summary judgment

noun

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Definition of summary judgment

: judgment that may be granted upon a party's motion when the pleadings, discovery, and any affidavits show that there is no issue of material fact and that the party is entitled to judgment in its favor as a matter of law

Recent Examples of summary judgment from the Web

Last week, Anthony filed a motion for a summary judgment against Kronk, arguing that her attorneys’ comments were not defamatory.

— steve helling, PEOPLE.com, "Casey Anthony May Face Trial for Implying Man Who Discovered Caylee's Dead Body Killed Her," 5 June 2018
Then state attorneys went back to the judge, asking her to change the previous summary judgment ruling in favor of Toomey.

— mark alesia, Indianapolis Star, "What Indiana officials want to keep secret about executions," 16 May 2018
Most of a Monday court hearing on Kiesel’s motion for a summary judgment was taken up by arguments over the numerous objections filed by her lawyer, Barrett Schiff.

— john maccormack, San Antonio Express-News, "Physician: Former college professor had dementia when he signed his will," 27 Mar. 2018
Reading a 12-page document from the bench, Bransten repeatedly rejected, dismissed, or found the Trump lawyers’ arguments to be unpersuasive and granted summary judgment to the condominium’s board.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Trump Place does not have to be a forever name, judge says," 4 May 2018
Last week, the judge denied the NCAA’s motion for a summary judgment.

— michael mccann, SI.com, "NCAA Amateurism to Go Back Under Courtroom Spotlight in Jenkins Trial," 2 Apr. 2018
Both sides had asked Wilken for a summary judgment ruling in their favor without a trial.

— steve berkowitz, USA TODAY, "Judge rules NCAA must defend limits on compensation to college athletes," 28 Mar. 2018
Meanwhile, the dissent from Judge Nguyen argued that this case should have been decided on summary judgment and that Thicke and Williams were still entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

— colin stutz, Billboard, "The 'Blurred Lines' Appeal Failed -- Now What?," 22 Mar. 2018
The city and the officers filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case.

— john wilkens, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Judge declines to dismiss lawsuit against San Diego police for aiming guns at the wrong person," 6 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'summary judgment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.