Dispositive motions

Rule 12's Opening Moves: The Floor and the First Gate

The floor is the vocabulary and sequence: motion to dismiss, responsive pleading, consolidation, waiver, plausibility, conversion, genuine dispute, material fact, admissible evidence, partial summary judgment, judgment on the pleadings, JMOL, and renewed JMOL. The issue labels, record distinctions, and branching order are the material you should have available quickly.

Recognize Rule 12 when a party files a pre-answer “motion to dismiss” or invokes one of these grounds: lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, insufficient service of process, failure to state a claim, or failure to join a required party. A motion saying the pleading is too vague to answer invokes a more definite statement. A motion seeking removal of an insufficient defense or redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter invokes a motion to strike.

A Rule 12 motion generally comes before the responsive pleading when a responsive pleading is allowed. If the court denies the motion or postpones it until trial, the responsive pleading is ordinarily due 14 days after notice of the ruling. If the court orders a more definite statement, the responsive pleading is ordinarily due 14 days after that statement is served.

Rule 12 Waiver and Routing: Consolidate Defenses, Then Choose the Record

Rule 12 is designed to make available defenses travel together. A party that makes a Rule 12 motion generally must include every Rule 12 defense then available. Lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, and insufficient service are waived if omitted from the first Rule 12 motion or, if no motion is made, from the first responsive pleading. Failure to state a claim and failure to join a required party may still be raised in a later pleading, by judgment on the pleadings, or at trial. Lack of subject-matter jurisdiction is not waived and may be raised later.

A more definite statement is appropriate only when the pleading is so vague or ambiguous that the responding party cannot reasonably prepare a response. It is not a substitute for obtaining ordinary factual detail. A motion to strike attacks material that should not remain in the pleading; a party generally must make it within 21 days after service of the pleading.

Run a fact pattern in this order:

1. Identify the posture and the record: pre-answer pleading, closed pleadings, pretrial evidence, or trial evidence.

2. If the case is at the pleading stage, identify the available Rule 12 motion and whether a defense was consolidated or waived.

3. If the pleadings have closed, ask whether judgment on the pleadings is timely and whether the court can decide from the pleadings.

4. If evidence has been developed before trial, ask whether Rule 56 shows no genuine dispute of material fact.

5. If a jury has been hearing evidence, ask whether a reasonable jury has a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to rule for the opposing party.

Pleading Sufficiency Under Pressure: Allegations, Exhibits, and Conversion

Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of the claim as pleaded. The court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true, draws reasonable inferences for the nonmoving party, and asks whether those facts plausibly show entitlement to relief. Plausibility is more than a possibility but less than proof or a showing that success is more likely than not.

Separate factual allegations from legal conclusions. “The defendant negligently breached its duty” is a conclusion. Facts such as “the defendant drove through a red light while looking at a phone” may support an inference of negligence. The court does not assume a bare legal conclusion is true merely because it appears in the complaint.

The court generally considers the complaint, documents attached to it, documents incorporated by reference, and matters subject to judicial notice. An attached exhibit is part of the pleading and may control over an inconsistent characterization in the text. A document expressly relied on and central to the claim may also be considered when its authenticity is not genuinely disputed.

The court ordinarily does not consider outside evidence to decide a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. If matters outside the pleadings are presented and not excluded, the motion is treated as one for summary judgment under Rule 56. The parties must receive reasonable notice and an opportunity to present material pertinent to summary judgment. A court may instead exclude the outside material and decide the pleading motion on its proper record.

The same distinction matters when the defendant disputes the complaint’s factual story. On Rule 12(b)(6), the court does not decide which witness is right or whether the plaintiff has proof. It asks whether the pleaded facts, assumed true, state a plausible claim. A complaint may survive despite weak evidence because pleading sufficiency and evidentiary sufficiency are different questions.

Rule 12(c) permits a party to move for judgment on the pleadings after the pleadings are closed but early enough not to delay trial. Either side may use it. The court ordinarily considers the pleadings and properly incorporated materials, accepts well-pleaded allegations favoring the nonmovant, and asks whether the law permits judgment on that record.

When the motion rests only on the pleadings, the standard is essentially the Rule 12(b)(6) standard. The difference is timing: Rule 12(b)(6) is ordinarily a pre-answer challenge, while Rule 12(c) comes after the pleadings close. If outside materials are presented and considered, the court must use the conversion procedure and treat the matter as summary judgment, with the required opportunity to present pertinent evidence.

Do not use Rule 12(c) to weigh disputed testimony. If the answer creates a factual conflict that requires evidence, judgment on the pleadings is inappropriate. If the pleadings admit the decisive facts or show that the claim fails as a matter of law, Rule 12(c) may resolve the case without waiting for a conventional trial.

Rule 56 on the Evidentiary Record: Genuine Disputes and Shifting Burdens

Rule 56 permits summary judgment on an entire claim or defense, or on part of one. The court must grant it when the movant shows no genuine dispute as to any material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

A fact is material if it could affect the result under the governing law. A dispute is genuine if the evidence would permit a reasonable factfinder to resolve the fact for the nonmoving party. A party cannot create a genuine dispute with speculation, conclusory assertions, or evidence that could not be presented in admissible form at trial.

The movant begins by identifying the absence of a genuine dispute. When the movant bears the burden of persuasion at trial, the motion ordinarily must establish each required element or defense so clearly that no reasonable factfinder could rule for the opponent. When the nonmovant bears the trial burden, the movant may point to the absence of evidence supporting an essential element. The burden then shifts to the nonmovant to identify particular record materials showing a genuine dispute.

The court considers depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations, admissions, interrogatory answers, and other record materials. The material need not already be presented in its final trial form, but its substance must be capable of presentation in admissible form. A declaration should rest on personal knowledge and facts the witness could competently testify about. Unsupported hearsay, speculation, and an unexplained conclusion do not create a triable dispute.

The court views the record and reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor. It does not weigh competing testimony, choose the more credible witness, or resolve a genuine factual conflict. If a plaintiff and defendant provide admissible evidence supporting opposite accounts of a material event, summary judgment usually cannot resolve that conflict.

A party seeking more time because essential facts are unavailable should identify the needed facts and explain why they cannot yet be presented. The court may defer or deny the motion, allow additional discovery, or issue another appropriate order.

A court may decide less than the whole case. It may resolve liability while leaving damages for trial, decide one defense while leaving other claims, or identify facts that are not genuinely disputed. The order must still leave a legally meaningful basis for the remaining proceeding.

The following supplied authority is enough to run the item:

Rule 12(b)(6): Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

Rule 12(b)(6) standard: On a motion under this provision, the court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true and asks whether they plausibly show entitlement to relief.

Rule 56(a): A party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense-or the part of each claim or defense-on which summary judgment is sought. 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. The court should state on the record the reasons for granting or denying the motion.

Rule 56(c)(1): A party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by: (A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials; or (B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.

Rule 50(a): If a party has been fully heard on an issue during a jury trial and the court finds that a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue, the court may resolve the issue against the party and grant judgment as a matter of law. A motion may be made at any time before the case is submitted to the jury and must specify the judgment sought and the law and facts that entitle the movant to judgment.

P sues D for injuries from a collision. The complaint alleges that D drove through a red light and struck P, causing a broken leg. Those factual allegations plausibly show a negligence claim.

D moves under Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that P has not proved that D ran the red light. The court denies the motion.

During discovery, P admits that she has no personal knowledge of the traffic light, has no witness who saw it, and has no document supporting the allegation. D cites P’s deposition and the absence of any other evidence. P cites only the complaint. D moves for summary judgment.

At trial, P is fully heard but introduces no evidence that D ran the red light. D moves for judgment as a matter of law before the case is submitted to the jury.

The Rule 50 Finish: Sufficiency Before and After the Verdict

JMOL addresses the trial record, not the pleadings. After a party has been fully heard on an issue, the opposing party may move before submission to the jury. The question is whether a reasonable jury has a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party bearing the issue.

The court views evidence and reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. It does not assess credibility or choose between competing reasonable interpretations. But a verdict cannot rest on speculation, an inference piled on unsupported assumptions, or evidence that fails to establish an essential element.

The motion must identify the judgment sought and the law and facts supporting it. A party seeking renewed JMOL after the verdict must first have made the corresponding Rule 50(a) motion before submission. The renewed motion must be filed within 28 days after entry of judgment, or within 28 days after discharge if the jury was discharged without a verdict. It renews the earlier sufficiency challenge rather than creating a new one.

A dispute between two witnesses generally belongs to the jury; a complete absence of evidence on an essential element does not.

High-Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

Rule 12 tests pleaded facts, not whether the plaintiff has already proved them. Rule 56 requires no genuine dispute of material fact and admissible or potentially admissible support. Rule 12(c) uses the pleading standard after pleadings close. Rule 50 asks whether trial evidence gives a reasonable jury a legally sufficient basis. Renewed JMOL requires a corresponding pre-submission JMOL motion.