Art. 966. Motion for summary judgment; procedure
A.(1) A party may move for a summary judgment for all or part of the relief for
which he has prayed. A plaintiff's motion may be filed at any time after the answer has been
filed. A defendant's motion may be filed at any time.
(2) The summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and
inexpensive determination of every action, except those disallowed by Article 969. The
procedure is favored and shall be construed to accomplish these ends.
(3) After an opportunity for adequate discovery, a motion for summary judgment
shall be granted if the motion, memorandum, and supporting documents show that there is
no genuine issue as to material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of
law.
(4) The only documents that may be filed in support of or in opposition to the motion
are pleadings, memoranda, affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, certified
medical records, written stipulations, and admissions. The court may permit documents to
be filed in any electronically stored format authorized by court rules or approved by the clerk
of the court.
B. Unless extended by the court and agreed to by all of the parties, a motion for
summary judgment shall be filed, opposed, or replied to in accordance with the following
provisions:
(1) A motion for summary judgment and all documents in support of the motion
shall be filed and served on all parties in accordance with Article 1313 not less than
sixty-five days prior to the trial.
(2) Any opposition to the motion and all documents in support of the opposition shall
be filed and served in accordance with Article 1313 not less than fifteen days prior to the
hearing on the motion.
(3) Any reply memorandum shall be filed and served in accordance with Article
1313 not less than five days prior to the hearing on the motion. No additional documents
may be filed with the reply memorandum.
(4) If the deadline for filing and serving a motion, an opposition, or a reply
memorandum falls on a legal holiday, the motion, opposition, or reply is timely if it is filed
and served no later than the next day that is not a legal holiday.
C.(1) Unless otherwise agreed to by all of the parties and the court:
(a) A contradictory hearing on the motion for summary judgment shall be set not less
than thirty days after the filing and not less than thirty days prior to the trial date.
(b) Notice of the hearing date shall be served on all parties in accordance with Article
1313(C) or 1314 not less than thirty days prior to the hearing.
(2) For good cause shown, the court may order a continuance of the hearing.
(3) The court shall render a judgment on the motion not less than twenty days prior
to the trial.
(4) In all cases, the court shall state on the record or in writing the reasons for
granting or denying the motion. If an appealable judgment is rendered, a party may request
written reasons for judgment as provided in Article 1917.
D.(1) The burden of proof rests with the mover. Nevertheless, if the mover will not
bear the burden of proof at trial on the issue that is before the court on the motion for
summary judgment, the mover's burden on the motion does not require him to negate all
essential elements of the adverse party's claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to
the court the absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse
party's claim, action, or defense. The burden is on the adverse party to produce factual
support sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact or that the
mover is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
(2) The court may consider only those documents filed in support of or in opposition
to the motion for summary judgment and shall consider any documents to which no objection
is made. Any objection to a document shall be raised in a timely filed opposition or reply
memorandum. The court shall consider all objections prior to rendering judgment. The
court shall specifically state on the record or in writing which documents, if any, it held to
be inadmissible or declined to consider.
E. A summary judgment may be rendered dispositive of a particular issue, theory of
recovery, cause of action, or defense, in favor of one or more parties, even though the
granting of the summary judgment does not dispose of the entire case as to that party or
parties.
F. A summary judgment may be rendered or affirmed only as to those issues set forth
in the motion under consideration by the court at that time.
G. When the court grants a motion for summary judgment in accordance with the
provisions of this Article, that a party or non-party is not negligent, is not at fault, or did not
cause in whole or in part the injury or harm alleged, that party or non-party shall not be
considered in any subsequent allocation of fault. Evidence shall not be admitted at trial to
establish the fault of that party or non-party. During the course of the trial, no party or person
shall refer directly or indirectly to any such fault, nor shall that party or non-party's fault be
submitted to the jury or included on the jury verdict form.
H. On review, an appellate court shall not reverse a trial court's denial of a motion
for summary judgment and grant a summary judgment dismissing a case or a party without
assigning the case for briefing and permitting the parties an opportunity to request oral
argument.
Amended by Acts 1966, No. 36, §1; Acts 1983, No. 101, §1, eff. June 24, 1983; Acts
1984, No. 89, §1; Acts 1992, No. 71, §1; Acts 1996, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 9, §1, eff. May 1,
1996; Acts 1997, No. 483, §§1, 3, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 771, §1; Acts 2003, No.
867, §1; Acts 2010, No. 690, §1; Acts 2012, No. 257, §1; Acts 2012, No. 741, §1; Acts 2013,
No. 391, §1; Acts 2014, No. 187, §1; Acts 2015, No. 422, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2016.
NOTE: See Acts 2015, No. 422, §2, regarding applicability.