QUESTION
What is the "order" that we need to write after Summary Judgement
Asked on Apr 22nd, 2015 on Business Litigation - North Carolina
More details to this question:
We are a defendant, pro se, in a civil superior court case North Carolina. This only happens in North Carolina: the plaintiff motioned for Summary Judgement. The Motion was heard, we defended pro se. The Clerk of the Court called us 3 weeks later to say: "The Judge ruled against the plaintiff's motion for summary judgement. You have to write the "order" to submit to the plaintiff's attorney by week's end. We do not know what this means. Did we "win?" Is the case over? What is this "order" we have to write and what must it say?
1 ANSWER
From what you've written, it appears that you won the motion, but that doesn't end the case. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was denied, but that doesn't mean that plaintiff can't prevail at a later stage of the case, like after trial. Now there needs to be an order so stating.
While I don't practice in North Carolina, this seems like circumstances with which I often deal, preparing an order for the Court to sign embodying its decision on a motion. Presumably, since the Court is asking you to draft the order, it need only be a "short form order", basically reciting what the motion sought, what papers were submitted in support of and against the motion, when the motion was argued (if it was), and that the motion was denied. You can probably find a form in a law library.
Answered on Apr 22nd, 2015 at 9:33 AM