56.02 For defending party

If someone files a claim against you, whether it's a lawsuit, a counterclaim, or a cross-claim, you have the right to ask the court to rule in your favor without going through a full trial. This is called a motion for summary judgment. You can file this motion at any point in the case.

You're allowed to ask for summary judgment on the entire case against you, or just part of it. For example, if someone sues you on three different claims, you could ask the court to dismiss just one of them this way, while the others continue toward trial.

You don't have to include sworn statements (called affidavits) to support your request, though you can if you want to. The main point of this rule is to give you a way to end a case early, or narrow it down, if you can show the other side doesn't have enough evidence to win on a particular claim. This saves time and money by avoiding an unnecessary trial when the facts aren't really in dispute.