense has filed a motion for summary judgment".
What does that mean?
Summary Judgment means that the defense counsel believes that based on the evidence produced during discovery that there is no issue of fact that should be determined by a jury. In fact, a Judge should dismiss your case because there is no issue of fact.
So what happens next? Your lawyer (who should have already disclosed that you had an expert to the Defense Counsel) will get an expert affidavit/affirmation stating that indeed there is an issue of fact that should be decided by a jury. In a medical malpractice case that issue of fact may be whether the Defendant Doctor committed malpractice. In an automobile case it may be your treating physician stating that your injuries do meet the serious injury threshold required for automobile cases. In a premises liability case it may be a meteorologist who will state that it was not snowing at the time you slipped and fell or an engineer who will state that the Defendant created a dangerous condition.
Your attorney may wish to have you sign an affidavit attesting to the fact that you were not able to work for x period of time or you were not told something by the Defendant doctor.
Finally, your attorney will oppose the motion. Hopefully, the defendant's motion will be defeated and you will get your day in court.
If you have any questions about your personal injury case. Call the Law Offices of Jason B. Kessler at 1-800-346-6254.