Max is a lawyer who is representing a small business owner. The business owner and his carpet sales and installation company were sued by a customer who tripped and fell in his retail store. The case is pending in federal court because the retail store is located in Kansas City, Missouri and the customer resides in Kansas. After the suit had been pending for some time and discovery was almost complete, Max recommended that a motion for summary judgment be filed. The business owner, who is very successful, but has only a high school education, calls Max’s paralegal. The business owner says to the paralegal, “Jean, I don’t understand this summary judgment thing. You mean we can get rid of this whole case by asking the judge to make a ruling? Why didn’t we file one a long time ago?” Of the options listed below, what is the paralegal’s best approach to answering the business owner’s question?
Explanation
Answer: D - “Yes, in some instances, a summary judgment motion can resolve an entire case. But we can only file it if we think that there are no factual issues in dispute, which allows the judge to rule on the legal issues and resolve the case or at least an issue. We couldn’t file earlier because we needed to determine if any factual issues existed.” Answer D is correct because it is a brief and reasonably accurate answer to the business owner’s question. Answer A is not correct because it avoids answering a basic procedural question. Answer B is not correct because when a summary judgment motion can be filed has no connection to whether a motion to dismiss was filed. Answer C is not correct because answering this question, in this circumstance, would not be unauthorized practice of law.
