V.R.C.P. 56
Reporter's Notes-2023 Amendment
Rule 56(b) is amended to allow a party to file for summary judgment "at any time until" 30 days after the close of all discovery. This restores language consistent with the federal rule and corrects an error in the 2022 amendment that required the party to file "within" the 30-day period. The amendment clarifies that a party may file a motion for summary judgment before as well as after the close of discovery.
Reporter's Notes-2022 Amendment
Rule 56 is amended to clarify and spell out in detail the content of motions for summary judgment, oppositions to summary judgment motions, and motions in reply to opposition. The purpose is to separate out statements of often immaterial or nonresponsive additional facts and, to discourage the not-uncommon practice of obfuscating the terms of a reply by adding a host of such additional facts. No substantive change is intended.
Rule 56(b) is amended to provide in one place the filing times for the three principal procedural steps for which amended Rule 56 provides: The summary judgment motion, the opposition to the motion, and the moving party's reply to the opposition. That provision, formerly Rule 56(c)(5), has been incorporated here for clarity. In addition, for completeness, a provision permitting a surreply in the court's discretion has been adopted from V.R.C.P. 7(b)(4) as amended in June 2021. That rule applies generally to all motions including those for summary judgment. See Reporter's Notes to June 2021 amendment of Rule 7(b).
Rules 56(c)(2) and (c)(3) have been added to make explicit the requirements that responses to the movant's statement of undisputed facts are to be provided in numbered paragraphs corresponding to those of the movant's statement, and that statements of additional facts-disputed or undisputed-are to be submitted in a separate statement, with numbered paragraphs. These provisions respond to prior concerns that nonmoving parties were causing confusion by incorporating additional material in their oppositions to the movant's statement. The detail of the provisions requires paragraph-by-paragraph responses to the movant's statement that must be preceded by paragraph-by-paragraph text of that statement. To facilitate preparation of responses, paragraphs (1) and (2), and paragraph (3) by implication, require a party, on request, to provide an opposing party with a copy of its statement in editable format to allow statements and responses to be incorporated in a single document.
Reporter's Notes-2021 Amendment
V.R.C.P. 56(c)(5) is added to make clear that a reply to a memorandum in opposition to a motion for summary judgment, as provided in the simultaneous amendment to V.R.C.P. 7(b)(4), is available. See Reporter's Notes to that amendment.