California Motion for Summary Judgment: Filing, Opposition, Reply

A California motion for summary judgment asks the court to decide the case without trial because the material facts are undisputed and the moving party is entitled to win as a matter of law. You can file it any time after 60 days have passed since every party you are moving against has made a general appearance, and the hearing must be set at least 30 days before trial. The motion carries a $500 filing fee, must comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 437c and California Rules of Court Rule 3.1350, and any misstep on formatting or deadlines can sink an otherwise strong motion.¹²

One structural limit is worth flagging up front. Each moving party gets only one motion for summary judgment against any given opposing party. If it is denied, you cannot simply refile; you need leave of court based on good cause.¹

What the Motion Package Must Contain

Four documents form the core filing.

The Notice of Motion tells the opposing party and the court what relief is sought and when the hearing will be. It must state clearly whether you are seeking full summary judgment, summary adjudication, or both.³

The separate statement of undisputed material facts is the piece judges scrutinize hardest, and it is covered in its own section below.

The memorandum of points and authorities carries the legal argument. Opening and opposition memoranda cap at 20 pages; reply briefs cap at 10. Those limits exclude exhibits, declarations, tables of contents, and proof of service.

The supporting evidence must be admissible. In practice that usually means declarations signed under penalty of perjury, each showing the declarant’s personal knowledge and competence to testify to the facts described. Answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, and deposition excerpts also qualify. Every document you reference has to be attached as a numbered, authenticated exhibit. If you rely on court records, statutes, or regulations, file a separate Request for Judicial Notice; it is its own document, not something you tuck into a declaration.

Building the Separate Statement

Rule 3.1350 prescribes a two-column format that trips up litigants who guess at the layout. Column one lists each undisputed material fact in numbered sequence, and immediately below each fact, in the same column, you place the supporting evidence for it. Column two is left blank for the opposing party to fill in when responding.³

Every fact must relate directly to the claims or defenses at issue. Citations must be specific enough for the court to locate the evidence without hunting: exhibit number, document title, exact page, and line. A vague reference to “the deposition transcript” does not comply.

Formatting failures can be dispositive. A defective separate statement is, on its own, grounds for the court to deny the motion.¹

If you are moving in the alternative for summary adjudication, the notice of motion must identify every specific issue you want adjudicated, and those issues must appear verbatim in the separate statement.³

What the Memorandum Has to Argue

The memo takes the numbered facts from the separate statement and explains why they entitle you to judgment as a matter of law. Every legal argument must rest on facts already in the separate statement. New factual assertions introduced for the first time in the memo do not count.

The burden shift depends on which side you are on.

A defendant meets its initial burden by showing that at least one element of the plaintiff’s claim cannot be established, or that a complete defense exists. Once that showing lands, the plaintiff must come forward with specific facts showing a genuine dispute. Pointing back to the allegations in the complaint is not enough.¹

A plaintiff moving for summary judgment faces a heavier burden: proving every element of the cause of action. Only after that does the burden shift to the defendant to show a triable issue as to the claim or a defense.¹ That is why plaintiffs file these motions far less often than defendants.

Structure the memo with a short introduction summarizing the case and the basis for the motion, then work through each element of the cause of action or defense, tying each one to specific numbered facts.

Deadlines, Service, and the Filing Fee

Statutory deadlines run backward from the hearing date, and missing one by a day can be fatal.

Moving papers must be served at least 81 calendar days before the hearing.¹
Opposition papers must be served and filed at least 20 days before the hearing.
The reply must be served and filed at least 11 days before the hearing.

Service method changes the math. Mail within California adds 5 calendar days to the 81-day notice (86 total). Mail to an address elsewhere in the United States adds 10 days; outside the country, 20. Fax, express mail, and overnight delivery add two court days.¹ Electronic service, which is mandatory in many California counties, adds two court days to any deadline set by statute or rule of court.⁴ Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays, so count carefully.

The filing fee is $500, paid on top of any earlier case filing fees.²

How Summary Adjudication Differs

Summary adjudication is the narrower version. Rather than resolving the whole case, it targets individual causes of action, affirmative defenses, claims for damages, or issues of duty. It follows the same procedural rules and the same deadlines. The one-motion-per-opposing-party ceiling that applies to summary judgment does not apply to summary adjudication.¹

Opposing the Motion

The opposition mirrors the moving papers: a memorandum (also capped at 20 pages), an opposition separate statement, and supporting evidence.

The opposition separate statement is often where the case turns. In column two of the two-column format, you respond to each of the moving party’s numbered facts as undisputed, undisputed only for purposes of the motion, or disputed. Any disputed fact must be backed by a specific evidentiary citation, with the same pinpoint precision the moving party owed.³ Writing “disputed” without a citation to contradicting evidence does not create a triable issue.

Continuance to Gather Evidence

Section 437c(h) is the safety valve. If facts essential to your opposition may exist but you cannot yet present them, you can ask the court to deny the motion or continue the hearing so you can complete discovery.¹ The request needs a supporting affidavit that identifies the specific facts sought, explains why they are essential, gives reasons to believe they exist, and explains why more time is required. Courts weigh how long the case has been pending, whether you were diligent in discovery, and how close trial is. File the request no later than the opposition deadline; raising it orally at the hearing rarely succeeds.

The Reply

The reply, due at least 11 days before the hearing, is tightly boxed in. You cannot introduce new evidence, new material facts, or a new separate statement not presented in the original moving papers or the opposition.¹ The reply exists to answer the opposition’s arguments, not to backfill a thin opening. Evidence held back for the reply will be excluded.

Tentative Rulings Before the Hearing

Many California trial courts issue tentative rulings under Rule 3.1308. Under the more common procedure, the court posts its tentative by 3:00 p.m. the court day before the hearing. If neither party notifies the court and all other parties by 4:00 p.m. that day that they intend to appear and argue, the tentative automatically becomes the court’s final ruling.⁵

Under the alternative procedure, the tentative does not automatically become final; the hearing goes forward and the court rules afterward.⁵ Which one applies depends on the individual court. Check the local rules and the assigned judge’s procedures before the hearing. Missing a notification deadline under the first procedure can cost you the chance to argue at all.

Sanctions for Bad Faith Affidavits

Section 437c(j) allows the court to sanction a party that files an affidavit in bad faith or purely to delay the case. If the court finds bad faith, it must order the offending party to reimburse the other side’s reasonable expenses caused by the filing. Sanctions require either a written request in the opposing party’s papers or a noticed motion by the court, plus an opportunity for the sanctioned party to be heard.⁶ The statute sets no cap; exposure tracks what the other side spent responding.

What Happens After the Ruling

When a court grants summary judgment, the order becomes a final judgment on entry and is immediately appealable. The losing party generally has 60 days from service of the notice of entry of judgment to file a notice of appeal, or 180 days from entry if no notice of entry is served.

A denial is not a final judgment and is not immediately appealable. The case proceeds to trial. If the denial rested on whether enough evidence existed, the moving party has to re-raise the argument in a post-trial motion to preserve it for appeal. If the denial turned on a pure legal question with undisputed facts, no post-trial motion is required to preserve the issue.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 437c – Summary Judgments and Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings
2
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule
3
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1350 – Motion for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication
4
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1010.6 – Electronic Service
5
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1308 – Tentative Rulings
6
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 437c – Summary Judgments and Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings