Sample Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings Federal Court In Phoenix
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(c) Motions for judgment on the pleadings. A party may file a motion for judgment on the pleadings on the basis that no answer has been filed, or that the pleadings disclose that there are no material issues of fact to be resolved and that party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
In the Rule 12 motions the court relies solely on the pleadings, with undenied facts treated as true and denied facts assumed to be in dispute. For summary judgment the court considers all the evidence offered in written form in the light most favorable to the non-moving party without assessing credibility.
A motion for judgment on the pleadings will occur before the trial and, unlike a motion for summary judgment, does not concern any matters other than what is contained within the pleadings.
It is much more difficult for plaintiffs to win this type of summary judgment. Rather than knocking out a single element to doom a cause of action, like a defendant, every element of each claim as to which the plaintiff wishes to achieve summary judgment must be proven by admissible evidence.
A motion for judgment on the pleadings under FRCP 12(c) is designed to dispose of cases before trial where the material facts are not in dispute and a judgment on the merits can be rendered by looking to the substance of the pleadings and any judicially noticed facts.
A motion for judgment as a matter of law asks the court to enter a judgment based on the conclusion that no reasonable jury could reach a different conclusion. The motion is made before the case is submitted to the jury but after a party has been fully heard on the issue.
If you want to file a motion, the process is generally something like this: You write your motion. You file your motion with the court clerk. The court clerk inserts the date and time your motion will be heard by the judge. You “serve” (mail) your motion to the other side.
The Court grants summary judgment when there is no material issue of fact and it is required to enter judgment as a matter of law. A genuine issue of material fact exists when facts related to the specific legal claim are in dispute or when undisputed facts support different outcomes on an issue.
