To write a Statement of Undisputed Facts, lay out short, numbered factual assertions in a neutral voice, pin each one to specific admissible evidence in the record, and format the document the way your court’s local rules require. Each fact should be a single verifiable statement, not an argument or a legal conclusion, and the citation after it should guide the judge to an exact page, line, or paragraph in the case record.
The document is the backbone of a motion for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. How well it is drafted often decides whether the motion succeeds.
What the Document Has to Do
Rule 56 says the court “shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment Your statement is how you make that showing. Each numbered fact, properly supported, builds the case that there is nothing left for a jury to decide.
The burden is on you as the moving party. You have to demonstrate, through the facts you present and the evidence you cite, that your opponent cannot point to a genuine disagreement on any fact that would change the outcome. The court reviews everything in the light most favorable to the other side, so a single fact with a plausible dispute can sink the motion. Draft accordingly: if you are not confident that every material fact is locked down with admissible evidence, the motion is not ready to file.
Check Your Local Rules Before You Draft
Rule 56 itself does not prescribe the exact format. It requires that any party asserting a fact support it by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations, admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials.”1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment Everything else about layout comes from your district’s local rules.
Some federal districts require the statement as a separate, standalone document filed alongside the legal memorandum. Others require it as a labeled section within the brief itself. The Southern District of Indiana, for example, requires a section within the brief labeled “Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute” rather than a separate filing. Numbering each fact in its own paragraph is standard everywhere and sometimes explicitly required. Local rules frequently also dictate page limits, font sizes, margin widths, and the naming convention for the document.
A technically sound statement filed in the wrong format can be disregarded entirely. Judges have little patience for procedural shortcuts, so pull the local rules before you start writing, not after.
How to Write Each Fact
The word “material” does real work. A fact is material only if it could affect the outcome of the motion. Background details like the color of a building or the weather on a particular day rarely qualify. Every fact you include should connect directly to an element of a claim or defense. If you cannot explain in one sentence why a given fact matters to the legal outcome, cut it.
Write each fact in a neutral, almost clinical tone. The statement is not the place for persuasion. Compare:
- Wrong: “The defendant recklessly ignored the deadline and failed to even begin work on the project, demonstrating a total disregard for the contract.”
- Right: “As of December 1, 2024, no renovation work had commenced at the project site. (Decl. of Sarah Lin at ¶ 14; Ex. F, Site Inspection Report at 2.)”
The right version states what happened. The wrong version argues about what it means. Argumentative phrasing gives your opponent grounds to object to the entire fact.
Keep legal conclusions out. Statements like “the plaintiff was negligent,” “the contract was fraudulent,” or “the defendant breached its duty” are conclusions the judge must reach after applying law to facts. Your job in the statement is to lay the raw factual building blocks. Let the legal memorandum do the arguing.
How to Cite the Record
A fact without a citation is a fact the court will ignore. Rule 56(c) requires that every factual assertion be supported by a reference to specific evidence in the record.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment A vague “See Exhibit A” is not enough. The citation needs to guide the judge to the exact location: a deposition transcript by page and line number, an affidavit by paragraph number, a document exhibit by page.
The evidence you cite must also be admissible. Affidavits and declarations need to be based on personal knowledge. Documents must be properly authenticated. If your key fact rests on a hearsay statement or an unauthenticated record, the court can disregard it. A fact that is obviously true in real life can still be treated as disputed for summary judgment purposes if you cannot point to admissible evidence that proves it.
Where a single fact draws support from multiple sources, cite them all. Redundancy strengthens the fact by showing it comes from independent sources, making it harder for the opposing party to manufacture a dispute.
A Worked Example
Below is a simplified example based on a hypothetical breach-of-contract dispute. In practice, your statement would be longer, formatted per your court’s local rules, and accompanied by the actual exhibits referenced.
PLAINTIFF’S STATEMENT OF UNDISPUTED MATERIAL FACTS
- Fact 1: On March 15, 2024, Plaintiff Acme Corp. and Defendant Builder Inc. entered into a written construction contract for the renovation of Acme’s headquarters at 200 Main Street, Springfield. (Ex. A, Construction Contract at 1; Dep. of James Holt, 14:3–10.)
- Fact 2: The contract required Builder Inc. to complete all renovation work by September 1, 2024. (Ex. A, Construction Contract at 4, Section 3.2.)
- Fact 3: The total contract price was $1,200,000, with $600,000 due at signing and $600,000 due upon completion. (Ex. A, Construction Contract at 5, Section 4.1.)
- Fact 4: Acme Corp. paid the $600,000 initial installment on March 18, 2024. (Ex. B, Wire Transfer Confirmation dated March 18, 2024; Dep. of Sarah Lin, 22:8–15.)
- Fact 5: As of December 1, 2024, Builder Inc. had not completed the renovation work. (Dep. of James Holt, 47:11–18; Decl. of Sarah Lin at ¶ 12.)
- Fact 6: Builder Inc. did not request or receive any extension of the September 1, 2024 deadline. (Dep. of James Holt, 51:3–9; Dep. of Sarah Lin, 30:14–22.)
Notice the pattern. Each fact is a single, verifiable statement. Each one cites a specific page, line number, or paragraph. No fact says “Builder Inc. breached the contract,” because that is the legal conclusion for the judge. The facts walk the reader to that conclusion by establishing the deadline, the payment, and the failure to perform.
Mistakes That Get Statements Thrown Out
The most common failure is ignoring local procedural requirements. Wrong format, over the page limit, wrong font: any of these can result in the court refusing to consider the statement.
Padding is nearly as damaging. A 50-fact statement stuffed with background buries the facts that actually matter and signals to the judge that you are not confident in your core theory. Keep the statement focused on facts that directly support the elements of your claims or defenses.
Relying on inadmissible evidence is the mistake experienced litigators still make. Unauthenticated documents, speculation in an affidavit, and hearsay statements will cause the associated fact to be disregarded. Before you finalize, review every citation and ask whether the underlying evidence would survive an objection at trial.
One less obvious trap is the sham affidavit problem. Courts will disregard an affidavit that directly contradicts the same person’s earlier deposition testimony when the contradiction appears designed to create a fake factual dispute. If your client gave clear answers in a deposition that hurt your case, a last-minute affidavit that reverses those answers will not rescue the motion and may draw sanctions. The right time to address unfavorable testimony is during the deposition, not after the motion is filed.
The Ethical Line
Filing a Statement of Undisputed Facts carries an ethical obligation. Under Rule 11, every attorney who signs a document submitted to the court certifies that the factual contentions have evidentiary support and that the filing is not presented for an improper purpose like harassment or delay.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions Asserting facts you know are unsupported, or that you have not reasonably investigated, violates this duty.
Rule 56(h) adds a penalty specific to summary judgment. If the court finds that an affidavit or declaration was submitted in bad faith or solely to cause delay, it can order the responsible party to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees. The offending party or attorney may also be held in contempt.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment The process depends on both sides dealing honestly with the record, and the rules back that up with real consequences.