Summary judgment

Summary judgment is a pretrial proceedings where the moving party is asking the court to rule in its favor as a matter of law. Summary judgment is proper if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." A fact is material only if it is relevant to a claim or defense and its existence might affect the suit's outcome. A court may not, on a motion for summary judgment, evaluate the credibility of the evidence submitted by the parties.

The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact for trial. "[T]he burden on the moving party may be discharged by 'showing' &mdash; that is, pointing out to the district court &mdash; that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." To demonstrate that the non-moving party lacks sufficient evidence to entitle it to judgment, the moving party must affirmatively show the absence of such evidence in the record, either by deposition testimony, the inadequacy of documentary evidence or by any other form of admissible evidence. The moving party has no burden to negate or disprove matters on which the opponent will have the burden of proof at trial.

A non-moving party's allegation that factual disputes persist between the parties will not automatically defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. "[A] mere 'scintilla' of evidence will be insufficient to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment; instead, the nonmoving party must introduce some 'significant probative evidence tending to support the complaint.'" In judging evidence at the summary judgment stage, courts must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought.