Legal Question in Business Law in California

Does a motion for summary judgment automatically extend a trial date?

I am a plaintiff in a case that has a trial date of October 16th. The case is in the limited jurisdiction of the superior court. I am in pro per. The defendant is in pro per also. As I was writing my trial arguments, I noticed that the case was so clear that it may be granted on a motion for summary judgment. Therefore, I decided that I should use the trial arguments that I have written to make a motion for summary judgment. However, the trial date is just over 2 weeks away and I won't get a motion hearing date prior to the October 16th trial date.

I remembered, however, that during a previous case where my father was a plaintiff, the defendant had filed a motion for summary judgment and got the trial date automatically extended. My father's attorney told us that when a motion for summary judgment is filed, that automatically extends the trial date so that the motion can be heard.

Therefore, I wanted to ask if I file a motion for summary judgment, would that automatically extend the trial date of October 16th to give me a motion hearing date?


Asked on 9/29/15, 2:43 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys

Charles Perry Law Offices of Charles R. Perry

No. The filing of a motion for summary judgment has no impact on the trial date. Given the trial date is set, moreover, your summary judgment motion will be rejected as untimely.

If your arguments are as clear as you suggest, you will win at trial -- making the motion unnecessary.

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Answered on 9/29/15, 2:48 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

No. Trial dates don't depend on whether or when an MSJ is filed. Instead, the deadline for filing an MSJ depends on the trial date. If your trial is to begin on October 16, it is already too late for an MSJ. You could apply ex parte for a continuance of the trial and for leave to bring your motion even though the deadline has passed. But unless you have some very unusual circumstances, you should expect the court to say no.

Let me add that few plaintiffs could win an MSJ, which can only be granted when there is no genuine dispute about material facts which could lead a reasonable judge or jury to enter a verdict for the defense. The case may seem clear to you, but that does not mean you would be entitled to summary judgment even if you could still ask for it.

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Answered on 9/29/15, 2:52 pm

You can't even file a summary judgment motion this late. The last day for a hearing on a summary judgment motion is 30 days before the trial date, and the motion must be filed and served 75 days before the hearing. If any attorney told your father that a trial automatically gets continued because a summary judgment has been filed, either it was not in California, you misunderstood what you were told, or the lawyer is incompetent.

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Answered on 9/29/15, 2:55 pm
Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

The deadline to file the motion for summary judgment would have been set well before the trial date, so it is too late now. Also, filing a MSJ rarely has any impact on the trial date even when filed on time..

For a limited civil case, the judge would probably rather just hear the trial than sort through briefs in support of an MSJ. Besides, a plaintiff winning an MSJ is nearly impossible even with an attorney. It only takes one dispute over a material fact to justify denial of the entire motion.

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Answered on 9/29/15, 3:12 pm


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