Summary judgment

Summary judgment is a civil court process where plaintiffs claiming non-payment of simple debts and money payment obligations (such as well-crafted indemnities) can have judgment entered without the need for a full trial.

What happens

• Claim: The plaintiff files a statement of claim and an accompanying affidavit giving evidence that
  • A payment obligation exists
  • It has not been honoured.
• Defence: The defendant is given say 30 days to reply with a statement of defence and supporting affidavit denying the claim or pointing to some matter of legal or factual dispute—the “it’s complicated” gambit.
  • If it does—and the court buys it—then the court will deny the motion for summary judgment and will set the dispute down for a trial
  • If it does not—or it does, but the court doesn’t buy it— the Court can enter judgment immediately.

Indemnities

Summary judgment is the reason some well-meaning attorneys believe indemnities to have magical properties they, in fact, do not. Simple claims for the non-payment of an undisputed amount have magical properties. If you can persuade her honour that your indemnity claim is one of those, then you may just be in luck.

See also

• Indemnity